Below is an open letter from Unison Carmarthenshire to Plaid Cymru's Emlyn Dole, Leader of Carmarthenshire Council published in this week's Herald. As you can see, they had to wait two months for a meeting. Perhaps Mr Dole was busy with his barn...
To add insult to injury, chief executive Mark James also decided to grace them with his presence;
"Our disappointment was only added to at the meeting that took place in your room on July 22nd when to our surprise Mark James CEO was in attendance. We had not been informed prior to the meeting that Mark James would be present.
It is our understanding that we requested a meeting with you alone as we wanted to speak with you regarding the future direction of the council led by your party. If we had wanted Mark James to be present we would have requested it"
Whether Mr James had insisted on being there to ensure Cllr Dole stuck to ze masterplan, or whether Cllr Dole didn't feel able to cope without holding his divine guiding hand is not clear. It's quite surprising that Pam and Meryl weren't there as well...
Unison wanted to discuss the political direction Plaid would be taking the council, with the council leader. The councillors are the employers after all and it is supposed to be they who run the show.
It goes to show that recent events, including the WLGA review have made not one jot of difference, the term 'officer-led' is alive and well and remains in the singular.
Unison raised several issues and challenges to Cllr Dole including introducing the Living Wage and opposing cuts, both of which Plaid had campaigned for when in opposition but the meeting produced no commitment from Cllr Dole, nor, for that matter, a firm stance against further outsourcing of services.
They reminded Cllr Dole of the Plaid alternative budget which proposed, a few short months ago, the use of some of the reserves to prevent cuts to services, the response from Cllr Dole was that they would act 'responsibly'; taken to mean that there would be no change of direction, the promises made in opposition have been 'sacrificed', and Plaid would be 'responsibly' implementing cuts.
Unison threw down the challenge to Plaid to protect vital services for the communities they serve but the outcome of the meeting was clearly disappointing; "It seemed to us from what you did and didn't say that Plaid have ditched very quickly any opposition to Tory cuts"
No doubt Cllr Dole would have been warmly congratulated by Mr James, with a pat on the back, (and possibly the much coveted Key to the Presidential Toilet) for the way he 'dealt' with the meeting...and maybe there was even a congratulatory phone call from a delighted Meryl...
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To add insult to injury, chief executive Mark James also decided to grace them with his presence;
"Our disappointment was only added to at the meeting that took place in your room on July 22nd when to our surprise Mark James CEO was in attendance. We had not been informed prior to the meeting that Mark James would be present.
It is our understanding that we requested a meeting with you alone as we wanted to speak with you regarding the future direction of the council led by your party. If we had wanted Mark James to be present we would have requested it"
Whether Mr James had insisted on being there to ensure Cllr Dole stuck to ze masterplan, or whether Cllr Dole didn't feel able to cope without holding his divine guiding hand is not clear. It's quite surprising that Pam and Meryl weren't there as well...
Unison wanted to discuss the political direction Plaid would be taking the council, with the council leader. The councillors are the employers after all and it is supposed to be they who run the show.
It goes to show that recent events, including the WLGA review have made not one jot of difference, the term 'officer-led' is alive and well and remains in the singular.
Unison raised several issues and challenges to Cllr Dole including introducing the Living Wage and opposing cuts, both of which Plaid had campaigned for when in opposition but the meeting produced no commitment from Cllr Dole, nor, for that matter, a firm stance against further outsourcing of services.
They reminded Cllr Dole of the Plaid alternative budget which proposed, a few short months ago, the use of some of the reserves to prevent cuts to services, the response from Cllr Dole was that they would act 'responsibly'; taken to mean that there would be no change of direction, the promises made in opposition have been 'sacrificed', and Plaid would be 'responsibly' implementing cuts.
Unison threw down the challenge to Plaid to protect vital services for the communities they serve but the outcome of the meeting was clearly disappointing; "It seemed to us from what you did and didn't say that Plaid have ditched very quickly any opposition to Tory cuts"
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