Senedd members criticised the Welsh Government's new 'light-touch' approach to oversight after a feud involving senior museum managers cost taxpayers more than £750,000.

Mark Isherwood raised alarm about the response to the dispute between Roger Lewis and David Anderson, the former Museum Wales president and director-general respectively.

Mr Isherwood, who chairs the public accounts committee, warned the Welsh Government’s new 'light-touch' model for reviewing public bodies could lead to similar issues elsewhere.

The Tory criticised a decision to pause tailored reviews of arm’s-length bodies in the wake of the Museum Wales settlement, which cost the public purse £757,613 amid claims of bullying.

“To then move to self-assessment of public bodies is wrong when this has instead illustrated the need for more rigorous audit controls,” he told the Senedd

Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price said: “Surely we should be going in the opposite direction. What we need to have is more rigorous auditing, overview and oversight.”

Leading a debate on a report into the dispute, Mr Isherwood said the public accounts committee was extremely concerned by wholly unsatisfactory grievance procedures.

He said seeking to settle was preferable to an employment tribunal, which would have cost north of £1m, but the committee was dissatisfied with the rationale for the figure arrived at.

He warned: “Indeed, the auditor general for Wales concludes that the museum had not been able to demonstrate that it acted in the best interests of the public purse.”

Mr Isherwood, who represents North Wales, criticised ministerial advice that did not set out the cost of the settlement, placing the then-culture minister in an “invidious” position.

Mr Price told Senedd members the prolonged internal dispute at Museum Wales resulted in paralysis of decision-making processes for many years.

He said: “Despite awareness of serious failures of governance since, I believe, 2020, the Welsh Government's intervention lacked timeliness, transparency and allowed it to fester.”

Mr Price pointed to similar governance problems at other public bodies, including Sport Wales, Natural Resources Wales, Betsi Cadwaladr health board and fire services.