THE Welsh Government has admitted that it cannot prove that a multi-million sale of publicly-owned land - the biggest in Wales in recent years - achieved the best value for money.

The sale, which took place in 2012, involved 15 sites including land at Wonastow Road fields, Monmouth.

This site was sold by the Welsh Government for around £900,000 as part of the overall sale, which raised £21m.

It was resold last spring however, a WalesAudit Office report published in the summer, having revealed that Guernsey-based company South Wales Land Developments sold the site on to a developer for £12m, after securing planning permission for it.

Under a ‘claw-back’ arrangement, the Welsh Government will receive a proportion of the increased value. But if it had kept the fields and obtained planning permission it could potentially have sold the land for the entire £12m.

The Welsh Government has repeatedly defended the overall sale, made through the Regeneration Investment Fund for Wales (RIFW), an arm's-length body set up to invest in regenerating town centres.

It has insisted that claims of under-valuation must be considered alongside conflicting valuations and the hash economic climate at the time of the sale.

But in a letter to the Assembly's public accounts committee, which is holding an inquiry into the RIFW, it points out that a decision to sell the land privately instead of opening the process up to public sale, means it cannot say conclusively that the best value was achieved.

Auditor General for Wales Huw Vaughan Thomas also refers to the Welsh Government's letter in his own submission to the committee earlier this month.

He agrees that it would be "very difficult indeed" to prove conclusively that best value was or was not realised, but referring to the WAO report on the matter, he states: "However, I remain of the strong view that my Report provides a considerable and detailed body of evidence to support my central conclusion that neither the Welsh Government nor RIFW can demonstrate that value for money was achieved from the portfolio sale transaction."

"If the assets were to be sold, then I consider that a different, better deal (or deals) should have been done, timed to generate greater returns."

The WAO report concludes that at least £8m more could have been made if the sales had been handled differently, looking at methods like auctions.

Another site in Gwent that was part of the sell-off was at Imperial Park, Newport, near the old LG site. But the WAO report stating that this land might have been overvalued by more than £1m.