[R] signifies the Member has declared an interest. [W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.

I have accepted two urgent questions under Standing Order 12.66 and I call on Bethan Jenkins to ask the first urgent question.

Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the suspension of Welsh Government funding to NSA Afan? EAQ(5)0093(CC)

I thank the Member for her question. NSA Afan is subject to an ongoing Welsh Government investigation into allegations of possible misuse of funds. We’re working with relevant authorities, including the police, at this time. It would inappropriate for me to comment any further.

There are elements of what has happened at NSA Afan that are currently under police investigation, as you mentioned—and I think, obviously, we need to be sensitive to that—but it is your Government’s involvement and looking into a series of allegations made by a whistleblower in December last year about financial irregularities, which are currently, as I understand it, not the subject of a police inquiry, that I am interested in. On the basis of these allegations, your Government has taken the step of stopping its funding fully to NSA Afan, and what this means is that in five days’ time, some of the 16 staff will not be paid at all, and senior officers at NSA Afan have told me that they’ve requested that you reinstate that pay while you continue to look at this process. They’ve also said that this should be fully referred to the police so that they can look at this independently, and I would echo that call for it to be passed to the police and for the independent Auditor General for Wales to look at this. Because, Cabinet Secretary, while I don’t doubt your personal integrity, you have an interest in this as a Government, because you yourself have audited NSA Afan, and in the past you have not shown there to be concerns in those particular audits. I would therefore urge you to refer this to the auditor general and to the police so that we can have a full and independent investigation of that which is happening at NSA Afan at the moment.

My final plea to you, as Cabinet Secretary, is that you are minded to discontinue Communities First and there is an ongoing consultation. I would strongly suggest that these matters be investigated fully before you commit to bringing any of your national policies to an end with regard to Communities First. All of the information with regard to NSA Afan should be fully and independently investigated, so that us as Assembly Members, the public and the people who use those services can be assured that governance has been followed and that the money has been used effectively in Communities First in this area, and show the rest of Wales that the funds are being utilised effectively.

Llywydd, I thank the Member for her contribution. The Member makes many assumptions during her contribution, some not factually correct. NSA Afan is subject to an ongoing Welsh Government investigation, and we are working with other authorities, including the police, at this time.

Thank you for that answer, even though it was very brief, Cabinet Secretary. I’ve met with the chief executive and members of the trustees board on several occasions since the announcement to suspend funding on 12 December. My concerns are, perhaps: what was the Welsh Government doing in these audits beforehand? I think, as has been highlighted, it’s a Welsh Government audit. Why wasn’t this spotted earlier? Because there are clear issues there that seem to have been going on for quite a while. But also, there is a funding question as to the point from 1 December to 12 December when suspension occurred. What’s happening to the funding for the delivery of services during that period of time? But, also, what alternatives will be put in place? You’ve suspended funding, but there are people out there waiting to go on programmes who are basically not having access to those programmes, because I understand that NSA Afan has actually suspended its delivery of programmes. And there are staff, as has been pointed out, that are likely to be losing their jobs as a consequence of that. What alternatives are you putting in place or setting up to ensure that those individuals do not pay the price of, perhaps, an investigation that should have spotted something earlier?

Again, I’m grateful for the Member’s contribution. I thank him and others for raising this issue with me at an earlier point in time. This is being investigated by Welsh Government and the police and I’m unable to give any further details on this to the Chamber today, but when and if we raise the ban on support for NSA Afan, or otherwise, I will inform the Chamber.

I think one of the things you can tell us about though, Minister, is the effect of this on partner organisations who’ve been working with NSA to deliver a range of programmes for some time now. This isn’t the first potential scandal that’s got through audit with a clean bill of health—we’ve had the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association. One of the big consequences of AWEMA was for those partnership organisations, some of whom had to wait up to a year under the threat of investigation themselves as a result of what had happened there. So, first of all, can you give us some indication of the timing of the audit that you’re undertaking within Government, but also what you’re doing to support those partnership organisations through a period of time that is going to be very difficult and possibly, fundamentally, the end of them, if you don’t deal with it quickly?

I thank the Member for her question. I am hoping that my team will give some recommendations on the future of NSA and the programme, to me, by the end of this week. My team has already started discussions with NSA Afan, and also with the local authority in terms of any potential future consequences.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary.