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

I have accepted the urgent question under Standing Order 12.66, and I call on Russell George to ask the urgent question.

Will the Minister make a statement on the future management of Sport Wales following the decision to terminate the positions of the Chair and Vice Chair of the organisation? EAQ(5)0154(HWS) [W]

Thank you. Lawrence Conway has agreed to remain as interim chair for the remainder of the year, and I will shortly announce an interim vice-chair to be appointed from within the existing board membership. This will provide stability and continuity to the leadership of Sport Wales.

Thank you, Minister, and thank you for your written statement earlier this afternoon. Today’s statement, in many ways, just extends the state of paralysis at Sport Wales, and we’re not really any clearer or the wiser on what actually happened at Sport Wales. But this is an organisation that receives over £22 million of public funding annually, and I think it does deserve transparency from the Welsh Government this afternoon. You have previously stated that you had an expectation that the normal governance processes would enable the Sport Wales board to manage any personality clashes, and this doesn’t seem to be the case from your statement today.

So, can I ask how long do you think it will take to get the organisation into a fit state to oversee sports across Wales and what oversight will you have, going forward, of Sport Wales’s activities? How will you look to change the current governance processes, which will give you confidence that there will not be another breakdown in Sport Wales’s leadership? Can I also ask: do you believe that it was solely a personality clash or do you intend to investigate the dysfunctionality and serious structural issues that were identified by the previous chair? If so, will you set out a timetable for when this review will report and when its recommendations will be implemented?

Finally, Sport Wales has a huge role to play in the promotion of physical activity and developing elite sport, but this saga, again, raises questions over its future, so, as such, have you given any consideration to abolishing Sport Wales altogether and splitting it up into different organisations—perhaps one focusing on sport and public health and a separate elite sport organisation? Do you think that Sport Wales is fit for purpose in light of these recent events?

I thank you very much for those questions and for the opportunity to address them in the Chamber. I think it’s helpful if I start by reminding Members as to how we got to this point today. A number of issues were raised in the lead-up to the vote of no confidence that was taken in the chair of Sport Wales in November, and during the course of the assurance review undertaken by my officials. It was necessary to investigate all of these in accordance with proper process to be fair to the individuals involved. Our investigation was thorough, and has provided me with significant assurance that Sport Wales is fundamentally a well-run organisation. The interim chair of Sport Wales, Lawrence Conway, has also written to me to confirm that this is his position, giving his views on the strong internal governance of the organisation, and this has also been corroborated by various audit reports. So, I take heart from that information in terms of the governance arrangements that are currently in place.

You referred to the structural situation with Sport Wales, and I can confirm that the panel, to which I’ve referred previously, has agreed to complete the review of Sport Wales, which the previous Chair, Dr Paul Thomas, was undertaking. And I know that they’ve been continuing that work at pace and hope to provide me with a report during the month of April. That report will look at various things. It might include the structure of Sport Wales, but it will certainly include to what extent Sport Wales can maximise its impact in terms of meeting Welsh Government aspirations for the physical health of Wales, but also for our elite athletes as well.

Thank you for the short written statement today. We all, of course, share the aspiration of the Minister of ensuring that Sport Wales does operate in the most effective way possible, but there are serious questions to ask, I think, in terms of how the Government managed to allow this body to reach the level of ineffectiveness. And what the statement today and the latest steps do is prove again the depth of that ineffectiveness. The recent period has been one of great concern, not just for staff and everyone who’s involved with Sport Wales, but also in terms of the development of sport in Wales. Without leadership, there’s no strategy; without strategy, there’s no development. And we have to sort that situation out urgently.

I have a number of questions for you, if I may. What review has been done of the original appointment and the original appointment process with the chair who is now leaving? And could you also publish the findings of the assurance review that was announced in November? We hear that personalities were at the core of many of these problems. Could you give us an explanation of some of the issues that led to the failure of the relationships of those at the leadership level on the board, and how did the Government fail to realise such significant failures? And to close: will there be additional support now for Sport Wales as they try to get back on the right path?

I thank you for those questions. I think that it is fair to say that Welsh Government has taken appropriate action at every step along the way since we were first notified of concerns within the board of Sport Wales, very shortly before the vote of no confidence in the chair that was undertaken back in November. So, I am confident that at every step we have taken appropriate action, and that we’ve sought to be fair by everybody concerned. Sport Wales has, since I took the first action back in November, actually been functioning very well. People who receive sporting opportunities and support from Sport Wales on a daily basis shouldn’t have noticed any difference in the kind of support and opportunities that were available to them. And I pay tribute, as I have done previously, to the sterling work of the Sport Wales staff over this period, which I know has been particularly difficult for them as individuals, but also for an organisation as well, and I completely understand that.

With regard to the assurance review itself, the assurance review looked into various aspects of the concerns that were raised, and it’s not my intention to make it public, because it is an internal document prepared for me as Minister, and it has been part of a process that has gone on for a few months, and one in which individuals who participated in that—and there were 42 interviews that took place—had a legitimate expectation of confidentiality. I think it’s important to have the future stability of the organisation at the front of our minds at all times. In terms of additional support, Lawrence Conway has been working with the board since I made my last announcement, and I’m very pleased with the way in which the board has coalesced around Lawrence as the interim chair—it’s very focused on the future. I met with the Sport Wales board myself very recently and had the opportunity to put on record my thanks to them again for the way in which they’ve dealt with what has been a difficult situation over recent months, and also for the passion that they all have for sport in Wales and Sport Wales as an organisation.

The Sport Wales situation is now in danger of becoming a long-running bad-news story. The story proceeds in a series of unfortunate instalments, with the latest episode today rather conveniently occurring on the same day as the article 50 announcement. [Interruption.] Well, maybe they are, maybe they’re not. As the story has proceeded, various questions have arisen. Paul Thomas, the chairman: was he the most able applicant for the role or was he, as has been alleged in some circles, simply a Labour Party placeman? [Interruption.] Well, heaven forbid the thought. Was Mr Thomas dismissed because he tried to change the culture of the board because, as he declares, he was a whistleblower or something akin, or was he simply somebody who did not fit in, or someone who didn’t have a clear idea about how to manage the organisation? Now, I don’t know the answers to these questions, but the saga has gone on so long that I think something like the full story should now be told or, at least, as far as it can be told. I’m disappointed that you won’t be making the findings of the review public, although I appreciate that there may be confidential matters that have to be accounted for. But given the significant public money that has been invested in Sport Wales, we must ensure that the Government does learn lessons from this unfortunate sequence of events. So, my final question is: what lessons, Minister, do you think the Welsh Government has learned from this?

I thank you for those questions. I have to say that I don’t time my announcements for the convenience of Gareth Bennett or any other Assembly Member; and I have to say that I didn’t want the process to take any longer than it had to, and I didn’t want it to drag on for the benefit of all the people concerned as well.

You suggested that this is a bad-news story, but actually, I think that we need to reflect on the fact that there are so many good-news stories up and down the length and breadth of Wales, thanks to the good work that Sport Wales does, transforming people’s lives through the power of sport. This has been a difficult time, but we shouldn’t take our eyes off that as well.

I don’t intend to answer questions about the merits of any individuals, but I would say that both the chair and the vice-chair have always had the interests of Sport Wales at heart, and have both exhibited considerable energy and dedication over the period of time. I do consider, though, the need to secure fresh leadership. My overarching objective, every step of the way, is the effectiveness of Sport Wales.

I just have one specific question about the current governance of Sport Wales. This is not meant as a criticism of the individual concerned, who has been a work colleague of mine in the past, and I respect him very much, but I am concerned that we have a public body now that has an interim chair, but this interim chair is actually going on—in your written statement—for at least the rest of this year. Now, that is not in line with best practice in terms of appointing the chairs, the Nolan principles and appointments and standards in public life. I suggest that it’s not right that a public body that’s disbursing £20 million of public money a year has a chair who hasn’t gone and hasn’t been appointed through that process. So, what assurances can you give me and the Chamber and outside bodies that you will appoint a chair for Sport Wales through the regular process as soon as possible?

I can confirm that I will certainly use the regular process for appointing a chair for Sport Wales. I think it is important now, though, that the organisation does have some period of stability. I should also say that I plan to use my power under the governance code on public appointments to appoint an interim chair without competition while a recruitment campaign is undertaken to fill that role. It’s a requirement to consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments before that appointment is announced; so, the name of the individual there will be announced as soon as the consultation process has concluded.

Thank you, Minister.