Cycle accident compensation pay kept secret by Welsh government

The Welsh government has refused to disclose how much it paid in compensation to a claimant involved in a cycle accident.

Climate Change Minister Julie James agreed the payment in May.

But the Welsh government, which has not admitted it was at fault, has refused to tell BBC Wales anything more about the incident, citing data protection.

The Welsh Conservatives said the government's actions in this case were "as clear as mud".

On 5 May the Welsh government published on its website that Ms James had "agreed to the payment of a third party claim".

When asked, the government later confirmed the claim related to a "cycle accident" but said it was unable to provide any more details.

Then, in response to a BBC Wales Freedom of Information (FOI) request, officials said the government had paid compensation to the claimant without accepting liability, but declined to give more details on what happened and the size of the payment.

They said the information contained "third-party personal data".

"Namely this refers to the location of the accident and amount of compensation paid," the FOI response said.

"Disclosing of any information would be likely to lead to the subsequent identification of the claimant."

The Welsh government added that by disclosing the location and amount paid "it would be very easy through investigation of other information in the public domain to identify the person in question".

It believes disclosure would not only "jeopardise the anonymity of [the] person involved in the accident," but also that "there is no legal or over-riding necessary public interest that would make the disclosure necessary".

It adds that revealing the information would also "breach an agreement in the settlement to keep the information confidential".

The Welsh Conservatives' Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said: "It is essential that the ministers in the Labour government are as transparent as possible with the public about how and why taxpayer money is spent, but their actions here are as clear as mud.

"The Welsh government should make available more information to justify this expenditure, not least the amount spent, what caused this accident that needed to be compensated, and the actions taken to prevent a repeat incident.

"Labour cannot keep running scared of scrutiny whenever it suits."

The Welsh government declined to comment further.