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.