Recovery of public funds sought by Welsh Government

The Welsh Government has confirmed it is pursuing a regeneration charity for the recovery of public funds.

NSA Afan in Port Talbot had some of its funding terminated last year after an investigation by auditors found "strong evidence of financial irregularities".

It is not known how much money the Welsh Government is seeking to recover due to a police investigation.

The charity called for a "conciliatory approach" by the government, alleging it had been a victim of fraud.

In a statement, a Welsh Government spokesperson: "Over the course of the last year, NSA Afan has co-operated with us in our investigation into allegations of misuse of public funds, but it has been unable to provide evidence to explain the financial irregularities uncovered.

"This gives us no choice but to pursue NSA Afan for the recovery of public funds used in the delivery of activities for the Communities First programme and the EU-funded STRIDES project."

In May 2016 the Charity Commission received a report of a theft at NSA Afan, with £90,000 of the charity's funds unaccounted for.

The commission confirmed a statutory inquiry, which opened in February 2017, was on-going.

NSA Afan chief executive Ian Isaac said: "Despite not being allowed to have sight of the whistle blower allegation in accordance with Welsh Government whistle blowing policies, the organisation, as the accused party, have been only allowed limited rights to challenge the undisclosed allegations.

"They have however co-operated with understanding and providing evidence in relation to issues concerning financial irregularities that they believe have arisen directly from the independent fraudulent actions of a member of the organisation who was suspended in November 2015 and who subsequently resigned in January 2016 following an internal investigation."

Mr Isaac added: "The charity is the victim of fraud and theft and not the perpetrator.

"It appeals to Welsh Government to adopt a conciliatory approach to the issues that impacts on it as a charity and to allow further investigation and dialogue to obtain a reasonable outcome to these events."