Welsh Government settles with land sale advice firms
- Published
The 15 sites sold in one deal included farmland and former industrial locations
Legal action against two firms that advised the Welsh Government on a controversial land sale has been settled out-of-court.
Ministers took action in January 2018 against Lambert Smith Hampton and Amber Fund.
The companies advised Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales (RIFW) over the deal, which auditors said could have raised £15m more than it did.
Welsh Conservatives said the original deal was an "absolute scandal".
RIFW sold 15 publicly-owned sites for £21m in 2012 but the deal was later criticised by the Wales Audit Office.
The Welsh Government took legal action against the two companies for breach of contract and professional negligence.
The settlement with the two firms is confidential, and it is not clear what costs any of the parties have incurred.
In 2016 the-then first minister Carwyn Jones apologised in the Senedd in 2016 for the sale, saying the delivery of RIFW's functions "fell well below the standards we would expect".
The Senedd's public accounts committee said the fact that Guernsey-based South Wales Land Developments, the company that bought the sites from RIFW, had sold on a number of the sites at a profit showed they had been undervalued.
Among the sites sold were land on Imperial Park, Newport, Llantrisant Business Park and Upper House farm, Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan.
One of the sites was located near Lisvane in Cardiff
Announcing the legal settlement in a written statement to the Senedd, Housing and Local Government Minister Julie James said: "I am pleased that I can now confirm that this dispute has been resolved without the need to incur the significant costs associated with a trial.
"This settlement has been reached on a commercial basis and without any admission of liability by any party.
"The detailed terms have been incorporated into a confidential settlement agreement between the parties.
"I am pleased to be able to reassure Members that the £40.7m that, until now, has been tied up in the Fund can now be made available to support future investments across Wales."
'Millions squandered'
Angela Burns of the Welsh Conservatives said the land sale had showed the "complete inability of this Labour-led Welsh Government to be fiscally prudent".
"Millions of pounds have been squandered, millions that could have been invested in our education and health systems, spent building Wales' economy or supporting some of our more vulnerable citizens," she said.
"It's an absolute scandal and the real scandal is the Welsh Government are able to slide out of their responsibility for this debacle."
Amber Fund declined to comment. Lambert Smith Hampton was also contacted for comment and the Welsh Government asked how much was spent on legal fees.
- Published22 January 2018
- Published26 January 2016