North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has challenged the Labour Welsh Government over the £27.1 million in its 2022-23 accounts that it has written off following the closure of the Welsh Life Sciences Investment Fund.
The Welsh Government invested £50m in the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund. The current value of the transferred assets, according to their Statement, is in the region of £2.5m. The Board of the Development Bank of Wales realised previous accounting impairments to write-off £27.1m in its 2022-23 accounts.
Challenging the Minister for Economy in Cardiff Bay over this use of public money during yesterday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood said:
“In 2016, the Audit Wales report on the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund found that, although innovative and having many merits, 'Aspects of its establishment, governance, oversight and early operation were flawed and poorly documented.'
“As Chair of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, you'll not be surprised to hear that I've referred this to the Clerks for advice, and they're further seeking advice on this from Audit Wales. But what engagement over this have you had with Audit Wales, given that this involves the efficient and effective use and administration of public funds, and given their previous interest in this matter?”
The matter was raised during Topical Questions by Mr Isherwood’s colleague, Natasha Asghar MS, who highlighted that “when the fund was originally backed by £50 million of taxpayers’ money over 10 years ago, it was chaired by the multimillionaire life sciences entrepreneur Sir Chris Evans, who is actually a prominent supporter of and donor to - surprise, surprise - the Labour Party. Concerns have been raised in the past about the fact that, under his Chairmanship, the Life Sciences Fund made a number of investments in businesses linked directly to Sir Chris.”
She also called for assurances that there will be “a full investigation into the negligent and financial irresponsibility that has evidently taken place”.