Alarm over ‘light-touch’ response after £750k museum row

Chris Haines ICNN Senedd reporter

Senedd members criticised the Welsh Government’s new “light-touch” approach to oversight after a feud involving senior museum managers cost taxpayers more than £750,000.

Mark Isherwood raised alarm about the response to the dispute between Roger Lewis and David Anderson, the former Museum Wales president and director-general respectively.

Mr Isherwood, who chairs the public accounts committee, warned the Welsh Government’s new “light-touch” model for reviewing public bodies could lead to similar issues elsewhere.

The Tory criticised a decision to pause tailored reviews of arm’s-length bodies in the wake of the Museum Wales settlement, which cost the public purse £757,613 amid claims of bullying.

“To then move to self-assessment of public bodies is wrong when this has instead illustrated the need for more rigorous audit controls,” he told the Senedd

‘Opposite direction’

Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price echoed his concerns, adding: “Surely we should be going in the opposite direction. What we need to have is more rigorous auditing, overview and oversight.”

Leading a debate on a report into the dispute, Mr Isherwood said the public accounts committee was extremely concerned by wholly unsatisfactory grievance procedures.

He said seeking to settle was preferable to an employment tribunal, which would have cost north of £1m, but the committee was dissatisfied with the rationale for the figure arrived at.

He warned: “Indeed, the auditor general for Wales concludes that the museum had not been able to demonstrate that it acted in the best interests of the public purse.”

Mr Isherwood, who represents North Wales, criticised ministerial advice that did not set out the cost of the settlement, placing the then-culture minister in an “invidious” position.

‘Paralysis’

Mr Price told Senedd members the prolonged internal dispute at Museum Wales resulted in paralysis of decision-making processes for many years.

He said: “Despite awareness of serious failures of governance since, I believe, 2020, the Welsh Government’s intervention lacked timeliness, transparency and allowed it to fester.”

Mr Price pointed to similar governance problems at other public bodies, including Sport Wales, Natural Resources Wales, Betsi Cadwaladr health board and fire services.

He warned: “That is eroding public trust, which means that public services cannot be delivered in the way that they should be. And so we need to strengthen the governance frameworks. We need not a system of self-assessment.”

The former Plaid Cymru leader questioned the decision to appoint Mr Lewis, the former museum and WRU president, to lead a review of Cadw following the row.

‘Sad chapter’

Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan, who worked at the museum until 2021, criticised ministers’ “hands-off” approach, suggesting lessons were not learned from Sport Wales in 2017.

She denounced the Welsh Government’s “inadequate” response to the report, which rejected a recommendation to urgently review arm’s-length bodies’ grievance policies.

Ms Fychan said: “This is a very important report and a sad reflection and a very sad chapter, not only in the history of Amgueddfa Cymru but also the Welsh Government.”

Responding to the debate on November 27, Jack Sargeant, who was appointed culture minister in September, was confident lessons have been learned.

He said a comprehensive review of the “Managing Welsh public money” guidance, which has not been updated since 2018, should be completed by December 2025.