Welsh land

They said they were concerned that one of the company's employees was working for both Rifw, which was selling the sites, and South Wales Land Developments, which was buying the site.

They said: "We recommend that the Welsh Government and Rifw should carefully consider whether any potential cause of action lies against Lambert Smith Hampton (and against Amber in respect of its oversight of Lambert Smith Hampton) regarding:

• the advice provided to the Rifw board on the sale; and
• the contractual terms of appointment when acting for both SWLD and Rifw.

"The Committee recommends that the Welsh Government should consider referring Lambert Smith Hampton to their professional body".

The Welsh Government

The committee warned the Welsh Government’s oversight of RIFW was “fatally flawed” and “broke down”.

Its members were concerned that “no minutes were kept of meetings to discuss key decisions regarding the sale of the RIFW assets”.

They called on the Welsh Government to act with “urgency” to address “deficiencies in the robustness of its record keeping”.

The committee said RIFW’s board was “not presented with key information regarding the value of the land in its portfolio, or of expressions of interest from potential buyers.”

The Welsh Government responded to the report by stating that £16.5m will be released for regeneration projects in the coming year. The funding will be “transferred from RIFW to the Welsh Government”.

It will be used to “help to create jobs, increase housing supply and improve community facilities across Wales”.