5. Urgent Question: Sport Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:15 pm on 29 March 2017.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 4:15, 29 March 2017

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.