Wales' First Minister has been accused of misleading the Senedd over comments he made about a Welsh health board being removed from special measures.
In November 2020, the Welsh Government took the north Wales health board Betsi Cadwaladr out of special measures. At the time, there were accusations that this was a cynical move in order to generate good publicity ahead of the Senedd election in 2021. Plaid leader Adam Price called it "reckless" and "premature".
However ministers were insistent that they were following advice. In a debate at the time, former health minister Vaughan Gething said “the chief exec of NHS Wales, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and Audit Wales have given clear advice that Betsi Cadwaladr should move out of special measures, and that is the basis for my decision.”
When the health board was put back into special measures earlier in 2023, First Minister Mark Drakeford stuck to the original line. He told the Senedd during FMQs that the original decision to take the health board out of special measures had been taken “because we were advised that that is what we should do by the auditor general…”
Read more: What Welsh Tories think of their leader Andrew RT Davies's controversial new style
However, in a letter to Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price, Auditor General for Wales, Adrian Crompton, confirmed "in response to your specific question on whether there was advice from me or my staff to the Minister to de-escalate the Health Board from Special Measures at that time, I can be very clear, there was not.”
The Welsh Government’s Ministerial code of ethics states that, “it is of paramount importance that ministers give accurate and truthful information to the Senedd, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.”
Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for health and care, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS had written to the First Minister to seek a resolution to the matter, but the First Minister has reportedly declined to correct the record.
To get our free daily briefing on the biggest issues affection the nation, Wales Matters, click here
Plaid Cymru has published the letter from the Auditor General to Adam Price, which confirms that no such advice came from Audit Wales to de-escalate the health board from special measures. The reason given for them releasing it was "due to the gravity of the matter, and the fact that it is in the public interest to make this information freely available".
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, Plaid Cymru’s health and care spokesperson, said: “The most important thing to me, and to Plaid Cymru, is to seek better provision of healthcare in the north. Undoubtedly, the staff, patients and wider population in the north of Wales deserve better from their health board and from the government that has been managing it for so long.
“Questions have long been raised over the timing of taking Betsi Cadwaladr out of special measures – conveniently before the 2021 Senedd election. But any attempt to query this with Welsh Government was firmly batted away. In fact, it was claimed – by the First Minister no less – that the Auditor General advised the health board ‘should’ be taken out of special measures.
“We now have evidence that Welsh Government received no such advice from the Auditor General. Plaid Cymru, as an opposition party, is duty bound to question this apparent contradiction. We were prepared to give the First Minister fair opportunity to put forward steps to rectify this situation, but the lack of adequate response, and the depth of public interest in the matter means that we have to bring this into the public domain.
“Now, more than ever, upholding the values of integrity, honesty and transparency in public life couldn’t be more important.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The First Minister was clear to the Senedd that decisions around the escalation status of the health board were taken by Ministers alone, on the basis of advice provided by Welsh Government officials. This advice was directly informed by an established process including Audit Wales and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales.”
READ NEXT:
Welsh Government told to apologise for 'lack of transparency' over appointments
Partygate: The exchanges in Boris Johnson's trial that expose the man he is
The full list of donations and gifts made to every MP in Wales
Questions over how the Welsh Government spends money and hires senior staff
What is going on with the Twitter feed of Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies?
