Grants need to be reviewed at a quicker pace according to National Assembly Committee

01 August 2012

The National Assembly for Wales’s Public Accounts Committee is calling on the Welsh Government to ensure that all grant schemes have been reviewed to ensure that they are the most effective means of delivering Ministerial objectives by the end of 2013.

While the Committee welcomes the Welsh Government’s work to review its grant programmes and recognises that there are risks in reviewing too quickly, it believes that the pace of this process needs to rapidly increase.

It also calls on the Welsh Government to consider the wide range of funding options when reviewing the effectiveness of existing grants.

During its inquiry into issues arising from the Auditor General’s report ‘Grants Management in Wales 2011’, the Public Accounts Committee heard that Welsh public bodies award grants amounting to over £2 billion a year.

It also heard that Wales uses specific grant funding more heavily than other parts of the UK.

While it recognises the value of grants and considers them to be valuable in delivering Ministerial objectives, the Committee, in this interim report, calls for the overall number of grants in Wales to be reduced.

Following the publication of the Auditor General’s report, specific concerns arose in relation to the management of grants provided by the Welsh Government to the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association (AWEMA).

The Wales Audit Office is currently conducting an investigation into the Welsh Government’s management of its relationship with AWEMA. Although evidence relating to this matter arose during the Committee’s inquiry, it is not a specific theme to this interim report.

It is anticipated that such evidence, along with the report of the Wales Audit Office’s investigation and any other relevant investigations will be considered by the Committee before determining its final report on Grants Management later this year.

“The Wales Audit Office’s Grants Management report provided us with a timely and beneficial insight into Wales’ use of grants as funding sources,” said the Chair of the Committee, Darren Millar AM.

“Against a backdrop of economic hardship, it is imperative that Wales gets the best from every pound of public money spent.

“Our interim report details 15 recommendations which we believe will improve grants management in Wales. We feel that it is appropriate for the Welsh Government to consider these recommendations now.”

More information on the Public Accounts Committee and a copy of the report can be found here.