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This landscape should be alive | 0:00:05 | 0:00:07 | |
with the sound of racing engines and roaring crowds. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:12 | |
The promise was for thousands of jobs to be created | 0:00:12 | 0:00:15 | |
with the Circuit of Wales. | 0:00:15 | 0:00:18 | |
Promises don't pay mortgages or keep a roof over you. | 0:00:18 | 0:00:22 | |
Without Circuit of Wales, it will be a case of, | 0:00:22 | 0:00:27 | |
last person to leave, please shut the lights out. | 0:00:27 | 0:00:29 | |
Welsh government has spent millions of our money on this. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:31 | |
Tonight, questions are being asked about | 0:00:31 | 0:00:33 | |
where some of that money was spent. | 0:00:33 | 0:00:34 | |
I made some simple queries, and what I've discovered | 0:00:34 | 0:00:37 | |
absolutely horrifies me. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:39 | |
A former insider questions the promises that were made. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
I think people need to wake up and smell the coffee, | 0:00:42 | 0:00:45 | |
because it took me four and a bit years to do so. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:53 | |
Investment is still needed to get the circuit up and running. | 0:00:53 | 0:00:56 | |
But with enquiries into the use of public money underway, | 0:00:56 | 0:00:58 | |
we talk to the man behind the dream, and ask, can he deliver? | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
People have invested lots of hope, faith, dreams and ambition, | 0:01:01 | 0:01:06 | |
and so far they have come to nothing. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:09 | |
They're praying for better times in Ebbw Vale. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:32 | |
And for the Circuit of Wales. | 0:01:32 | 0:01:37 | |
We want this for the community, and we are also saying to the people | 0:01:37 | 0:01:41 | |
with the vision to do this, we are praying for you. | 0:01:41 | 0:01:43 | |
We are supporting you. We are on your side in this. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:48 | |
We are in the third generation of unemployment. | 0:01:51 | 0:01:54 | |
Youngsters with no hope of a job, they don t see any hope. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:58 | |
There is nothing else on the horizon. | 0:01:58 | 0:02:01 | |
We have seen other factories come and go, shops close, | 0:02:01 | 0:02:05 | |
they come for five minutes and disappear elsewhere. | 0:02:05 | 0:02:08 | |
There is nothing else and that is why I am supporting it. | 0:02:08 | 0:02:14 | |
There is no Plan B. | 0:02:14 | 0:02:18 | |
This is their promised land. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:34 | |
We were told that by now there would be | 0:02:34 | 0:02:38 | |
a state of the art race circuit, with miles of tarmac, concrete, | 0:02:38 | 0:02:41 | |
and thousands of bringing the circuit to life. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:43 | |
Instead...well. | 0:02:43 | 0:02:48 | |
Welsh Government has put ?9 million of our money on this scheme so far, | 0:02:48 | 0:02:56 | |
in the belief that if they did, then private investors | 0:02:56 | 0:02:59 | |
would buy in, too. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:01 | |
But will the public be left picking up the bill | 0:03:01 | 0:03:03 | |
if this turns out to be nothing more than an expensive dream? | 0:03:03 | 0:03:10 | |
Michael Carrick is the man behind the dream. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:17 | |
We first started investigating his promises two years ago. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:21 | |
Can you look me in the eye right now and say, | 0:03:22 | 0:03:24 | |
yes, you are definitely going to deliver? | 0:03:24 | 0:03:29 | |
We have to deliver, we absolutely have to deliver. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:31 | |
If we fail to do that, it is an absolute disaster. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:36 | |
And failure wasn't an option according to his team, | 0:03:36 | 0:03:38 | |
driving the public relations message to schools at the time. | 0:03:38 | 0:03:41 | |
No longer will you have to leave Blaenau Gwent | 0:03:41 | 0:03:43 | |
to find a job and an opportunity, they will exist on your doorstep. | 0:03:43 | 0:03:46 | |
They said this would be the jewel in the crown. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:50 | |
The circuit was going to host the world famous Moto GP. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:55 | |
We are starting to build it this year that s how close it is. | 0:03:55 | 0:04:00 | |
By September next year, we could have our first races | 0:04:00 | 0:04:02 | |
taking place up the road from here. | 0:04:02 | 0:04:05 | |
Well, he got that wrong. | 0:04:05 | 0:04:08 | |
Two years on, this is where that race is still being held. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:16 | |
The fans who are camped here should be going through the turn styles | 0:04:16 | 0:04:19 | |
in Ebbw Vale to see the world famous Moto GP event. | 0:04:19 | 0:04:24 | |
Instead, they are here at this campsite at Silverstone, | 0:04:24 | 0:04:28 | |
the home of British motor racing, for yet another year. | 0:04:28 | 0:04:33 | |
There's no shortage of enthusiasm here for the Circuit of Wales. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:37 | |
We were expecting to be there two year plan to build then this | 0:04:37 | 0:04:42 | |
We were expecting to be there two year plan to build then this | 0:04:43 | 0:04:47 | |
year to be there very gutting for ourselves. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:48 | |
Of course, it would get the support. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:50 | |
Wales is a beautiful country. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:51 | |
Let's have it, let's do it, come on. | 0:04:51 | 0:04:55 | |
The Circuit of Wales is paying millions of pounds a year | 0:04:55 | 0:04:58 | |
to Spanish company Dorna to host Moto GP in the UK. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:02 | |
They are also having to pay Silverstone to run it | 0:05:02 | 0:05:06 | |
because the Circuit of Wales is still on the drawing board. | 0:05:06 | 0:05:09 | |
But why is it taking so long to start building? | 0:05:09 | 0:05:11 | |
The answer is money. | 0:05:11 | 0:05:14 | |
The estimated costs have now risen from ?350 million to ?425 million. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:19 | |
But two years ago Mr Carrick said he had investors lined up. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:24 | |
Though he wouldn t say who they were. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:28 | |
How much is promised to you from independent investors? | 0:05:28 | 0:05:31 | |
More than we need. | 0:05:31 | 0:05:33 | |
More than you need? | 0:05:33 | 0:05:35 | |
We need ?200 million from our investors. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:38 | |
We have agreements, and they are taking their agreements | 0:05:38 | 0:05:41 | |
through their processes. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:42 | |
But to date, that money still hasn t appeared. | 0:05:42 | 0:05:46 | |
So two years on, what does Michael Carrick have to say | 0:05:46 | 0:05:49 | |
about the promises he made? | 0:05:49 | 0:05:54 | |
In March of 2014, you said you had investors | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
In March of 2014, you said you had investors | 0:05:57 | 0:05:59 | |
and money lined up. | 0:05:59 | 0:06:01 | |
Where did it go? | 0:06:01 | 0:06:05 | |
Well, it s got to come when you have got a project to be invested in | 0:06:05 | 0:06:11 | |
and at that time, we didn't envisage having a public inquiry | 0:06:11 | 0:06:14 | |
or two and half years of engagement. | 0:06:14 | 0:06:16 | |
Investors would have to know there had there to be a public | 0:06:16 | 0:06:25 | |
inquiry, they know how these things work. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
This was a deregistration process of common land and with uncertainty | 0:06:28 | 0:06:30 | |
you have to actually change your position and we changed it. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:33 | |
"We changed our position." | 0:06:33 | 0:06:34 | |
What does "change your position" mean? | 0:06:34 | 0:06:35 | |
It means we chose we wanted to deliver the project | 0:06:35 | 0:06:38 | |
in a different way and reason we chose it to do it in a different | 0:06:38 | 0:06:41 | |
way was to attract a different type of investor that was longer term | 0:06:41 | 0:06:45 | |
and better for our project. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:46 | |
David Bates worked with Michael Carrick from 2012 to find | 0:06:46 | 0:06:48 | |
investors for a number of developments | 0:06:48 | 0:06:50 | |
including the circuit. | 0:06:50 | 0:06:51 | |
Did he know where the ?200 million was coming from? | 0:06:51 | 0:06:54 | |
We didn't have private capital to best of my knowledge in 2014. | 0:06:54 | 0:07:00 | |
It would have been unlikely we had private capital it in March 2014. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:08 | |
It was about May-June 2014 that we agreed | 0:07:08 | 0:07:15 | |
a document called the PPM. | 0:07:15 | 0:07:20 | |
For people who want to invest, this is document you need | 0:07:20 | 0:07:22 | |
to read because it tells you what you are investing in. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:27 | |
You feel you were in a position to know whether there was private | 0:07:27 | 0:07:30 | |
investment for this scheme. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:31 | |
Absolutely. | 0:07:31 | 0:07:35 | |
It would have been a quantum step forward | 0:07:35 | 0:07:37 | |
and no-one was going to keep that secret. | 0:07:37 | 0:07:44 | |
We understand there was a PPM document, the private placement | 0:07:44 | 0:07:47 | |
memorandum document, to give prospective investors wasn't | 0:07:47 | 0:07:50 | |
issued until a few months after we spoke. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:52 | |
Well, it is entirely different, Tim. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:54 | |
A PPM document is a final legal contractual document that | 0:07:54 | 0:08:00 | |
investors subscribe. | 0:08:00 | 0:08:03 | |
It doesn't mean you have conversations before | 0:08:03 | 0:08:05 | |
for years before... | 0:08:05 | 0:08:06 | |
Conversations are one thing actually having the money | 0:08:06 | 0:08:08 | |
is something, isn't it? | 0:08:08 | 0:08:09 | |
Well, actually having the planning is something else, isn't it. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:11 | |
Until you have the planning, the deregistration, the detailed | 0:08:11 | 0:08:13 | |
construction documentation, you can't go forward. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:16 | |
The company has continued to rally support. | 0:08:16 | 0:08:22 | |
At this summer's eisteddfod their message was that the circuit | 0:08:22 | 0:08:24 | |
is still very much on track. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
And in September, it was the same in Ebbw Vale. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
I think it would be fantastic idea and it should the jobs. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:33 | |
There's a college down the road, there's got to be other technology | 0:08:33 | 0:08:43 | |
This is going to be a typical ghost town without Circuit of Wales, | 0:08:51 | 0:08:57 | |
it will be a case of last person to leave, please | 0:08:57 | 0:09:00 | |
shut the lights out. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:03 | |
We need jobs and in this area and if this brings jobs, brilliant! | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
But so far they haven't ? and that's the problem. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:08 | |
Two years ago we filmed plumbing student John Daniels | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
at the local college. | 0:09:10 | 0:09:11 | |
He asked the company's recruiter for a job. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:15 | |
I know it sounds like begging but I am that desperate | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
to get the opportunity. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:19 | |
There's nothing wrong in wanting a job - never apologise | 0:09:19 | 0:09:22 | |
for being keen to work. | 0:09:22 | 0:09:24 | |
Thank you, I look forward to seeing you on the track maybe. | 0:09:24 | 0:09:30 | |
John is still waiting for that call. | 0:09:30 | 0:09:35 | |
You can't live on hope. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:45 | |
You can't wake up every day thinking that phone's going to ring | 0:09:52 | 0:10:02 | |
because they told you it was going to | 0:10:02 | 0:10:04 | |
ring cos it don't. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:06 | |
All John's had are temporary jobs. | 0:10:06 | 0:10:07 | |
He's one of thousands who hoped to be working on the circuit by now. | 0:10:07 | 0:10:10 | |
I'm going over the job centre. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:12 | |
I'm phoning the agency. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:13 | |
Happening? | 0:10:13 | 0:10:14 | |
Oh, we haven't heard nothing yet. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:15 | |
But it is definitely happening at the end of the month now. | 0:10:15 | 0:10:18 | |
Promises don't pay mortgages or keep a roof over you. | 0:10:18 | 0:10:21 | |
A public inquiry held up progress for a year. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
But there has been nearly a year of further delays | 0:10:23 | 0:10:25 | |
because the company can't find enough private investment. | 0:10:25 | 0:10:27 | |
Don't say nothing till you are sure it's going ahead, | 0:10:27 | 0:10:29 | |
don't fill everyone with hope. | 0:10:29 | 0:10:31 | |
To help bring in big money and create confidence among | 0:10:31 | 0:10:38 | |
among the private sector, Michael Carrick convinced Welsh | 0:10:38 | 0:10:47 | |
government to award his company a ?2 million development | 0:10:47 | 0:10:49 | |
grant and to underwrite a ?7.35 million bank loan. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:51 | |
Welsh government has told us it agreed to give the money knowing | 0:10:51 | 0:10:54 | |
that the company did not have confirmed investors on board. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:57 | |
So why did it decide to take the risk? | 0:10:57 | 0:11:06 | |
Prof Gerald Holtham is an economist who has had a career in the city | 0:11:06 | 0:11:09 | |
and worked as an advisor to Welsh government. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:11 | |
In order to commit that money when you haven't got any other | 0:11:11 | 0:11:15 | |
investors, you have to believe it has got a good chance of flying | 0:11:15 | 0:11:24 | |
of working, being viable, and to form that view | 0:11:24 | 0:11:27 | |
you have to do what's known in the trade as due diligence, | 0:11:27 | 0:11:30 | |
you have to do your market research | 0:11:30 | 0:11:35 | |
to satisfy yourself, that yes, this could work. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:36 | |
Because they had no other investors to rely on they had to go out | 0:11:36 | 0:11:40 | |
and do it themselves. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:42 | |
So this opens up the role of Welsh Government in this whole | 0:11:42 | 0:11:44 | |
process to closer scrutiny, does it? | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
It's always a good question - what procedures do you follow | 0:11:46 | 0:11:50 | |
in that sort of situation? | 0:11:50 | 0:11:53 | |
And they ought to be able to answer that question. | 0:11:53 | 0:12:00 | |
Does ?9.3 million seem like a lot of money? | 0:12:00 | 0:12:04 | |
Yes, for a pre-investment, it seems like a lot of money. | 0:12:04 | 0:12:07 | |
Welsh government says the public money it's given is in line | 0:12:07 | 0:12:10 | |
with its processes and procedures. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:13 | |
And it's due diligence reports - prepared by external advisors | 0:12:13 | 0:12:18 | |
are due to be released. | 0:12:18 | 0:12:20 | |
But are being reviewed to check if any parts remain | 0:12:20 | 0:12:23 | |
commercially confidential. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:24 | |
Michael Carrick and his company have always been confident | 0:12:24 | 0:12:32 | |
the development will go ahead and earlier this year, a potential | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
investor in the form of insurance giant AVIVA was revealed. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:37 | |
Which was said to be prepared to back the scheme on the condition | 0:12:37 | 0:12:40 | |
that Welsh government was prepared to underwrite the whole deal. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:48 | |
But the economy minister at the time came back with a very clear no. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:52 | |
You've got to look at the risk we are now being asked to undertake. | 0:12:52 | 0:12:57 | |
When we started to talk about this project we knew there'd been private | 0:12:57 | 0:13:05 | |
sector investment, it went from talking | 0:13:05 | 0:13:07 | |
about ?35m weeks ago to over ?350m as a guarantee, | 0:13:07 | 0:13:09 | |
it's a 100% guarantee. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:11 | |
We wanted to support this project, we thought it would have been good | 0:13:11 | 0:13:14 | |
but I'm not entitled to take the risk with that type of money | 0:13:14 | 0:13:22 | |
and I don't think the public would expect me to take that risk. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:26 | |
At the time, David Bates was at Michael Carrick's company | 0:13:26 | 0:13:28 | |
Aventa Capital Partners which looks for investors. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:30 | |
He says the news came as a shock because Michael Carrick had | 0:13:30 | 0:13:33 | |
told him it was a done deal. | 0:13:33 | 0:13:34 | |
So Michael Carrick told you? | 0:13:34 | 0:13:36 | |
Yes, Welsh government had agreed a 100% guarantee. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
So he was convincing in that, and sure about that? | 0:13:40 | 0:13:42 | |
Yeah. | 0:13:42 | 0:13:43 | |
As far as you were concerned? | 0:13:43 | 0:13:44 | |
Absolutely. | 0:13:44 | 0:13:53 | |
At that point, when she said what she said, that was a light bulb | 0:13:53 | 0:13:57 | |
moment when you suddenly realise the emperor doesn't have any | 0:13:57 | 0:13:59 | |
clothes, that it's not what you always thought | 0:13:59 | 0:14:01 | |
it was going to be. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:08 | |
That was mentally the end of me and Aventa because I felt I'd been | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
led up garden path to be honest. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:13 | |
Did the Welsh Government ever tell you they were willing | 0:14:13 | 0:14:15 | |
to underwrite the deal by 100%? | 0:14:15 | 0:14:19 | |
Because we understood you told people, including colleagues, | 0:14:19 | 0:14:22 | |
that that deal was done. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:24 | |
Why say that? | 0:14:24 | 0:14:27 | |
Well, I think we were all moving towards a deal | 0:14:27 | 0:14:29 | |
we felt was deliverable. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:31 | |
All the delivery partners including our financing partners, | 0:14:31 | 0:14:34 | |
investors, our contractors, felt we had a solution and even | 0:14:34 | 0:14:38 | |
the government thought we had a solution that was deliverable. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:42 | |
The Welsh Government told us it has never offered the company a 100% | 0:14:42 | 0:14:45 | |
guarantee and that the previous Minister made that clear. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:51 | |
The future of this whole development and the community below was suddenly | 0:14:51 | 0:14:55 | |
thrown into jeopardy. | 0:14:55 | 0:14:58 | |
Unless Michael Carrick could find enough new private investors, | 0:14:58 | 0:15:02 | |
the Circuit would remain just a field of dreams. | 0:15:02 | 0:15:08 | |
The company had already spent the ?9 million of grant and loan it | 0:15:09 | 0:15:13 | |
had from the public purse. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:15 | |
So questions began emerging about what we had to show for it. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:20 | |
Hello, can I speak to David Davies, please? | 0:15:20 | 0:15:23 | |
The MP who's Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select committee | 0:15:23 | 0:15:26 | |
had been asked by Michael Carrick to promote the Circuit. | 0:15:26 | 0:15:31 | |
What he has been doing all along is go around prominent people | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
in Wales, politicians, and get them all to say this | 0:15:34 | 0:15:37 | |
is a fantastic project, Welsh Government go ahead and sort | 0:15:37 | 0:15:40 | |
this out and make project happen. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:47 | |
David Davies began asking questions about how public money | 0:15:47 | 0:15:49 | |
was being spent and the relationship between Mr Carrick's private company | 0:15:49 | 0:15:53 | |
Aventa - and the firm behind the Circuit, the Heads | 0:15:53 | 0:15:55 | |
of the Valleys Development Company, which was being propped | 0:15:55 | 0:15:58 | |
up by public money. | 0:15:58 | 0:16:01 | |
I made some simple queries into this which is the right thing to do | 0:16:01 | 0:16:06 | |
before giving support for something and what I have discovered | 0:16:06 | 0:16:08 | |
absolutely horrifies me. | 0:16:08 | 0:16:12 | |
It emerged that Aventa has been paid nearly ?1 million to find investors | 0:16:12 | 0:16:15 | |
for the Circuit. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:17 | |
We asked David Bates if that was something | 0:16:17 | 0:16:19 | |
he was aware of? | 0:16:19 | 0:16:21 | |
Yes, Aventa charged fees to the Heads of Valleys for work it | 0:16:21 | 0:16:24 | |
did for Heads of the Valleys. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:28 | |
It had a commercial agreement to do so. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:32 | |
The largest shareholder in Heads of the Valleys Development Company | 0:16:32 | 0:16:36 | |
and he owns Aventa so he was charging himself. | 0:16:36 | 0:16:41 | |
In | 0:16:41 | 0:16:48 | |
Yes, it came from one company controlled by Michael to another | 0:16:48 | 0:16:50 | |
company controlled by Michael. | 0:16:50 | 0:16:51 | |
But not everyone who's worked on the scheme has been paid. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
There's been such excitement and belief in the Circuit of Wales, | 0:16:54 | 0:16:56 | |
that a number of companies have been prepared to work on the project | 0:16:56 | 0:17:00 | |
without being paid so far. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:09 | |
Some are doing it "at risk" - in other words, if the project | 0:17:17 | 0:17:20 | |
doesn't work they won't get paid. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:22 | |
And we have discovered that the value of that work so far | 0:17:22 | 0:17:25 | |
is around ?23 million. | 0:17:25 | 0:17:26 | |
David Bates is one of those and he left the project | 0:17:26 | 0:17:28 | |
in the summer. | 0:17:28 | 0:17:31 | |
Everyone who's been involved in this project has got lot riding on this. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:34 | |
There's lots of personal financial pain if this project | 0:17:34 | 0:17:36 | |
doesn't go ahead, yes. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:37 | |
We understand it is around ?23 million worth of support | 0:17:37 | 0:17:39 | |
which is being done by companies at risk - | 0:17:39 | 0:17:41 | |
what happens to their money if this is not built? | 0:17:41 | 0:17:44 | |
Well, we are hoping it will get built, we are hoping | 0:17:44 | 0:17:46 | |
the structure goes forward. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:47 | |
I think we are all confident it will get built but it is | 0:17:47 | 0:17:51 | |
a risk of projects that sometimes they don't work. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
So what about Michael Carrick's company Aventa? | 0:17:55 | 0:17:59 | |
Aventa were not doing it on an at risk basis. | 0:17:59 | 0:18:02 | |
They were paid ?967,000 and yet they were the company responsible | 0:18:02 | 0:18:05 | |
for raising the finance so if there was any company that | 0:18:05 | 0:18:08 | |
should have been willing to say this project is fine, this | 0:18:08 | 0:18:13 | |
is going to go ahead, we are quite relaxed about it, | 0:18:13 | 0:18:16 | |
we are prepared to wait till it does and we get paid, is Aventa. | 0:18:16 | 0:18:21 | |
Why did you transfer nearly ?1 million from Heads | 0:18:21 | 0:18:24 | |
of the Valleys Development Company to Aventa, and what was that | 0:18:24 | 0:18:26 | |
money used for? | 0:18:26 | 0:18:28 | |
Well, we haven't transferred it, it's been paid for services, | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
as have been a number of services to the Heads of the Valleys | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
Development Company. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:36 | |
So Heads of the Valleys has 30-odd relationships with different private | 0:18:36 | 0:18:38 | |
companies and they get paid for services. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:41 | |
Aventa is one of those companies. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
What did you use the money for? | 0:18:43 | 0:18:45 | |
In Aventa, or Heads of the Valleys? | 0:18:45 | 0:18:46 | |
In Aventa. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:48 | |
Aventa's a private company. | 0:18:48 | 0:18:50 | |
You're the major shareholder of both. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:52 | |
Well, I'm the only shareholder of Aventa. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:54 | |
You are, so what did you use the ?1 million for in Aventa? | 0:18:54 | 0:18:58 | |
How did that benefit the public of Wales? | 0:18:58 | 0:19:00 | |
Tim, Aventa is a private company. | 0:19:00 | 0:19:02 | |
It's been paid for services. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:05 | |
Mr Carrick says Aventa received its income from a variety | 0:19:05 | 0:19:07 | |
of sources but it has liabilities. | 0:19:07 | 0:19:11 | |
There's a number of staff haven't been paid, including myself, | 0:19:11 | 0:19:14 | |
including operation team, they're prepared to continue... | 0:19:14 | 0:19:17 | |
And this is a successful company Well, no, cos actually we expected | 0:19:17 | 0:19:20 | |
to close the project at the beginning this year. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:25 | |
When the project is closed, a number of payments at risk, | 0:19:25 | 0:19:27 | |
that are released and if we don't close it they won't get paid. | 0:19:27 | 0:19:33 | |
The Welsh Government had planted seed investment to the scheme | 0:19:33 | 0:19:36 | |
in the hope it would grow jobs. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:40 | |
Earlier this year, it emerged Michael Carrick had ?35,000 worth | 0:19:40 | 0:19:45 | |
of work carried out on the garden of his mansion in Cambridgshire. | 0:19:45 | 0:19:49 | |
And the company which was partly funded by the public - | 0:19:49 | 0:19:52 | |
was asked to pay for it. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:57 | |
Invoices were sent to David Davies by a whistle-blower. | 0:19:57 | 0:20:01 | |
They were for hundreds of hours of work over a two-year period. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:10 | |
The landscape gardeners who are based in Cambridgeshire | 0:20:10 | 0:20:12 | |
invoiced Heads of the Valleys Development Company | 0:20:12 | 0:20:14 | |
which is a publicly funded company and I asked Michael why? | 0:20:14 | 0:20:17 | |
He told me the invoices were not paid by Heads of the Valleys, | 0:20:17 | 0:20:20 | |
they were paid by Aventa which was his company and he can | 0:20:20 | 0:20:23 | |
do what he wants with. | 0:20:23 | 0:20:24 | |
I said, well why did this go on over a period of two years | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
and he said it was a mistake. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:29 | |
Well, it's a funny mistake to happen. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:31 | |
Why was the Heads of the Valleys Development Company | 0:20:31 | 0:20:33 | |
asked to pay for ?35,000 worth of work on your garden? | 0:20:33 | 0:20:35 | |
Well, actually it's an administrative oversight. | 0:20:35 | 0:20:37 | |
It wasn't asked to pay for that and we've corrected that. | 0:20:37 | 0:20:40 | |
So that's unfortunate, we've given assurances | 0:20:40 | 0:20:42 | |
to Welsh Government and others that it hasn't | 0:20:42 | 0:20:44 | |
been used in that way. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
That was a mistake that went on for two years Well, | 0:20:46 | 0:20:50 | |
it's an administrative oversight and we've apologised for it. | 0:20:50 | 0:20:52 | |
It doesn't look good, though, does it? | 0:20:52 | 0:21:02 | |
Well, in the context of ?20 million -odd that's been spent I don't think | 0:21:05 | 0:21:08 | |
?34,000 is that relevant. | 0:21:08 | 0:21:09 | |
To be honest. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:15 | |
No, it didn't. | 0:21:15 | 0:21:16 | |
It looks like that's what it is but I've just told you, | 0:21:16 | 0:21:19 | |
the invoice was misaddressed, Aventa spent that money | 0:21:19 | 0:21:21 | |
and it was spent on what at the time was our office. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:23 | |
According to Companies House documents, Mr Carrick's | 0:21:23 | 0:21:25 | |
office moved from his home to Finsbury Circus | 0:21:25 | 0:21:27 | |
in London in 2013. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:28 | |
The gardening invoices - which included amongst other things, | 0:21:28 | 0:21:30 | |
the cost of compost, seeds, and a timber path, | 0:21:30 | 0:21:32 | |
were for work done almost a year later and up until March this year. | 0:21:32 | 0:21:36 | |
In September, the Circuit of Wales team were back | 0:21:36 | 0:21:38 | |
on the streets in Ebbw Vale, telling locals they do | 0:21:38 | 0:21:40 | |
have the investors they need, and what they want from the Welsh | 0:21:40 | 0:21:43 | |
Government. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:45 | |
All they are asking for from the government is for them | 0:21:45 | 0:21:47 | |
to underwrite the 50% if at any point it goes tits up | 0:21:47 | 0:21:50 | |
in the next 30 years. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:51 | |
So the Welsh Government could earn ?4 million a year in interest | 0:21:57 | 0:21:59 | |
if the Circuit succeeds. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:02 | |
But if it failed after being built, we might have to repay up | 0:22:02 | 0:22:05 | |
to ?7 million a year for 35 years. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:09 | |
I am satisfied in talking to the senior guys in this | 0:22:09 | 0:22:14 | |
that the finances they are in place. | 0:22:14 | 0:22:18 | |
That is what you have been told. | 0:22:18 | 0:22:20 | |
Yes, that's what I have been told. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:24 | |
Michael Carrick says he's put ?2.5 million of his own money | 0:22:24 | 0:22:27 | |
into the development. | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
Though he hasn't said publicly where the current | 0:22:30 | 0:22:32 | |
investment is coming from, he has dropped hints about who else | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
is eyeing up a place on this site. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:38 | |
Build it and they will come - that's been the company's promise | 0:22:38 | 0:22:41 | |
about attracting big businesses and jobs to this site. | 0:22:41 | 0:22:46 | |
We've discovered they are suggesting that car giant BMW has | 0:22:46 | 0:22:49 | |
its sights on Ebbw Vale. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:59 | |
David Davies says he was told in a meeting. | 0:22:59 | 0:23:02 | |
One company that he named as being very interested in getting | 0:23:02 | 0:23:04 | |
involved and he suggested that BMW were hoping to open up a sort of BMW | 0:23:04 | 0:23:08 | |
World - a bit like Disneyworld, presumably, but lots of BMWs. | 0:23:08 | 0:23:14 | |
I don't know how it would work but these are big companies that | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
were being named in the time in the presentation. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:22 | |
Michael Carrick has also suggested that BT wants to invest here, | 0:23:22 | 0:23:25 | |
that there's talk of the company becoming involved with | 0:23:25 | 0:23:28 | |
a multi-million pound innovation centre which is planned | 0:23:28 | 0:23:31 | |
for the site. | 0:23:31 | 0:23:33 | |
Well, we checked with BT. | 0:23:33 | 0:23:36 | |
They told us they are not. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:43 | |
Tell me about BMW's plans for Ebbw Vale. | 0:23:43 | 0:23:46 | |
Well, I have no detail on BMW's plans for Ebbw Vale. | 0:23:46 | 0:23:53 | |
The BMW World project? | 0:23:53 | 0:23:58 | |
The BMW World project. | 0:23:58 | 0:24:00 | |
We have a number of discussions that are going on with industrial | 0:24:00 | 0:24:03 | |
partners, that may lead to potential occupation. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:07 | |
I think BMW is one of the conversations | 0:24:07 | 0:24:09 | |
we've had in the past. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:11 | |
And BT? | 0:24:11 | 0:24:13 | |
BT have a number of relationships with us. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:16 | |
What have they got planned? | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
Well, there's a BT academy with Dorna for new academy riders, | 0:24:19 | 0:24:23 | |
we're hoping it will be based on the site at Ebbw Vale. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:29 | |
We've discussed it with BMW and BT and BT are emphatic that they don't | 0:24:29 | 0:24:33 | |
have any plans to have anything to do with | 0:24:33 | 0:24:36 | |
the Circuit of Wales. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:39 | |
Well, we'll see. | 0:24:39 | 0:24:45 | |
Somebody in the Welsh Assembly needs to be asking very, very, | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
hard questions of Michael Carrick and trying to marry up | 0:24:48 | 0:24:51 | |
the information he's giving which is inconsistent with facts | 0:24:51 | 0:24:54 | |
as we can find them. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:57 | |
Are you raising objections for political gain because you're | 0:24:57 | 0:24:59 | |
trying to make political capital out of it? | 0:24:59 | 0:25:03 | |
Not at all, there's no political gain in it for me. | 0:25:03 | 0:25:06 | |
I am raising these objections because I've been approached | 0:25:06 | 0:25:08 | |
by Michael Carrick and asked to give my support as an MP | 0:25:08 | 0:25:12 | |
and chair of the Welsh Affairs Select committee. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:22 | |
There's 3,279 signatures on this cos we really believe | 0:25:24 | 0:25:26 | |
Blaenau Gwent needs this circuit. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:29 | |
Keen to show support with a petition to the government, | 0:25:29 | 0:25:31 | |
local people have been told private investors are ready to go | 0:25:31 | 0:25:34 | |
ahead, so they want Welsh Government to underwrite it. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:40 | |
We are trying to pep up the Welsh Government to do it | 0:25:40 | 0:25:43 | |
as quickly as possible. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:47 | |
Local business leader Phil Edwards says the message | 0:25:47 | 0:25:49 | |
couldn't be clearer. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:50 | |
It's got to be this cos there's nothing else, | 0:25:50 | 0:25:52 | |
unless the Welsh Government are going to turn round and say | 0:25:52 | 0:26:00 | |
there's a plan B, there's 6,000 jobs that will be there tomorrow. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:03 | |
Thanks a lot, Don. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:04 | |
I will be weighed down with these. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:06 | |
Thank you for coming. | 0:26:06 | 0:26:08 | |
But six weeks later, the company turned up at the Senedd - | 0:26:08 | 0:26:11 | |
not with the money - but with merchant bank | 0:26:11 | 0:26:13 | |
Kleinwort Benson - its role to find ?100m of investment | 0:26:13 | 0:26:15 | |
the company still needs. | 0:26:15 | 0:26:17 | |
Money it says it's confident it will find. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:21 | |
That's the service that you're supposed to be providing to Heads | 0:26:21 | 0:26:23 | |
of the Valleys Development Company. | 0:26:23 | 0:26:26 | |
So why do you now need to go to Kleinwort Benson? | 0:26:26 | 0:26:28 | |
No, the structure has changed. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:30 | |
We brought Kleinwort Benson in as corporate advisors | 0:26:30 | 0:26:32 | |
to the Circuit of Wales. | 0:26:32 | 0:26:34 | |
Your company has been telling people in Blaenau Gwent that | 0:26:34 | 0:26:37 | |
you have the investment you need, it's now up to the Welsh Government | 0:26:37 | 0:26:41 | |
to underwrite the deal so that the Circuit can go ahead. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:47 | |
Why have you been telling people that? | 0:26:47 | 0:26:50 | |
What we've been saying to them is that it's a complex project, | 0:26:50 | 0:26:53 | |
we've spent many, many, years advancing it, | 0:26:53 | 0:26:56 | |
and we've got a structure that we believe is supportable. | 0:26:56 | 0:27:00 | |
And what about public money you have received - | 0:27:00 | 0:27:02 | |
are we ever going to see that back? | 0:27:02 | 0:27:04 | |
Well, if we close the project, it gets paid back with interest. | 0:27:04 | 0:27:08 | |
The Infrastructure and Economy Minister Ken Skates says the people | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
of Blaenau Gwent deserve an answer very soon on whether this vision | 0:27:11 | 0:27:15 | |
will be realised. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:18 | |
Ken Skates had agreed to give us an interview to discuss the some | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
of the issues we have raised about the Circuit of Wales | 0:27:21 | 0:27:23 | |
but yesterday he changed his mind. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:27 | |
A press officer told us that the development | 0:27:27 | 0:27:29 | |
is at a sensitive stage and talks with the company about a refreshed | 0:27:29 | 0:27:33 | |
bid are commercial, in confidence and progessing. | 0:27:33 | 0:27:40 | |
The company's bank called in the ?7.35m loan so the Welsh | 0:27:40 | 0:27:44 | |
government could seek to recover that money but at present it's not. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:49 | |
David Davies has given a dossier of information | 0:27:49 | 0:27:51 | |
from the whistle-blower to the Auditor General for Wales | 0:27:51 | 0:27:54 | |
who has confirmed he is examining the use of public money and aspects | 0:27:54 | 0:27:57 | |
of how it was awarded. | 0:27:57 | 0:28:01 | |
They should say to Michael Carrick, it's down to you - | 0:28:01 | 0:28:03 | |
if you have private investors out there willing to back the scheme, | 0:28:03 | 0:28:06 | |
bring them forward, let us know who they are. | 0:28:06 | 0:28:08 | |
At least ?9 million has gone into this scheme of public money | 0:28:08 | 0:28:11 | |
and I think it's time they started to find | 0:28:11 | 0:28:13 | |
out what's happened to that | 0:28:13 | 0:28:15 | |
money and not put any more into it. | 0:28:15 | 0:28:25 | |
In Ebbw Vale there were prayers again today for Michael | 0:28:27 | 0:28:29 | |
Carrick and his dream. | 0:28:29 | 0:28:32 | |
Someone once said to me you spell faith R-I-S-K. | 0:28:32 | 0:28:35 | |
I worry about it. | 0:28:35 | 0:28:37 | |
I pray about it and I believe prayer works and I firmly believe | 0:28:37 | 0:28:40 | |
that this is going to happen. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:47 | |
For John Daniels, who is out of work again, it's hard to keep faith. | 0:28:47 | 0:28:53 | |
I'd have been honoured to work there. | 0:28:53 | 0:28:56 | |
It would have taught me a lot of things and given me a lot | 0:28:56 | 0:28:59 | |
of confidence and look forward to but unless I am up | 0:28:59 | 0:29:02 | |
there and see the diggers up there digging I won't believe it. | 0:29:02 | 0:29:12 | |
People have invested lots of faith, hope, and a lot of dreams in this | 0:29:12 | 0:29:16 | |
Circuit and so far they have come to nothing. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:21 | |
We appreciate that it has been challenging. | 0:29:21 | 0:29:24 | |
We're committed to delivering it to the degree we can. | 0:29:24 | 0:29:28 | |
At what point do you draw a line under this and say, enough. | 0:29:28 | 0:29:32 | |
I think you do at some point have to draw a line. | 0:29:32 | 0:29:35 | |
If we're not going to be delivering what we say we're | 0:29:35 | 0:29:37 | |
going to be delivering, we'll stop it. | 0:29:37 | 0:29:43 | |
The promise of changing this landscape and of the fortunes | 0:29:45 | 0:29:49 | |
and the lives of the people in that valley below has been | 0:29:49 | 0:29:52 | |
a huge undertaking. | 0:29:52 | 0:29:55 | |
This community has lost so many jobs over the years, this scheme | 0:29:55 | 0:29:59 | |
seemed to offer real hope. | 0:29:59 | 0:30:02 | |
But if that hope is lost, there won't just be anger | 0:30:02 | 0:30:05 | |
and disappointment,there'll be serious questions, | 0:30:05 | 0:30:07 | |
too, about who is to blame. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:13 | |
tomorrow | 0:30:30 | 0:30:30 | |
tomorrow night | 0:30:30 | 0:30:30 | |
tomorrow night at | 0:30:30 | 0:30:33 |