News

Questions over Welsh Government’s £668m third-sector spending

Published

10 months ago

February 27, 2025

Where does the money go?

THE WELSH GOVERNMENT’s use of third-sector bodies and grant funding has created an unaccountable network of supposedly “independent” bodies that rely on public funding for their survival. Welsh Government accounts indicate that, at a time when public spending is under extreme pressure, the Welsh Government shovelled out over £688m in grants to third-sector bodies.

The sums involved are huge. Putting the £668m allocated to the third sector in 2024 in further context is instructive. That sum is £126m more than the Welsh Government allocated to the whole Economy budget (capital plus revenue) and over £230m more than it allocated to the Rural Affairs budget in 2023-24.

THE DATA

One set of key data shows payments made by the Welsh Government with a value of over £25,000. We examined that data, which does not capture all Welsh Government grants to third-sector bodies.

In one month, August 2024, and looking only at transactions over £25,000, the Welsh Government made cash grants to third-sector bodies totalling almost £5.5m. The same month, it made further capital grants of over £4.7m to Wales’s third sector.

However, that is not the end of the story. The Welsh Government also makes grant payments to private sector bodies and what it euphemistically calls “sponsored bodies”. Sponsored bodies are arm’s length bodies of the Welsh Government, such as the Arts Council Wales or Natural Resources Wales. Those bodies also award grants to third-sector bodies.

THE MONEY TRAIL

In effect, the Welsh Government gives grants to bodies to give grants to other bodies, who, heaven knows(!), might well give grants to other bodies. At every stage of that process, the grant scheme’s administrator will extract an administrative charge. That means that if every grant administrator in a simple chain extracted a 10% admin fee, the value of what reaches the end of the grant line has been reduced.

Suppose NRW gets a grant pot of £1,000,000. It distributes it in ten equal portions to ten different third-sector bodies. It charges a 10% admin fee for the grant process. £900,000 hits the second stage. That is £90,000 each. Now, the second stage grant administrator must filter down that money to a final end user. It charges a 10% admin fee. It allocates the cash in equal instalments to another ten bodies. The amount it disburses is, therefore, £81,000. Of the original £1,000,000, almost £200,000 is lost in admin costs.

That is a crude example, but consider this: the Welsh Government, NRW, the Arts Council for Wales, and the Welsh Council for Voluntary Action all appear as separate funders on several charities’ or NGOs’ websites. That is a duplication of effort and bureaucratic waste writ large.

Now, consider that across 428 organisations and £668m in funding. The potential waste is staggering and raises questions about transparency and allocation priorities.

Going back to August 2024, the Welsh Government also made grants of £240,000 to the Wales TUC and of £400,000 to Cardiff Airport, both scheduled under “grants to the private sector”.

THE GRANT MACHINE

A key challenge in scrutinising these data lies in their density and recording method.

The Welsh Government cannot provide a breakdown of every line item it allocates to third-sector bodies within the scope of a Freedom of Information Act request as the number of organisations involved and the number of individual grants is too large to capture. To address that issue, we focused on one organisation: The Welsh Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA).

The WCVA is the national membership organisation for the third sector and volunteering in Wales. It provides services and support to charities, community groups, voluntary organisations, social enterprises and volunteers.

In the ten months of 2024 for which the figures are available, and bearing in mind only expenditure over £25,000 is recorded, the WCVA received over £23.25m from the Welsh Government.

To get an idea of what the missing two months’ data might look like, we checked the previous year’s figures. That adds another £3.1m to the ten-month total.

There is no suggestion that the WCVA engages in sharp practice or is doing anything wrong. However, the money it receives as grants from the Welsh Government is public money, but the public has no say over where it goes or what it’s spent on. However, the Welsh Government does. Funding comes from defined pots for defined purposes that advance Welsh Government policy priorities. The bodies to which the WCVA makes grants, the amount they receive, and the purposes for which they are put are unidentifiable in the WCVA accounts. We can, however, say with certainty that there is little or no democratic accountability about where that money goes.

Even though the Welsh Government directs which funding pot gets the dough, ministers are not accountable for it. As we shall examine next week, the third sector operates alongside the public and private sectors and competes with both for scarce public money.

Education

School issues safeguarding alert over children’s use of Roblox

Published

4 minutes ago

December 15, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi warns parents about addictive gameplay, unsafe chat functions and scammers

YSGOL PENRHYN DEWI in St Davids has issued a safeguarding warning to parents after concerns were raised about children’s use of the popular online gaming platform Roblox.

In a letter sent to families today (Dec 15), Assistant Headteacher Louise Gray said the school had been made aware of a series of risks linked to the platform, which is widely used by children aged 8–13 – and in some cases younger.

Roblox allows users to create and play games developed by other players. However, the school says this user-generated model can expose children to inappropriate or harmful content depending on which games they access.

Range of risks highlighted

The letter sets out several specific safeguarding concerns, including:

Inappropriate content in user-created games
Highly addictive gameplay, with daily quests and reward systems designed to increase screen time
Easily changed parental controls, allowing children to adjust settings without verification
Chat features that expose younger players to inappropriate messages
Peer pressure from in-game ‘connections’, with children believing they know other users
Emotional dysregulation linked to heavy use of the platform
Scams, including fake offers of free Robux or cosmetic items

Parents are being urged to closely monitor how their children use the platform, who they interact with, and what content they can access.

Guidance available

The school has directed families to the Welsh Government’s Hwb website for further advice on parental controls and safe use of Roblox.

Community

Festive creativity shines as Kurtz MS meets card competition winner

Published

54 minutes ago

December 15, 2025

Tom Sinclair

SAMUEL KURTZ, Member of the Senedd for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, visited Pembroke Dock Community School on Friday 12th December to present a prize to the winner of this year’s Christmas Card Competition.

The competition invited pupils to design a festive Christmas card, with entries received from schools across the area. The standard of artwork was exceptionally high, showcasing the creativity, imagination and talent of young people in the community.

During the visit, Samuel Kurtz congratulated the winning pupil and thanked all those who took part, as well as the teachers and staff who supported the competition. Each child who entered also received a certificate in recognition of their hard work and effort.

Speaking after the presentation, Samuel said, “It was a real pleasure to visit Pembroke Dock Community School today and announce the winner of my Christmas Card competition. This year the winner is Mair Moseley, aged 10, and she designed a wonderful Santa image that really stood out. She has won a chocolate selection set and a £20 book token to enjoy over Christmas.”

He added, “ The creativity and enthusiasm shown by all the children was fantastic, and it made choosing a winner extremely difficult. I want to congratulate all the entrants and thank the staff for their ongoing support.”

Pembroke Dock Community School Headteacher, Mrs Katie Crockford-Morris, added, “We were delighted to welcome Samuel Kurtz MS to the school to present the prize. The children thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the competition, and they were incredibly proud to receive their certificates.”

The winning design will now be used as Samuel Kurtz’s official Christmas card this year, with one copy already on its way to His Majesty, King Charles.

Charity

Two Welsh families fund Childline across the UK on Christmas Day

Published

1 hour ago

December 15, 2025

Staff Writer

Joint £40,000 gift ensures vital support is available when children need it most

TWO Cardiff families have joined forces to fund the NSPCC’s Childline service across the whole of the UK on Christmas Day, ensuring children have somewhere to turn during one of the toughest times of the year.

The Peterson family and the Bowles family are each donating £20,000 as part of the charity’s One Unforgettable Day project. Their combined £40,000 contribution will cover the entire cost of running Childline for 24 hours on 25 December.

Childline operates 12 bases nationwide and offers a free, confidential service to anyone under 19, available day and night, 365 days a year. The festive period is often one of the most demanding for counsellors and volunteers; between 24 December 2024 and 4 January 2025, Childline delivered 4,261 counselling sessions.

Young people reach out to Childline for a range of reasons at Christmas, including mental health struggles, family tensions, financial worries, loneliness, and increased risks of abuse or domestic violence. With schools closed and regular support networks unavailable, demand for help typically rises.

Childline relies heavily on donations, fundraising and charitable partnerships. The support of Alan, Maggie and Hywel Peterson, and Nathan and Claire Bowles and their four children, will ensure counsellors are available throughout Christmas Day for any young person who needs them.

Hywel Peterson MBE, Chair of the NSPCC Cymru Fundraising Board, said:
“It’s an honour to help fund Childline across the whole of the UK this Christmas. This joint donation will ensure our dedicated staff and volunteers are there to support any child who needs us.”

Cardiff entrepreneur Nathan Bowles added:
“We know that Christmas can be a difficult time for some children, so our family is delighted to be joining forces with the Petersons this year to support this vital service.”

Louise Israel, Childline team manager at NSPCC Cymru’s Cardiff base, said:
“While children and young people need Childline all year round, we speak to many who find this time of year particularly difficult. It is only with the support of such generous people as the Peterson and Bowles families that our staff and volunteers can continue to be here throughout the Christmas holidays. This kindness will genuinely make a difference.”

Children can call Childline free on 0800 11 11 or visit www.childline.org.uk.
Anyone concerned about a child’s welfare can contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 or visit www.nspcc.org.uk for advice.