Commenting on the Wales Audit Office's report on the Merlin contract to provide ICT services to the Welsh Government and National Assembly for Wales, Shadow Minister for Finance, Paul Davies AM, said:

"The inflated costs over successive Assembly Governments, as highlighted in this report, provide very bleak reading and taxpayers will rightly question why overall value for hundreds of millions of pounds is 'uncertain'.

"While it is clear that organisational changes have played a part in these increases, the report's findings give me little confidence in the Welsh Labour Government's ability to properly work with the provider and continue to get value for public money.

"This is a vastly expensive and hugely important contract that demands the most detailed inspection and scrutiny. I am not assured it has received anything close to that.

"The Welsh Labour Government must make sure lessons are learnt and provide a guarantee that relationships with the supplier will continue to improve and that the Auditor General's recommendations will be properly taken on board."