Communities First facing spending freeze?

This story in the Western Mail suggests that the Assembly Minister is going to stop all future new spending by Communities First. This would be in reaction to the alleged misuse of public funds in Plas Madoc, which is still under investigation. For the first time, the 'leak' outlines some of the allegations being made against Communities First staff.

 

Claims of financial abuse may close fund

Well-placed sources have told the Western Mail that Social Justice Minister Carl Sargeant plans to announce a moratorium on new spending associated with the troubled Communities First programme.THE Assembly Government’s flagship anti-poverty programme is at risk because of allegations of financial abuse at a publicly-funded community project, we can reveal.

More than £241m has been spent on the programme’s projects in Wales’ most deprived areas over eight years but a succession of reports has questioned their effectiveness in tackling poverty.

And now the minister is understood to be so concerned about the implication of alleged financial irregularities that he is ready to call a halt to new Communities First spending. Results of a joint investigation carried out by Assembly officials and the Wales Audit Office into behaviour at the Plas Madoc Communities First partnership at Plas Madoc, near Wrexham, will be delivered to Mr Sargeant imminently.

Two senior members of staff there have been suspended since last November as a probe has looked into accusations that:

A car bought out of public funds for the benefit of the project as a whole was allegedly commandeered for the exclusive use of a staff member;

Individuals were paid for work on a “cash in hand” basis; and

Payment records were chaotic and incomplete.

A source told us: “This looks like the beginning of the end for Communities First. Carl Sargeant is expected to make the announcement very soon.

“He will say that while core funding for Communities First projects that is already committed will continue, no new initiatives will be authorised.”

The prospect of a moratorium on new spending will not be popular with those running Communities First projects.

A leading committee member of one South Wales project, who did not wish to be named, said: “It would be grossly unfair for Carl Sargeant to punish all Communities First partnerships because of this. A lot of good work is being done despite the criticisms in reports that have been published.”

The brainchild of current Health Minister and failed Welsh Labour leadership contender Edwina Hart, successive reports have said there is little evidence that, despite all the money spent on it, Communities First has succeeded in improving prosperity in Wales’ poorest areas.

Last week, a cross-party group of AMs condemned a “chronic and long-lasting failure” by the Assembly Government to provide leadership.

The Assembly’s public accounts committee said: “Our conclusions are that, overall, the Communities First programme has not delivered good value for the significant amount of public money spent on it, and that this is largely because of weaknesses in the [Assembly’s] construction and management of the programme.”

The report follows findings by the Wales Audit Office last year that of the £214m spent between 2001 and 2009, £140m had gone to partnerships, mainly to employ staff and administer projects.

At Plas Madoc, project co-ordinator Miriam Beard and finance and monitoring officer Andy Bunning were suspended as the investigation got under way.

Plas Madoc Communities First was formed in 2003 as a company limited by guarantee and is a registered charity.

The community has major problems with access to services, such as GPs and dentists, education standards, local employment opportunities and childcare support.

Since it was set up the partnership – which has an independent set of trustees – it has co- ordinated a range of beneficial projects to support the area, including £125,000 to give play areas a facelift, taking children on life-changing trips to Gambia, and organising local environmental schemes.

But concerns were raised last year about the way it was being run, with Mandy Bostwick, a psychotherapist and community councillor who provided counselling services to the partnership, voicing her worries.

Mrs Bostwick told BBC Wales last October: “I started to have some concerns about the way they were operating after I attended a staff meeting. I started to realise that it was the same residents connected to the project – I never saw any new faces.

“I started to hear about people being paid cash. I certainly received cash payment, a nominal fee, and I started to ask for receipts for the money that I was receiving for the work that I was doing, and never got receipts.”

On the advice of Communities First officials in North Wales, Mrs Bostwick raised her concerns with Plas Madoc’s trustees. Subsequently the team stopped using her services.

The claims were denied by the partnership’s managers at the time, who insisted they would be vindicated after the investigations had concluded.

Neither Ms Beard nor Mr Dunning could be contacted for comment about the new development.

An Assembly Government spokeswoman said: “We are aware of issues in one particular Communities First partnership.

“The minister expects to receive a report in the near future regarding this. He will then make a statement to the Assembly.

“It would be inappropriate to comment any further at this stage.”

£214m scheme 'is failing' poorest communities

An ambitious £214 million scheme to improve some of the poorest communities in Wales has "failed miserably" in some areas, according to a North Wales AM.

Janet Ryder, Plaid Cymru AM, sat on the Welsh Assembly audit committee that has just produced a report on the Community First projects throughout Wales. In a hard-hitting attack on the programme she said:

 "The Communities First programme has not delivered good value for the significant amount of public money spent on it. The report makes it clear that this is largely because of weaknesses in the way the scheme was conceived and managed by previous Welsh Governments. 

"In my own area of North Wales, whilst I accept that some local benefits have been delivered in communities, there are too many examples where the project has not made the impact required for such a large investment."

Janet Ryder cited three examples in North Wales:

 "The experiences of Rhyl West, Plas Madoc and Caia Park are very different but provide examples of a lack of understanding of local needs and the situation already existing on the ground.

"In Rhyl, Communities First failed to establish itself as a community-based organisation and had to be wound up after hundreds of thousands of pounds was spent on administration.

"In Caia Park, Wrexham, there was already an existing partnership in the area that had experience of delivering services and co-ordinating work with other agencies. Given this well-established set-up, it was perverse to try to graft an entirely new Communities First programme onto the community and there was significant conflict between the groups. 

"What is clear too is that the vast amount of Communities First money has gone on salaries and administration. I am not convinced that all these programmes, when they come to an end, will leave a lasting and sustainable legacy in the community. Yes, they have launched some initiatives such as food co-operatives but is this sufficient to justify millions of pounds being spent in areas that need that money to make a real difference?"

 She said the blame for failure had to lie at the top rather than at grassroots level: 

"The report makes clear its concern that 'the Welsh Government provides insufficient direction to service providers and is not adequately monitoring the programme'. Now given that public money is tight and we need to ensure best value at all times, how can we justify a £214m programme if it's not being targetted well and then monitored rigorously?"

Janet Ryder added: 

"The final example in North Wales is Plas Madoc near Wrexham. I don't want to pre-judge an ongoing investigation into that specific Communities First scheme, where two leading staff members are currently suspended, but I have been made aware of very serious concerns regarding its running. Once again, it seems the checks and balances from the centre were not in place. When complaints were first made, they were referred back to the people against whom they were complaining. That is not a healthy and open system of government."

She said the report made recommendations to improve monitoring as well as insisting that the Welsh Government ensures that it is able to demonstrate hard outcomes for this investment of public money that demonstrate progress towards the Communities First objectives:

 "We're asking that the Welsh Government provides us with a progress report, and details of programme-level movement towards achieving objectives within the next 12 months."

Communities First public inquiry demand by Plaid AM

Serious failings in a multi-million-pound Communities First regeneration project demand that a full public inquiry is held into the entire scheme.

That's the view of Plaid Cymru AM Janet Ryder, who first raised concerns about the Plas Madoc Communities First project near Wrexham. Two senior officers at the project, including chief executive Miriam Beard, have since been suspended while a Wales Audit Office investigation takes place into allegations of misuse of public funds.

Janet Ryder, the regional AM for North Wales, made her request for a public inquiry during First Minister Carwyn Jones's first day of questions in the Assembly today.

 She said: "In light of the ongoing investigation into Plas Madoc Communities First, which has involved the suspension of two senior officers and has raised serious questions about accountability to the local community, I would like the Minister to look at the implications this has for the Communities First programme as a whole.


"Specifically, there appears to be a lack of appropriate checks and balances, partly due to a deficiency in the complaints procedure, and this has implications for other projects throughout Wales. The Auditor General has conducted two investigations into Communities First and found problems.


"I think it's about time we looked further than matters of financial probity. Will the Minister therefore agree to a throughgoing review by WAG into the governance and accountability of Communities First throughout Wales by holding a public inquiry?"


The First Minister confirmed that Communities First projects throughout Wales will receive a further £25m over the next three years.


He also said that the Wales Audit Office have now completed their investigation into Plas Madoc based on "the problems you have uncovered there" and confirmed the report would be released next month.