Actually, it's even worse than that. The press coverage of the ongoing scandal in Carmarthenshire County Council in the
SWW Media titles (the Carmarthen Journal, Llanelli Star and South Wales Evening Post) is little more than a cut 'n' paste rehash of the council's own statement to the press, and needless to say the council doesn't see anything wrong with what has been going on.The online version of the Journal devotes a fairly long piece to the recent events. The first part (22 lines) is a fairly pedestrian account of the background and a summary of last Friday's audit committee meeting, but for some strange reason it fails to mention that the committee bounced responsibility for signing off the statement of accounts back to the Executive Board.
Here is the second part (28 lines in all) after stripping out the council's own statement:
PRIOR to the audit meeting Carmarthenshire Council said it had sought independent legal advice on both issues and remained firmly of the view that it had followed the correct course of action. A council spokeswoman told the Journal:
And finally.....
By one of those quirks of online advertising, the South Wales Guardian's main piece on the scandal is accompanied by an advert offering to tell anyone interested how to:
Take home 90% of Your Pay
And really finally....
The council's press office did modify part of its statement to the Journal. Whereas it previously said it had sought "independent advice", it now explains that this was not just any old independent advice, but advice from a QC.
That's the most expensive advice you can buy. Isn't that reassuring?
And another thing.....
Last week the Carmarthen Journal showed its strange sense of priorities when it reported on a fatal road accident in which a motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a vehicle occupied by Jacqui Thompson and her teenage daughter:
Blogger's Anguish at Fatal Road Crash
This week it reports on what happened when someone tried to stop a group of children and youths from vandalising a church yard in Carmarthen:
OAP abused and left frightened by kids as young as 10 in street
The OAP turns out to be the leader of the Plaid Cymru group on Carmarthenshire County Council, poet, author, politician and sportsman Peter Hughes Griffiths.
22 comments:
Unison are unusually quiet. Maybe it is the calm before the storm!
They - Mark James are absolutely shameless! It's actually very worrying that he sees nothing wrong in his conduct as it displays zero moral compass.
I think the headline about PHG is quite frankly insulting.
The editor must have considered headlines such as "local politician prevents vandalism" or similar but probably though the powers that be in County Hall would not be amused
The Journal is disgusting and not worth buying - we need the equivalent of the Pembs Herald to do some proper reporting !
Again the Carmarthen Journal quotes a Council spokeswoman as saying that 'so far as payment in lieu of the employer's pension contributions is concerned, this has not incurred any additional cost to the Council or the taxpayers' yet they admit to having 'obtained expert advice from consultants'. Advice that costs money at the taxpayer's expense.
I thought it was no longer 'politically correct' to describe an elder person as an OAP.
Peter Hughes Griffiths should have reported straight away as the police new nothing about it , it says in the journal today
Why is it that when CCC are on dodgy ground, they never put a name to the spokesman/spokeswoman who speak out in their defence?
"We have sought independent legal advice from a leading QC on both issues ..." Was this before or after Anthony Barratt's disapproval? Who is this QC? Is this one of the CEO's buddies or has the taxpayer paid for this legal advice?
In light of recent events, the error in the accounts which was the subject of an FOI request and the pay-off of £134k to a former employee who is "believed to have walked straight into another highly paid post with a different council - Pembrokeshire to be precise." The WAO would be wise to revisit CCC's statement of accounts!
The same person as chaired the second flawed disciplinary of Officer B, in the abuse complaint of a vulnerable person, and the same person who carried out a 'so called' review of learning disabilities following the Ombudsman's damning report. I asked to be allowed to give an input in 2009, but I was refused. So much information still to reach the public domain. This is why there must be a public enquiry.
I was thoroughly bemused by the PHG headline as anyone settled in the area will quickly gather he's a Councillor.
What outrages me is the loveless nature of St Peters Church, the Council are penalising litterbugs but yet they're not penalising the drinkers and adults gathering to commit sex acts in grounds. It is implied if only a clampdown would be applied there'd be a substantial amount collected in anti-social fines.
I do hope that PHG is recovering from this traumatic incident. Sadly, I fear that this is not the first or the last time the public will be subjected to this kind of despicable behaviour.
PHG you are in the enviable position to bring about change! Instead of expensive bowling alleys these children not only need firm parents but leisure and recreational facilities that are affordable. I appreciate the LA are facing cuts but they might find that providing affordable facilities for children will reduce costs in other areas.
If the Journal considers it ok to describe PHG as an OAP,when will it start describing the leadership as ESN?
Thank you Anon @16.50. I don't know if Peter reads this blog, but I am sure many readers will have been shocked to hear about what happened and want to send him their best wishes.
Anon 1.20
I don't understand why an officer leaving the Authority for pastures new would receive a pay out at all. In normal circumstances wouldn't you just give in your notice and receive nothing when leaving a job, or am I missing something here?
Anon 7.43
It might be that senior officers are treated differently to the 'rabble'.
@ anon 07:43 - You are not alone, I don't think any of the public understand. We haven't missed anything but I suspect the WAO have!
Further to my comment above on the 3rd Oct, I would like to add that I wrote to the Investigating officer (Assistant chief Exec. he's the policy one I think) weeks before the 2nd flawed disciplinary of officer B in June 2010, asking him if all the allegations of abuse by a manager would be included this time, as they weren't included the first time in May 2007. On the morning of the disciplinary, he handed me a piece of paper which included some 10 lines of my statement ( out of what was at least 7 pages). He said the second disciplinary was still not going to deal with all the allegations, just what was on that small piece of paper he handed me. I kept pressing him whilst he sat with us as witnesses, as the hearing was delayed all morning for some unknown reason. He kept telling me no. I asked why, and he said that I would only annoy the Chair. It was not a case of annoying the chair, but a matter of saying the truth. When I still pressed him that I wanted to say the truth, he said in an angry tone, "Oh just say what you want". I had managed to annoy him too by just wanting to say the truth.
It is shocking if an officer has been paid £134k on vacating a post and walked straight into an even higher paid job, at a time when we are all being told that services are being cut and told to tighten our belts, and a lot of people are struggling to make ends meet. Who makes these decisions?
Can anyone please explain to me under what circumstances would someone be entitled to this kind of money?
have i missed something?
134K has come out of the blue in this conversation?
Anon 18.47
I think it was originally mentioned by someone as a possible additional irregularity in the Accounts.
Thank you anon 11:09. @ anon 18:47 - please see section 6.35 of CCC's statement of accounts.
http://online.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/agendas/eng/AUDC20130711/REP06.HTM
AND
Cneifiwr's blog of the 9th July 2013 titled, "More questions than answers ..."
http://cneifiwr-emlyn.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/more-questions-than-answers-councils.html
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