One of the founding principles of Welsh devolution was that decisions made closer to the people would lead to better governance. Unfortunately, over 25 years on, too many of our key institutions are failing and not because of a lack of powers or funding, but because of weak leadership, inadequate oversight, and a culture that resists accountability.
From higher education to economic development, health, sport, and broadcasting, a growing list of Welsh organisations are experiencing governance crises that can no longer be ignored with these failures increasingly appearing to be symptoms of a deeper structural problem.
As we all know, the university sector has dominated recent headlines due to the financial challenges it faces. Controversies over excessive vice-chancellor pay, questionable international recruitment, and costly capital projects have revealed how weak institutional oversight has become, with governing bodies often lacking independence, commercial expertise, or the willingness to challenge entrenched leadership.
Only this week, former education minister Leighton Andrews called for legislation to strengthen the governance of higher education institutions, including embedding social partnership principles into university governing bodies and giving the Welsh Government a larger role in ensuring accountability.
In the cultural sector, S4C has faced serious allegations of bullying and a toxic workplace culture, all of which led to a Senedd Culture Committee inquiry. While several high-profile resignations and internal staff surveys confirmed significant problems within the organisation, the leadership response was seen as slow and defensive, with little reassurance offered to staff or the public.
In addition, the National Museum of Wales, tasked with preserving and promoting the nation’s heritage, has also come under scrutiny with a prolonged internal dispute between senior figures costing over £750,000 in legal fees and settlements, and a report by the Auditor General flagging serious governance failings.
In sport, the Welsh Rugby Union is another institution where governance failure has damaged its reputation. A BBC Wales investigation made allegations of a deeply unhealthy culture of misogyny and bullying which led to the resignation of the CEO and an independent review found the WRU to be insular, outdated, and lacking in diversity and independence at board level. And only this week, the financial collapse of Cardiff Rugby has raised questions about the role of its board in overseeing investor due diligence, with the club left high and dry after being promised much.
In the public sector, the Welsh NHS has suffered from persistent governance problems and nowhere more so than at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in North Wales. It has been in and out of special measures for over a decade, with recurring concerns about leadership, financial control, and patient safety. Another damning report from the Auditor General, combined with whistleblower testimony and repeated failed interventions, all point to a systemic inability to hold leadership accountable and drive reform from within.
The Development Bank of Wales, which was set up to transform access to finance for Welsh businesses and now manages over £1bn should be a cornerstone of economic development. Yet questions persist about its transparency, particularly around how it engages with the businesses it funds and its accountability as a wholly owned arm of government. A recent story in The Sunday Times about its treatment of one of its investee companies has also raised fresh concerns about internal culture and oversight.
At Industry Wales, established by the Welsh Government to represent key economic sectors, the Auditor General for Wales was unable to verify the company’s accounts due to inadequate financial documentation and governance. This included irregular procurement worth over £800,000 and poor record-keeping of more than £200,000 in assets. For an organisation that has received nearly millions of pounds in public funding, these findings point to serious structural failings which have now been taken up by the Senedd’s Public Accounts Committee.
So what do all these examples have in common? Unfortunately, they reveal a fundamental weakness in how Welsh institutions are led and held to account with little scrutiny of how boards are formed, and in the case of public bodies, ministerial oversight arriving only after problems have spiralled out of control.
The danger of ignoring these failures is real and as we all know now, the Post Office scandal where hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly accused over two decades should serve as a constant reminder of the catastrophic human cost of poor governance. Without scrutiny, transparency, and the courage to confront wrongdoing, bad management of public bodies can and does cause lasting harm.
Wales also suffers from a broader cultural challenge and while we rightly pride ourselves on consensus politics, this familiarity can drift into groupthink in a small country where everyone knows everyone else. Dissent is discouraged, whistleblowers often face isolation and with limited investigative journalism critical voices are too easily lost, pilloried, or ignored by those threatened by any challenge to their performance.
If our nation is to reach its full potential after a quarter of a century of devolution, we need a fundamental reset in public governance. Boards must prioritise independence, expertise, and diversity rather than loyalty and longevity. Transparency and openness must be non-negotiable as it is not the role of public bodies to hide the truth but to embrace mistakes and learn from them.
Wales is a small country with huge potential, but unless we fix how our institutions are governed, we will continue to fall short. We all deserve better than what has gone before and it is time to create a governance structure within our public organisations that is not only fit for purpose but capable of making a real difference to our nation.
