The Welsh Government came under fire during First Minister's Questions today after the Auditor General’s report said its purchase of Gilestone Farm was done with “avoidable haste” and “risk”.

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies questioned the Minister for Rural Affairs (covering for the First Minister who is on bereavement leave) over the £4.25m purchase of the farm, located in Talybont-on-Usk, citing six meetings between civil servants and Green Man Festival which went unminuted.

Adrian Compton, who carried out the investigation, raised several concerns about the £4.25m purchase last March. In the 50-page report published last week, he said using up unspent money by the end of the financial year was the "most significant" factor in the pace of the Welsh Government's decision making process.

During FMQs, Davies also highlighted how other businesses would have been expected to produce countless amounts of information as part of its application, adding it seems that little due diligence was conducted in purchasing the farm.

Commenting afterwards, Andrew RT Davies MS said: “Every update on this story shows it does not pass the smell test – the whole thing stinks. It was only a few weeks ago that it looked like the Labour Government had paid over £4m for a duck pond.

“Now, the Auditor General highlights that the Labour Government adopted avoidable risk and haste in its decision to spend millions of taxpayer cash on Gilestone Farm to support one specific venture in a manner for which other businesses would have had to produce extensive evidence.

“This murky affair shows that Labour cannot be trusted with public money – not only is it frittered away on vanity projects like Senedd expansion and Cardiff Airport, but recklessly thrown away without due diligence on schemes steeped in suspicion like Gilestone Farm.

“It is ridiculous that Labour ministers paid the exact amount that Green Man said it would cost, indicating it failed to negotiate sufficiently. I hope this point and the many other problematic issues highlighted by the report will continue to be scrutinised by the Public Account Committee.”

Following the publication of the report, the Welsh Government said that it welcomed the review.

A spokesperson said: “It is clear from the review that the acquisition of Gilestone Farm followed the appropriate processes, was value for money and is clearly aligned to our economic ambitions.”

They added that “no final decision” on the future of Gilestone Farm will be made until the due diligence process is complete.