Auditor classifies excess expenditure as ‘irregular’ after health board fails both statutory financial duties

HYWEL DDA University Health Board spent £112 million more than it was authorised to over a three-year period, according to a report by the Auditor General for Wales.

The finding comes as new figures show NHS Wales ended 2025-26 with an annual deficit of £199 million, £75 million worse than the previous year, despite receiving a significant increase in funding.

Auditors found that Hywel Dda exceeded its cumulative revenue resource limit of £3.893 billion by £112.043 million between 2023-24 and 2025-26.

Because the spending was above the limit authorised under the NHS financial framework, the Auditor General classified the excess as “irregular expenditure” and issued a qualified opinion on the regularity of the health board’s accounts.

The term does not mean that auditors found fraud or that the money was unaccounted for. It means Hywel Dda spent beyond the authority granted to it after failing to balance its finances over the rolling three-year period.

The health board’s accounts were found to give a true and fair picture of its financial position, and auditors reported no uncorrected misstatements that needed to be brought to the board’s attention.

However, Hywel Dda failed both of the statutory financial duties imposed on health boards.

The first requires boards to balance their income and expenditure over a rolling three-year period.

The second requires them to produce a three-year integrated plan approved by Welsh ministers. Hywel Dda did not have an approved plan covering 2025-26 to 2027-28.

The local findings form part of a wider financial crisis facing the Welsh health service.

Audit Wales said NHS Wales received £12.39 billion in revenue funding during 2025-26, an increase of £823 million compared with the previous year and a real-terms rise of 3.8 per cent.

Despite that increase, the annual NHS Wales deficit rose from £124 million to £199 million.

The accumulated deficit over the latest three-year period has now reached £506 million.

Six of Wales’s seven health boards failed their statutory duty to break even over three years. Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board was the only board to meet the requirement and the only one to have a three-year plan approved by the Welsh Government.

Audit Wales warned that the overall deficit was unlikely to improve in the near future, with most health boards still unable to produce financially balanced plans.

The health service reported savings of £256 million during the year, but this was only £3 million more than in 2024-25.

Auditors also raised concerns about an increasing reliance on temporary, one-off savings rather than permanent reductions in costs.

There was some improvement in spending on agency staff, which fell to £128 million. That was 61 per cent below the peak recorded in 2022-23, although almost three-quarters of the remaining agency bill was used to cover vacant posts.

Darren Hughes, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, said health boards had worked hard to identify savings and reduce agency expenditure, but were still facing intense pressures caused by rising demand and increasing costs.

He said NHS leaders were being forced to make exceptionally difficult decisions, adding that “efficiencies alone will not be enough to secure a sustainable future for the NHS”.

Mr Hughes called for service redesign to be undertaken in partnership with staff, patients and communities, alongside greater investment in buildings, infrastructure and digital technology.

He said more than 60 per cent of the NHS estate in Wales was over 30 years old, while the backlog of essential maintenance work had exceeded £1 billion.

Mr Hughes added: “We need an honest national conversation about the changes required to ensure health and care services can meet future demand.”

ANIMAL welfare campaigners have welcomed a UK Government consultation on tighter controls over the use of loud fireworks outside organised displays.

The RSPCA described the announcement as a “major step forward” and urged pet owners and animal lovers across England and Wales to take part in the consultation.

David Bowles OBE, the charity’s head of public affairs, said fireworks could cause severe distress and lasting harm to pets, horses, livestock and wildlife.

He said: “For too long, pets, horses, wildlife and farmed animals have been deeply affected by fireworks and the lack of regulation, including DIY and impromptu displays.

“Animals such as dogs and horses can suffer from tinnitus, hearing loss and long-term hearing damage, while all animals can experience stress and fear, which has in some instances led to injury and even death.

“Livestock and other animals living outdoors often try to escape the bangs out of fear, sometimes injuring themselves in the process, and the consequences can be devastating.”

An RSPCA survey carried out in 2024 found that 66 per cent of pet owners considered backyard firework displays to be a major concern.

The charity has long campaigned for tighter restrictions and more responsible use of fireworks. Its work has included an annual calming programme with Classic FM on Bonfire Night and its Kind Sparks campaign, which encourages communities to consider the impact of fireworks on animals and vulnerable people.

The RSPCA is also a member of the Fireworks Impact Coalition, a group of 19 organisations representing people and animals adversely affected by fireworks.

Mr Bowles added: “This campaign has never been about spoiling people’s fun, but about protecting animals.

“This consultation has the potential to be a game changer. We now have an opportunity to give animals a voice by encouraging everyone who cares about them to respond and support these long-awaited restrictions.”

Party leader says allegations involving children in care underline the need for a Wales-wide investigation into institutional failings

THE WELSH CONSERVATIVES have renewed calls for a Wales-wide inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation following the charging of eight people in Gwent.

Gwent Police said eight British nationals had been charged with more than 30 offences as part of an investigation into alleged group-based child sexual exploitation.

Responding to the development, Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar MS said the allegations represented a serious betrayal of children who should have been protected by the care system.

“These are horrific allegations representing an unforgivable betrayal of children who should have been protected by the care system,” he said.

“We now have reports of abuse in Gwent, Swansea, Rhyl and rural Wales. It is essential that the Welsh Government commissions a Wales-wide inquiry to ensure that no stone is left unturned in exposing the extent of these crimes.”

Mr Millar said any inquiry should examine the conduct of schools, councils, health services and other public bodies, including whether opportunities to protect vulnerable children had been missed.

He added: “We need to understand why opportunities to intervene were missed and whether institutional failings allowed abuse to continue unchecked.

“We must ensure justice for victims, hold perpetrators to account and get to grips with any systemic failings that allowed such abuse to take place.”

Peter Fox MS, the party’s Shadow Minister for Local Government and Communities, said he had been deeply shocked by the allegations, particularly reports that the alleged victims had been in care.

“Our hearts go out to the victims who have bravely come forward during this investigation,” he said.

“They have suffered so much and for too long. Justice must now prevail.”

The Welsh Conservatives have repeatedly pressed the Welsh Government to establish a national inquiry examining the scale of group-based child sexual exploitation in Wales and the response of public authorities.

The charges have not yet been tested in court. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.