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Big screens and rusty tiles
The SellToWales website lists the details of tenders put forward by local authorities and other 'buyers'. The latest notice for Carmarthenshire Council is for the 'Supply and installation of fixed and...
View ArticleOctober meeting - and an unbelievable vote over 'councillors questions'
The October gathering of Carmarthenshire Council was a relatively brief affair but plumbed new depths over the issue of 'councillors questions'. You may remember at September's meeting that no...
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Executive Board - On the Road
As a Community Councillor I went along today to one of Kev's 'On the road' Executive Board meetings where the convoy of officers and executive board members meet and yes, 'engage' with the 'grassroots'...
View ArticlePetition - Mark James' severance deal
A petition has been set up by a Carmarthenshire resident to not pay Carmarthenshire County Council chief executive Mark James any more public money through a severance pay-off when he leaves the...
View ArticleFilming council meetings - a first for Wales?
Thursday's meeting of neighbouring Pembrokeshire Council will go down in history as the one where disgraced chief executive Bryn Parry Jones was given a handsome golden parachute of £330,000 to depart...
View ArticleCllr Caiach reflects - A link to her blog
Carmarthenshire Councillors, on the whole, remain a tight lipped bunch, and for some it's probably best they stay that way. There are a few exceptions but even then, even less are prepared to publish...
View ArticlePlanning Committee to be webcast
After the executive board hinted at the possibility around six months ago, it seems that finally Carmarthenshire Council's Planning Committee will be webcast from the 6th November onwards.This is good...
View ArticleWild west newsround
Further to the deal made at last week's meeting of Pembrokeshire Council to award chief exec Bryn Parry Jones a £332,000 pay-off, the Wales Audit Office are now examining the details. The BBC reports...
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Chief Executive pay-off - Plaid demand full open debate
An article in last week's South Wales Guardian featured a quote from leader Cllr Kevin Madge (Lab) remarking on the ongoing restructuring of senior management in the council which, he said, included...
View ArticleThe independent paradox
Here's a copy of an email I have just sent to the Electoral Commission and copied to the Cabinet Office and the Welsh Government. It is self-explanatory and calls for a review of the status of...
View ArticleCarmarthenshire council; A leisure trust on its way?
Although it doesn't appear to have been discussed in a democratic fashion anywhere, it looks like Carmarthenshire council has decided that the 'alternative mode of delivery' (in other words 'how can we...
View ArticleThe lost VAT
Last month I mentioned a report on the agenda for the council's Audit Committee which recorded a mysterious ongoing problem with officer travel claims.A 'fundamental weakness' had been identified by...
View ArticlePembrokeshire; Wales Audit Office stops Bryn pay-off - Updated
Update Wednesday - Pembrokeshire Council have issued a statement which suggests that the matter has been resolved;"Pembrokeshire County Council and its legal advisors have been in discussion with the...
View ArticleWLGA Governance Review final report - Carmarthenshire Council
Update Nov 5th - My further comment, and a press release from local Plaid AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas and MP Jonathan Edwards can be found here; WLGA Report - The toxic culture...
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Western Mail reports on the petition to block Mark James' pay-off - updated
Update 5th November; Prospective parliamentary candidate and county councillor Calum Higgins (Lab) has popped up and joined the debate over the chief execs pay-off. Cllr Higgins is quoted in the South...
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WLGA report - The toxic culture recognised
My analysis of the WLGA report can be found below this press release just in from the office of Plaid politicians Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM and Jonathan Edwards MP:'Culture change needed at County Hall'AM...
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Next week's meeting...and a council by-election
As expected the WLGA governance review report features on next week's full council agenda, in fact the WLGA are going to present it. There is no mention yet of Mr James' severance deal, presumably that...
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Unison statement on Mark James' pay off
Statement issued today from Unison Carmarthenshire:"It has been publicly declared that Mark James CEO of Carmarthenshire County Council has applied for severance. When the CEO of the fourth most...
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November Council Meeting - updated
(Update 13th November - Local news coverage - below)The main event at today's full council meeting was of course the damning WLGA Governance Review report. More on that shortly.After the preliminaries,...
View ArticleFurther coverage - Respecting the press
The journalism news site 'Hold the front Page' has picked up on the WLGA report recommendation that County Hall changes its attitude towards the local press, a problem well documented on this blog.From...
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