Who's taking the decisions?

Carmarthenshire’s Plaid Councillors have demanded to know who’s taking decisions in the county and when. This follows the apparent implementation of a decision by the council’s leaders before the decision was actually taken. Plaid Cllr Marie Binney asked in the council meeting on 9th December whether free parking would be allowed in council-run car parks during the run up to Christmas, as had been the case in previous years.

Cllr Binney said, “I was delighted to be told that the council’s leaders had agreed to provide free parking again this year, starting on the 10th December for two weeks. Then, just after Christmas, I read the minutes of the Executive Board for their meeting on 14th December, and discovered that the decision wasn’t actually taken until that meeting. Put simply, the decision appears to have been implemented four days before it was actually taken!

“I then discovered that the decision was reported in the latest edition of the Council’s propaganda sheet, Community News. Now that paper went to print on 25th November, and I understand that items have to be ready some 10 days before that, so that they can be translated and set out etc. So, who actually took the decision and when? On whose authority was the story included in Community News, and on whose authority did the council stop charging for car parking on 10th December?

“Whilst I think the decision taken was the right one, I am seriously concerned that the council has either acted illegally by implementing a decision in advance of the meeting, or else has acted illegally by taking decisions in secret without proper notice. Plaid have expressed our concerns to the Chief Executive and asked for a full explanation.”