Tuesday 3 March 2009

Lack of Democracy

Carmarthenshire County Council has been accused of acting undemocratically by a Plaid member of the Council after the Executive Board ignored a request for further information by one of its Scrutiny Committees. The Council's Cabinet proposed to close the restaurant in County Hall because of the level of losses which it was making. When the issue was discussed by Scrutiny Committee, the Committee decided to request more information first on possible alternative courses of action, such as better publicity for the service.

Cllr Gwyneth Thomas said, "There was a clear majority in the Scrutiny Committee for a delay whilst alternatives were considered. But after the meeting, it was discovered that, without waiting for any comment from Scrutiny or anyone else, the Council's Executive Board had already rushed out redundancy notices to the staff. This undemocratic approach undermines the scrutiny process, and highlights how the Council's ruling Labour/Independent Party coalition believe that they can ride roughshod over any opposition to their plans."

1 comment:

Adam S. Margetts Esq.BA said...

Hmmm...While I agree with your concerns over "not waiting" for any feedback from scrutiny committees etc. I must ask the question? what restaurant? I was not aware there was a public restaurant in County Hall, or is this a internal canteen for staff and members?

Obviously from an unemployment viewpoint the job losses are not to be dismissed lightly. As in my humble opinion there are "too many chiefs and not enough indians" already. Would it not be possible to create cost-efficiency savings by laying off some of the Public Sector Management?
and, who are probably responsible for the losses incurred by the County Hall restaurant, by ordering outside catering for the many and varied Seminars and Committee Exhibition events organised by various departments.

Just a thought!
Adam.