Last week's South Wales Guardian front page (3 ex mayors quit in Ammanford Town Council walkout) had this astonishing quote:
A spokesman for the town council said: “Ammanford Town Council endeavours to uphold standards.
“We always ensure that policies and procedures are adhered to.”
Always? Always??
Almost fifty years ago, the Local Government Act 1972 laid out some pretty basic requirements, including when and how to call Meetings, to record business transacted and to make records available for public inspection. Ammanford Town Council haven't been complying with the Act for years (since 2016), acknowledged through the course of eleven complaints when the Council stated that it did not hold minutes of some meetings - "if they were ever in existence".
Twenty years ago, the Freedom Of Information Act 2000 came into force, giving a legal right of access for citizens to see records held by public bodies, within a defined timescale. Solicitors acting for the Information Commissioner began preparing an application under section 54 to "deal with the authority as if it had committed a contempt of court" on 24 January 2020. The Council has ignored a second Information Notice - and multiple extensions that compelled it to respond - to conduct a simple Internal Review, accounting for some ~£20K of public money (the dodgy splashpad/park CCTV that didn't work when the leaves were on the trees). And then there's a separate case officer who compelled them to respond within 10 working days, on 8 Feburary, to provide simple dates from complaints/correspondence they are trying to cover up.
Seven years ago, the Local Government (Democracy) (Wales) Act 2013 was enacted, requiring Town & Community Councils to have websites, issue notices electronically, publish Minutes and documents referenced within them on their website. Statutory Guidance was issued in May 2015. The obligations aren't particularly onerous. It barely applies 1990's technology/practices to the 1972 record keeping. The Council's failings in this area led to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales investigating, fining (twice) and declaring the Council to be in serious maladministration. The Report was suppressed, the actions ordered haven't been followed, the follow-up complaint ignored. The Ombudsman gave them an ultimatum to comply by 19 January 2020 and has yet again given them a further extension to comply with the requirements to publish Minutes and referenced documents by the end of this week.
It is notable that the front page story of "3 ex Mayors quit" is over two months old - it happened in December 2019, the resignations were accepted and ratified on 14 January 2020 in a seven minute Extraordinary Meeting Council. Aside from the four observers present, the general public (and press) were none the wiser. Publishing Draft Minutes electronically is a trivial task. Scanning and uploading the ratified/signed copy should take less than ten minutes. So why are Minutes still being withheld for 3-4 months?
And even more curiously, why has the Agenda for 2020-01-14 EGM vanished from the website? The Guidance states that documents need to be be available and archived for a reasonable length of time.
Over a year ago the PSOW ordered the Council to adopt and publish a Complaints procedure, by April 2019. This was half-adopted by the deadline, with Councillors bickering about some of the grammar months later. The procedure requires complaints to be formally acknowledged within 5 days. Only after thirteen weeks of deadlock can one ask the PSOW to consider investigating (the form now requires that a complainant discloses what legal action they have pursued or considered, before the Ombudsman will think of getting involved). The PSOW has two open investigations, with another just resolved. How could three complaints reach the PSOW if Ammanford Town Council "always" adheres to their policies?
On 13 February the Council wanted to increase the precept by a further 43%. The Council was unsure of how much Reserves it held (?!). Basic financial controls and reporting would mean that any competent body should *always* know how much money it has. The Council now employs a full-time Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer. As the Americans say "You do the math"!
I've joked previously whether we should drain the swamp from the bottom or the top. Are festering Ministers, or Prime Ministers, to blame? B-Team politicians in the Senedd? Or do we accept brazen lies, dishonesty and incompetence at the heart of our Communities; and then "always" expect them to develop integrity on way up the greasy pole?
Perhaps the Councillors needs to reflect more on their illustrious party leader Adam's words “Honesty is the most important currency in politics. We have to protect it, before it reaches moral bankruptcy.” Always.
