Senedd to vote on calls to publish Betsi Cadwaladr financial report
Senedd Members will vote on calls to publish a report alleging financial irregularities at Wales’ largest health board as opposition parties step up the pressure on the Welsh Government over the report.
The Welsh Government says that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is getting legal advice on whether or not it can be published but is resisting political pressure.
That has been added to by the UK Government’s Welsh Secretary David TC Davies writing to the Health Minister demanding publication.
His intervention in turn follows the Prime Minister saying that he's "deeply worried" about the situation and hinting that it should be investigated by the police.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is at the centre of a series of controversies and allegations and the Welsh Government has been heavily criticised for its handling of those issues.
In February this year, the Health Minister, Eluned Morgan, placed it back into special measures just two years after it was taken out of those special measures which had been in place since 2015.
More recently Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives have raised concerns about a report by the accountancy firm Ernst and Young.
The report, which has been seen by ITV Wales but which hasn't been published, claims that officials at Betsi Cadwaladr made incorrect entries in accounts and altered details.
This afternoon Senedd Members will debate a Conservative motion which calls for the report to be published in full and for a “wider and independent review” into financial practices across the Welsh NHS.
Even if all three opposition parties vote for the motion, it is unlikely to succeed because the Senedd is evenly split between them and the Labour Party which forms the Welsh Government and the Llywydd or Presiding Officer will use her casting vote to maintain the status quo.
The vote also wouldn’t be binding but it would represent more pressure on the Welsh Government which has insisted that it can’t publish the report.
Commenting ahead of today’s debate, a Welsh Government spokesperson said, “Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is awaiting legal advice on whether or not they can release the report.
“They are also taking forward issues raised in the Ernst & Young report in line with its procedures and policies.
“This follows the conclusion of the NHS Counter Fraud Wales investigation connected to the Auditor General’s qualified opinion of the health board’s 2021-22 financial accounts.
“We do not comment on leaked documents, particularly when, as in this case, internal procedures are still ongoing.”
Speaking before the debate the Conservative group’s Shadow North Wales minister, Darren Millar said that “The Ernst & Young report exposes unacceptable and allegedly criminal practices by senior executives and managers in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and beyond.
“There is significant public interest in its contents and the public have a right to know what has been happening.
“Given that the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been placed back into special measures, the Health Minister has the power to direct the Health Board to publish the report - she should do so without delay.”
Plaid Cymru has long called for the Ernst and Young report to be made public.
Speaking recently, the party's health spokesperson, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said that “We need clarity over why, on the one hand, we have a report by EY that provides evidence of deliberate falsification of accounts, and deliberate alterations of financial documents, including by a member of the separate NHS procurement services team. Yet on the other hand, a decision was reached by NHS Counter Fraud Service Wales that no further action would be needed.
“At the same time, we also need clarity on how apparent conflicts of interest were managed between the NHS procurement services team and NHS Counter Fraud Service Wales, both of which are divisions of NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership.
“This is a gravely serious matter, and Welsh Government must provide reassurance that they are dealing with this in an open and transparent manner. When it comes to the handling of public money, particularly with regards to a health board that has recently fallen back into special measures, full accountability and transparency in process is of paramount importance.”
His fellow Conservative, the Secretary of State for Wales has written in similar terms to Eluned Morgan.
In his letter, David TC Davies’ says that “It has been stated that the report found that there was widespread mismanagement of public money within the Board. This has caused considerable anxiety within communities in North Wales.
"Given the drip feed of parts of the report to the media and with widespread concern mounting, I believe it is in all our interests that members of the public are able to read the report in full themselves.
"I would therefore ask you to publish the report in full today."
Other Conservative MPs have also weighed in. Tory MPs for constituencies in the North issued a joint call for a police investigation.
Sarah Atherton, Simon Baynes, Virginia Crosbie, James Davies, David Jones and Robin Millar MP said that “These are very serious matters and something the police should now take up.”
Rishi Sunak added his voice to those calls recently when he answered one of those MPs, David Jones, during Prime Minister’s Questions.
He said, “I am deeply worried about the Betsi Cadwaladr hospital (sic) in Labour-run North Wales.
"It has been as he said in special measures for six of the last eight years, as he remarked, the official audit said there was worrying dysfunctionality.
"I do hope this issue is investigated properly and I believe my honourable friend is in contact with the Secretary of State for Wales to take this further."
North Wales Police won’t comment on any possible investigation but a spokesperson for the force said that “We understand the reporting of financial issues at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is a matter of concern to many people in our local communities, and we continue to assess all available sources of information in conjunction with NHS Counter Fraud Wales.”
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