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News round up - AGMs, and more
Following a very close vote at their AGM last week, the Labour group on the council elected 30 year old Cllr Rob James as their new leader, replacing Cllr Jeff Edmunds who had held the position since...
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Swansea Bay City Deal 'Agreement'...and Carmarthenshire's in charge
After fifteen months of deliberation, arguments, and unknown, but no doubt astronomical legal costs, the final draft of the Joint Working Agreement for the Swansea Bay City Deal will be doing the...
View ArticleNews round-up - Family Court, City Deals, swamps, and more
Family Court JudgementCarmarthenshire Council have been in the news again following the publication of a damning judgement from the Family Court. The case centred around an 8 year old child and whether...
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£20,000 Returning Officer fees - time to revisit the issue?
Earlier this year I mentioned the council's pay policy and the eye-watering levels of senior pay contained within. During the budget debate a month earlier, a Labour councillor had raised the subject...
View ArticleAudit reports, and more
A couple of reports, worthy of a mention, are on the agenda for Friday's Audit Committee. First up is an internal audit report identifying 'fundamental weaknesses' in the council's management of its...
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Wellness Village 'private partners'...something oddly familiar?
A minor flurry of press releases yesterday announced the identity of private sector partner who will be developing the 'Wellness Village' at the Delta Lake swamp, Llanelli, with the council and Swansea...
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'Cadno and the Nightmare on Emlyn's Street' - from the Carmarthenshire Herald
This week's Carmarthenshire Herald features another observant and entertaining opinion piece from columnist 'Cadno', it's self-explanatory, particularly to followers of this blog, so here it is;Cadno...
View ArticlePlaid Cymru seek to reinstate the unlawful libel clauses...really?!
Please read this earlier post for background; Those unlawful libel clauses - a call to armsI understand that a meeting of the council's Constitutional Review Working Group (CRWG) was held earlier...
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Mark James' complaints against Sian Caiach - the Ombudsman's conclusion
After eighteen long months, the Ombudsman, Nick Bennett, has concluded his investigation into a series of complaints made by chief executive Mark James against former county councillor Sian Caiach. In...
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The unlawful libel indemnity clauses - part two
For part one, please see earlier post; Plaid Cymru seek to reinstate unlawful libel indemnity clauses...really?!Following the CRWG meeting held at the end of July I asked Jonathan Edwards MP and Adam...
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News in brief - Wellness, Early Resolutions, and tax avoidance...
WellnessWith the Swansea Bay City Deal Joint Committee meeting for the first time today (Friday) the Llanelli Herald has marked the occasion, perhaps, with a steely look at the state of play of the...
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FOI news - Carmarthenshire council and the culture of secrecy
Some interesting stats about Freedom of Information requests were released earlier this week after the Welsh Conservatives, via FOI of course, collected figures for Welsh government, councils and...
View ArticleUnlawful libel clauses - Cllr Rob James' video
Cllr Rob James, leader of the Labour opposition group on Carmarthenshire Council gives his views recent developments over the unlawful libel indemnity clause. Refreshingly clear and straight to the...
View ArticleSmoke and mirrors - Indemnities, restrictions and Ombudsman costs
The row over the unlawful indemnity clause, and the 'leak' from the Constitutional Review Working Group (CRWG) meeting held at the end of July continues, with further coverage in this week's...
View ArticleFOI Review, the Monitoring Officer and the declaration of interests
Last week I received the outcome of the internal review following the refusal, by the council, to disclose the officer's report to 'CRWG' on the subject of unlawful libel indemnities.The unsurprising...
View ArticleFull council and planted questions
After noticing a pointless question about tourism figures from a Plaid Cymru backbencher to the Plaid administration at last month's full council meeting, I see there are two more highly suspect,...
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Mark James and the 'Sicilian cartel'
Interesting piece over on Jac O'the North's blog (see 'A little place in the west') about our chief executive Mark James CBE who, when not Commanding the British Empire is busy building his own little...
View ArticleAgenda for full council, some 'Wellness' questions, and more
Next week's full council meeting features several interesting questions concerning the 'Wellness Village' and, more specifically, the partnership between the council and Sterling Health. The latest...
View ArticleNovember meeting, and some Sterling questions...
A few words about today's meeting.As the whole meeting can be viewed on the archived webcast I'll focus on the questions from Cllr Rob James (Lab), and the responses from council leader Emlyn Dole...
View ArticleLegal Professional Privilege, County Hall style
Since the end of July, the 27th to be precise, I have been trying to obtain documents concerning officers' libel indemnities discussed at the CRWG meeting held on that date.To recap, the Labour...
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