Blogger questions public spending in Kidwelly

Jac o’ the North is a well known blogger in Wales. He has researched and exposed a number of scandals involving issues around the spending of public money in Wales. He lists some of these as:

One-hundred-and-fifty million pounds (£150m) returned to London (presumably because we have all we need)
A failing airport bought for about ten times what it was worth.
A farm bought for £4.25m (a purchase no one can explain).
The £7.3m lost on the Circuit of Wales disaster.

This outlet ran an  item on the Gwen Gwen Festival in Kidwelly, which took place in 2022. At the time we asked a lot of questions regarding the spending of such a large amount of money on a weekend festival and asked the organisers if we could be confident that the process would be open and transparent with details of how much was spent and how much was made or lost. It was public money after all.

Anectdotal evidence from some businesses in Kidwelly was that they did not benefit from the festival and in fact some closed for part of the weekend. Drone footage shows stalls at a market on land near the castle with very few people visible. In contrast the Kidwelly Carnival attracts thousands of people and costs considerably less to attend, with money going back into the community.

Jac o’ the North’s latest item questions attempts to re-vitalise the local economy in Kidwelly through tourism.

In the summer of 2021 the Black Cat Tourism Strategy had secured £270,000, “to implement a two-year strategy aimed at growing the visitor economy in Kidwelly and Mynydd-y-garreg”. The money came from the Coastal Communities Fund, a UK project linked to the Crown Estate; administered in Wales by the ‘Welsh Government’ through the Big Lottery Fund. The grant was awarded to a partnership of the town council and the ‘Hub’, run by Kidwelly Community Hub CIC. (A Community Interest Company.)

Jac as did we, looked to the public servants we elect for answers. He said: “I tried to dig the figures out for myself. There seemed to be three obvious places to look: the town council records, the Hub accounts, and the company I assumed would have been set up to manage the Black Cat Tourism initiative.

“Working backwards, the Gwên Community and Regeneration CIC wasn’t set up until February this year. (The grant, remember, was allocated in June 2021.) Thus far, the only document filed with Companies House is the Certificate of Incorporation.

“Towards the end of that document we read this minor masterpiece in grant-grab waffle. It really is a gem. I speak as someone who’s read many over the years, and penned a few myself. Moving on, what can we learn from the Hub accounts? Well, to begin with, the ‘front page’ on the Companies House entry for the Hub tells us that the last accounts filed were for year ending 31 March 2021. That is, before the grant was awarded.

“Which left the town council as the last hope. The minutes tell us little, and the archived accounts seem to be intermittent, with no audited accounts after 2017.

“So where is the £270,ooo accounted for? It seems unlikely the Hub will produce any further accounts, and the new company will not be required to produce accounts for the period before it was set up.

“Which leads me to suggest that the onus for accounting for the £270,000, in full, must now lie firmly with Kidwelly Town Council, the surviving partner.

“Another reason for me saying that is because the council has been paying Gwên Gwen invoices. That’s certainly what the Finance Committee minutes for January tell us.”

We contacted Kidwelly Town Council again seeking information on how much money was spent and on what it was spent and if there was any profit or loss.

We were told by the clerk for the council: “I am aware that there is a lot of misinformation being bandied around with implications of impropriety. This is a sad reflection on the efforts made by many individuals in the community who contributed to the success of the festival. Many promoters and artists were very satisfied with the outcome and the warm welcome they received during the weekend. As previously stated I am not in a position to provide financial data at this time.

The Town Council is not an official partner for the Gwên Gwen festival 2023. On the Town Council Facebook page they state:
“Kidwelly Town Council welcomes the news that a new community organisation will be bringing the Gwên Gwen festival back to the town in August 2023. While Kidwelly Town Council is not an official partner in this year’s festival, and is not involved in its organisation, we wish Gwen Community and Regeneration CIC every success in their venture.”