5. 4. Statement: The Welsh Government Response to the Independent Review of Sport Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:41 pm on 3 October 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 4:41, 3 October 2017

Thank you very much for those comments. I probably—well, I certainly wouldn’t agree with your opening comments regarding the relationship between Welsh Government and Sport Wales. I don’t think they paint a fair reflection and they certainly don’t paint a fair reflection of Sport Wales as an organisation. I’ve been clear all along, with all of the history that we’ve had with the board at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year, I’ve been very clear that Sport Wales as an organisation itself was never dysfunctional. The issues I had really were about the working of the board, which got to a point where it couldn’t continue its work and it needed fresh leadership. So, I think that we need to separate those two issues very carefully, because, actually, during this very difficult period for the organisation, Sport Wales has been continuing day in, day out to undertake some excellent work right up and down Wales. So, I think it’s important to recognise that there is a difference between the organisation itself and the workings of the board, where I had the concerns.

But regarding governance, and, again, this is an area that was looked at by the new interim chair when he first came into post—. He was very clear that he didn’t have concerns about the governance arrangements or the financial arrangements of the organisation. Again, those arrangements are robust. The Welsh Government, as you’ll be aware, has frequent performance meetings with the individuals concerned in the organisation in terms of making sure that we do have that strong governance. We also issue the remit report as well, which sets out clearly the direction that we expect the organisation to take. And, as you’d expect, I meet regularly with both the chair and the chief executive of the organisation as well.

In terms of the strategic direction, you’ll see that one of the key recommendations for Sport Wales itself within the independent report is the creation of a new long-term approach, a new long-term strategy for sport in Wales. That should respond to the direction that we’ve set out today and set out in previous discussions with the organisation about a greater focus on tackling some of the inequalities in health that we have in Wales—inequalities, perhaps, in opportunities to access sport, whilst also continuing the excellent work that they do alongside the sport governing bodies in terms of putting us on the world stage with some of our absolutely excellent achievements that we’ve had at elite level as well.

It’s also important that Sport Wales includes some robust outcomes, metrics and performance frameworks, with ownership clarity and a transparent investment process within that piece of work. That’s one of the items that is specifically referred to within the independent report as an action for Sport Wales to take forward as well.

In terms of the community sport and activity programme, we’re having some discussions at the moment with Sport Wales in terms of how we would take that forward, perhaps looking at delivery on a more regional basis in order to make the most of the different partnerships that do exist within our communities. I’ve asked my officials to work with the organisation to bring these discussions, I suppose, to a conclusion, because I do realise that this is something that we really need to be making progress on now as well. So, I would hope to be able to say more on that in the near future as well.

In terms of the suggestion as to whether or not we should have two organisations, so an organisation focused on grass-roots sport and an organisation focused on elite sport, I know that’s something that has been discussed and considered over a period of time now, and it was one of the issues that the independent review panel looked at. Their strong and clear recommendation was that, actually, there should not be a split between the elite sport and the grass-roots sport in terms of where they sit within an organisation. I think one of the reasons for that is the importance, really, of having those grass-roots pathways all the way up to elite sport as well, so to maintain a clear line of sight between talent spotting at the grass roots and then ensuring that these people have the opportunity to go on and do us proud on the international stage as well.

The national museum, yes, that’s something that Welsh Government has committed to, and I can confirm that the Cabinet Secretary for economy is currently undertaking a feasibility study for that as well. And I think that’s answered all the questions.