Latest news with #Thorley
Western Telegraph
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Western Telegraph
Anger as Reform Haverfordwest town councillor co-opted
The petition targets Haverfordwest Town Council in response to the recent co-option of Reform UK councillor Scott Thorley. Campaign group West Wales Stand Up to Racism argues that Mr Thorley's appointment undermines the council's commitment to inclusivity and anti-racism, given Reform UK's opposition to the Welsh Government's Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan. Cllr Scott Thorley has hit back at the petition, calling the group stroppy teenagers (Image: Cllr Scott Thorley - Reform UK Pembrokeshire) The petition calls on Pembrokeshire County Council to publicly reaffirm its support for an inclusive and anti-racist future, and urges Haverfordwest Town Council to review its co-option process. It states: "We, the undersigned, believe that our local councils must uphold the highest standards of ethical governance, transparency, and commitment to inclusivity. "Decisions made at the council level should reflect the values of fairness, equality, and a dedication to anti-racism." Mr Thorley said he welcomes the opportunity to contribute to anti-racist efforts but criticised the group's approach. He said: "As I have been invited to help on the anti-racist action plan by councillor Randell Thomas-Turner, I'm really confused by their comments. "I'm very much looking forward to helping integrate communities together in Haverfordwest using food, drink, culture, music and talking. "In my experience from dealing with them they are far from fighting racism, just because they say they're anti-racist doesn't mean they are, just as much as Jim Jones said he was the messiah. "They don't stand for election or try and join the town councils, they are cowards and try to bully people into changing their opinions. "Politics is about talking and helping people, they need to grow up, take their Che Guevara posters off their walls at home and stop acting like stroppy teenagers." Haverfordwest Town Council has responded to the petition, reaffirming its commitment to equality and transparency. Haverfordwest Town Council say they are committed to equality and transparency (Image: Google) A spokesman for the council said: "Haverfordwest Town Council is aware of the petition titled 'Petition for Ethical and Inclusive Governance in Haverfordwest Town Council.' "The council remains committed to fairness, transparency, and respect for all. "It proudly adopted the Welsh Government's Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan and continues to review its policies to ensure best practice in local governance. "The process to co-opt a member of council follows legal procedures. "This includes a public call for applications, consideration by elected members, and a vote at a duly convened meeting. "The council is non-party-political, and all councillors are bound by the Code of Conduct. "Haverfordwest Town Council remains dedicated to serving all members of the community fairly, respectfully, and without prejudice." Pembrokeshire County Council were also contacted for comment.
Pembrokeshire Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Petition launched over Reform councillor's co-option
Anti-racism campaigners challenge appointment as Cllr Scott Thorley hits back A PETITION has been launched calling for a review of co-option procedures at Haverfordwest Town Council after a Reform UK candidate was appointed to a vacant seat. Scott Thorley, who stood for Reform UK in February's Prendergast by-election, was co-opted to the town council on Thursday (Apr 17). Just two days later, political graffiti appeared at Withybush Retail Park—where he works—prompting further controversy. Scott Thorley: Now co-opted as a town councillor he had stood for election onto Pembrokeshire County Council The petition, organised by campaign group West Wales Stand Up to Racism, claims Thorley's appointment is incompatible with Wales' national commitment to building an anti-racist society. It calls on Pembrokeshire County Council to reaffirm its support for the Welsh Government's Anti-racist Wales Action Plan (AWAP), and for the town council to review its procedures to ensure future co-options reflect 'ethical governance and inclusivity'. Campaigners have highlighted Reform UK's opposition to the AWAP, which they describe as a key equality strategy aimed at eradicating systemic racism in Wales by 2030. The party has publicly criticised aspects of the plan, including measures designed to increase ethnic minority representation in teaching and public life. Graffiti messages reading 'KEIR STARMER OUT, REFORM IN! GOD SAVE US' and 'VOTE REFORM' were found sprayed in large letters across retail park walls on Saturday (Apr 19), two days after Thorley's appointment. Speaking to The Pembrokeshire Herald, Thorley strongly condemned the vandalism: 'Whoever has done this, it is vandalism plain and simple. It doesn't help us—it's embarrassing.' In response to the petition, Thorley issued a statement in full: 'As I have been invited to help on the anti-racist action plan by Councillor Randell Thomas-Turner, I'm really confused by their comments. I'm very much looking forward to helping integrate communities together in Haverfordwest using food, drink, culture, music and talking. 'In my experience from dealing with them they are far from fighting racism. Just because they say they're anti-racist doesn't mean they are—just as much as Jim Jones said he was the messiah. 'They don't stand for election or try and join the town councils—they are cowards and try to bully people into changing their opinions. 'Politics is about talking and helping people. They need to grow up, take their Che Guevara posters off their walls at home, and stop acting like stroppy teenagers.' Reform UK has been openly critical of the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan, arguing that it promotes what they describe as divisive 'identity politics.' The party objects to measures such as offering higher education grants to ethnic minority trainee teachers, which they claim amounts to racial preference and undermines equality based on merit. Reform figures have also criticised proposals to alter public spaces to accommodate cultural sensitivities, saying such policies are impractical and distract from core public concerns. Supporters of the plan argue it is a necessary step to address systemic racism and promote fairer opportunities across all sectors of Welsh society. The petition, remains open and has been circulated online by local campaigners, comes just days after Reform UK achieved a significant breakthrough in West Wales. On May 29, Michelle Beer won a by-election in the Lliedi ward of Llanelli, becoming the first Reform UK councillor elected to Carmarthenshire County Council. Her victory marked a notable gain for the party in a traditionally Labour stronghold, reflecting its growing presence in Welsh local politics. Reform UK has not issued a separate comment. PHOTO CAPTION: Under fire: Scott Thorley, pictured earlier this year with local police, says critics are more interested in 'bullying' than dialogue (Pic: Reform/Facebook)
Pembrokeshire Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Wetherspoons pub set to undergo changes
A 'FAILED EXPERIMENT' of investing public money in risky biotech-style businesses cost Welsh taxpayers at least £28m but achieved all of its original objectives, a committee heard. Giles Thorley, who heads the Development Bank of Wales, largely blamed external factors for the poor performance of the now-closed Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund. And the chief executive told the Senedd's public accounts committee the venture could be repeated in future provided the lessons are learned. His report detailed how the Welsh Government-owned development bank lost £28.2m investing into 'very high risk', unprofitable life sciences businesses. According to the paper published this week, the fund, which was managed by Arix Bioscience plc, paid £7.7m in fees or 15% of the initial £50m invested. Mr Thorley revealed the fund contract set no limits on the fees charged by the manager. He claimed the fund, which ran for the decade to 2023, met all of its initial four aims: to increase access to finance, attract businesses, grow the sector and boost research. The fund also had an ambition to raise another £50m, bringing the total to £100m, but Arix invested £5m in 2016 – with only £21.8m returned to the public purse to date. Managers ordinarily limit the investment into any one business to 10% but 40% of the fund was invested in only two businesses: Rutherford Health and ReNeuron. Each received £10m from the fund and both later went under, returning nothing and raising concerns that the portfolio was 'overly concentrated' in a handful of businesses. Mr Thorley wrote: 'Normally the maximum investment from a fund into a single business is limited to 10%. This mitigates the impact to the fund should some of the investments fail.' The fund held investments in only nine companies, with three exceeding 10% each and totalling nearly 60% of all investments held. By comparison, International Biotechnology Trust – a listed life sciences fund – holds dozens of investments to reduce risk, with none making up more than 5% according to its accounts. That fund has returned roughly 60% to investors over the past decade compared with a -56% return for taxpayers from the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund (WLSIF). Mr Thorley said the failed investment strategy assumed the further £50m would be raised, which resulted in less diversification, increased risk and limited follow-on funding. He also pointed to the pandemic, a big factor in Rutherford's failure, and the high-profile collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund – a co-investor in some WLSIF businesses. Mr Thorley said disappointing clinical trial results were the main factor for businesses like ReNeuron, which relaunched as a private company in March after a year in administration. He said: 'The nine investee businesses represented a broad portfolio, … from lower risk established businesses with revenue streams to very high risk (potentially very high return) pre-revenue businesses where future returns were wholly dependent on successful trials. 'To that extent, the portfolio was considered balanced.' Mr Thorley pointed to Simbec-Orion, the fund's only success story, which provided a £19.7m (2.24x) return on an £8.75m investment. He wrote: 'The fund did achieve all four of its objectives and it may have taken just one more portfolio company to succeed for the fund to have returned the full investment or profit. 'For that reason, provided all the lessons learnt from this fund are considered, the final lesson learnt is not to write off any future considerations for using a specialist fund manager with a dedicated fund as part of a wider approach to supporting growth in a business sector.' But Senedd Members seemed less keen as they briefly discussed the paper on May 3. Arix Bioscience blamed a two-year Wales Audit Office review of the fund as a major reason the extra £50m could not be raised. Adrian Crompton, the auditor general for Wales who sits on the public accounts committee, said: 'At a high level, the lessons learned report indicates that, the assessment is that all of the objectives of the fund were met and you, I'm sure, will have some observations on that.' Auditor General Adrian Crompton Describing the fund as a failure, Plaid Cymru's Adam Price said: 'I would suggest on the basis of this that we shouldn't replicate this experiment. 'It's fine to experiment but if an experiment fails and you say 'oh well, it's OK for us to try again', I think there are some more basic questions.' The public accounts committee, chaired by the Conservatives' Mark Isherwood, decided to discuss the matter in more detail behind closed doors, excluding the public and press.
Pembrokeshire Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Former Llanteg garden centre set to be redeveloped
A 'FAILED EXPERIMENT' of investing public money in risky biotech-style businesses cost Welsh taxpayers at least £28m but achieved all of its original objectives, a committee heard. Giles Thorley, who heads the Development Bank of Wales, largely blamed external factors for the poor performance of the now-closed Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund. And the chief executive told the Senedd's public accounts committee the venture could be repeated in future provided the lessons are learned. His report detailed how the Welsh Government-owned development bank lost £28.2m investing into 'very high risk', unprofitable life sciences businesses. According to the paper published this week, the fund, which was managed by Arix Bioscience plc, paid £7.7m in fees or 15% of the initial £50m invested. Mr Thorley revealed the fund contract set no limits on the fees charged by the manager. He claimed the fund, which ran for the decade to 2023, met all of its initial four aims: to increase access to finance, attract businesses, grow the sector and boost research. The fund also had an ambition to raise another £50m, bringing the total to £100m, but Arix invested £5m in 2016 – with only £21.8m returned to the public purse to date. Managers ordinarily limit the investment into any one business to 10% but 40% of the fund was invested in only two businesses: Rutherford Health and ReNeuron. Each received £10m from the fund and both later went under, returning nothing and raising concerns that the portfolio was 'overly concentrated' in a handful of businesses. Mr Thorley wrote: 'Normally the maximum investment from a fund into a single business is limited to 10%. This mitigates the impact to the fund should some of the investments fail.' The fund held investments in only nine companies, with three exceeding 10% each and totalling nearly 60% of all investments held. By comparison, International Biotechnology Trust – a listed life sciences fund – holds dozens of investments to reduce risk, with none making up more than 5% according to its accounts. That fund has returned roughly 60% to investors over the past decade compared with a -56% return for taxpayers from the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund (WLSIF). Mr Thorley said the failed investment strategy assumed the further £50m would be raised, which resulted in less diversification, increased risk and limited follow-on funding. He also pointed to the pandemic, a big factor in Rutherford's failure, and the high-profile collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund – a co-investor in some WLSIF businesses. Mr Thorley said disappointing clinical trial results were the main factor for businesses like ReNeuron, which relaunched as a private company in March after a year in administration. He said: 'The nine investee businesses represented a broad portfolio, … from lower risk established businesses with revenue streams to very high risk (potentially very high return) pre-revenue businesses where future returns were wholly dependent on successful trials. 'To that extent, the portfolio was considered balanced.' Mr Thorley pointed to Simbec-Orion, the fund's only success story, which provided a £19.7m (2.24x) return on an £8.75m investment. He wrote: 'The fund did achieve all four of its objectives and it may have taken just one more portfolio company to succeed for the fund to have returned the full investment or profit. 'For that reason, provided all the lessons learnt from this fund are considered, the final lesson learnt is not to write off any future considerations for using a specialist fund manager with a dedicated fund as part of a wider approach to supporting growth in a business sector.' But Senedd Members seemed less keen as they briefly discussed the paper on May 3. Arix Bioscience blamed a two-year Wales Audit Office review of the fund as a major reason the extra £50m could not be raised. Adrian Crompton, the auditor general for Wales who sits on the public accounts committee, said: 'At a high level, the lessons learned report indicates that, the assessment is that all of the objectives of the fund were met and you, I'm sure, will have some observations on that.' Auditor General Adrian Crompton Describing the fund as a failure, Plaid Cymru's Adam Price said: 'I would suggest on the basis of this that we shouldn't replicate this experiment. 'It's fine to experiment but if an experiment fails and you say 'oh well, it's OK for us to try again', I think there are some more basic questions.' The public accounts committee, chaired by the Conservatives' Mark Isherwood, decided to discuss the matter in more detail behind closed doors, excluding the public and press.
Pembrokeshire Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Ministers' botched £50m life sciences fund ‘achieved all its aims'
A 'FAILED EXPERIMENT' of investing public money in risky biotech-style businesses cost Welsh taxpayers at least £28m but achieved all of its original objectives, a committee heard. Giles Thorley, who heads the Development Bank of Wales, largely blamed external factors for the poor performance of the now-closed Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund. And the chief executive told the Senedd's public accounts committee the venture could be repeated in future provided the lessons are learned. His report detailed how the Welsh Government-owned development bank lost £28.2m investing into 'very high risk', unprofitable life sciences businesses. According to the paper published this week, the fund, which was managed by Arix Bioscience plc, paid £7.7m in fees or 15% of the initial £50m invested. Mr Thorley revealed the fund contract set no limits on the fees charged by the manager. He claimed the fund, which ran for the decade to 2023, met all of its initial four aims: to increase access to finance, attract businesses, grow the sector and boost research. The fund also had an ambition to raise another £50m, bringing the total to £100m, but Arix invested £5m in 2016 – with only £21.8m returned to the public purse to date. Managers ordinarily limit the investment into any one business to 10% but 40% of the fund was invested in only two businesses: Rutherford Health and ReNeuron. Each received £10m from the fund and both later went under, returning nothing and raising concerns that the portfolio was 'overly concentrated' in a handful of businesses. Mr Thorley wrote: 'Normally the maximum investment from a fund into a single business is limited to 10%. This mitigates the impact to the fund should some of the investments fail.' The fund held investments in only nine companies, with three exceeding 10% each and totalling nearly 60% of all investments held. By comparison, International Biotechnology Trust – a listed life sciences fund – holds dozens of investments to reduce risk, with none making up more than 5% according to its accounts. That fund has returned roughly 60% to investors over the past decade compared with a -56% return for taxpayers from the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund (WLSIF). Mr Thorley said the failed investment strategy assumed the further £50m would be raised, which resulted in less diversification, increased risk and limited follow-on funding. He also pointed to the pandemic, a big factor in Rutherford's failure, and the high-profile collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund – a co-investor in some WLSIF businesses. Mr Thorley said disappointing clinical trial results were the main factor for businesses like ReNeuron, which relaunched as a private company in March after a year in administration. He said: 'The nine investee businesses represented a broad portfolio, … from lower risk established businesses with revenue streams to very high risk (potentially very high return) pre-revenue businesses where future returns were wholly dependent on successful trials. 'To that extent, the portfolio was considered balanced.' Mr Thorley pointed to Simbec-Orion, the fund's only success story, which provided a £19.7m (2.24x) return on an £8.75m investment. He wrote: 'The fund did achieve all four of its objectives and it may have taken just one more portfolio company to succeed for the fund to have returned the full investment or profit. 'For that reason, provided all the lessons learnt from this fund are considered, the final lesson learnt is not to write off any future considerations for using a specialist fund manager with a dedicated fund as part of a wider approach to supporting growth in a business sector.' But Senedd Members seemed less keen as they briefly discussed the paper on May 3. Arix Bioscience blamed a two-year Wales Audit Office review of the fund as a major reason the extra £50m could not be raised. Adrian Crompton, the auditor general for Wales who sits on the public accounts committee, said: 'At a high level, the lessons learned report indicates that, the assessment is that all of the objectives of the fund were met and you, I'm sure, will have some observations on that.' Auditor General Adrian Crompton Describing the fund as a failure, Plaid Cymru's Adam Price said: 'I would suggest on the basis of this that we shouldn't replicate this experiment. 'It's fine to experiment but if an experiment fails and you say 'oh well, it's OK for us to try again', I think there are some more basic questions.' The public accounts committee, chaired by the Conservatives' Mark Isherwood, decided to discuss the matter in more detail behind closed doors, excluding the public and press.
