Shock over scale of council chiefs' salaries

Plaid’s leaders in Carmarthenshire have expressed their shock and surprise at the level of pay increases which have occurred at the council. It was reported in newspapers reports last week that the Chief Executive’s salary has increased by £26,000 over the past three years. The reports also stated that over a two year period, the number of staff in the £80,000 plus pay bracket has increased from 13 to 21.

Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths, Plaid’s leader, said, “Of course it is true that we need to have good people running our services, and Carmarthenshire is fortunate with many of the officers employed. But I really do question whether pay levels need to be as high as they seem to have become in recent years. There has been a great deal of attention paid in recent months to the pay packages of our elected AMs and MPs, but there are an increasing number of chief officers in local government who are paid at a much more generous level.

“At a time when most of the council’s employees are being offered a much more modest 0.5% increase in salaries, I for one cannot justify a much more generous level of increases being awarded to top staff. I am aware that the reports may not have been entirely accurate, and am therefore writing to the Council’s leader, Meryl Gravell, asking for full details of the rises over the past three years. It is unacceptable that the first most councillor know about this is when they read about it in the newspapers.

Cllr Dyfrig Thomas, Plaid’s deputy leader, added, “We need to introduce more transparency over pay, particularly at the senior levels. These pay levels are not being set by the council as a whole, but by the Executive Board meeting in secret. The first most councillors know about the pay levels of the top staff is when we read about it in the newspapers. That cannot be right, and we are asking for the establishment of a pay panel representing all groups on the council to review the pay packages of the council’s most senior officers.”

More spending on propaganda

Plaid Cymru in Carmarthenshire have expressed concern over the possibility that the county council is about to spend thousands of pounds on more self-publicity after agreeing a contract with a television company to launch a tv channel on the internet.

Peter Hughes Griffiths, the Plaid group leader on the council, said, “We have very little information on this scheme since it was discussed in closed session by the Executive Board. We know more about it from reading the minutes of the Local Service Partnership than we do from the county council itself!

According to the Partnership minutes for April, which are open to all on the internet, the Partnership has set aside £10,000 for the project on condition that the other partners also contribute, but there is no mention of the total cost. But I do know that Kent council launched a similar scheme – and the cost to them was £600,000!

“We know already that the county council spends more on self-publicity than other councils. In a recession, with the council’s leaders complaining incessantly about the lack of money from the government, therre is no excuse for increasing expenditure in this area.”

Council ignores own policy

Llwynhendy councillor, Meilyr Hughes, has called for the replacement of badly faded road signs in parts of his ward. Cllr Hughes said this week, "I have called for the replacement of street signs at Llandafen Road, Pemberton Road, Llwynhendy Road, and Heol y Gelli, where the signs have been affected by traffic pollution. As a result of the recent developments in the area, Heol y Gelli is now on the B4297, whilst the other three are all part of the 'old' A484, which means that the council will need to give careful consideration to the precise siting of the new signs".

Cllr Hughes has also pointed out that this gives the council an opportunity to implement a policy which it has apparently been ignoring to date. "The council's official policy is to use only the Welsh name where that name has been in existence for some time," said Cllr Hughes. "Previously, the council has put up signs referring to both Heol y Gelli and Gelli Road, but under its own policy, only Heol y Gelli should be included."

Cautious Welcome for Rail Investment

Two Plaid councillors in Carmarthenshire who have raised concerns previously about the rail service to Carmarthen have given a cautious welcome to the plans by the Government for rail investment, which may bring some improvements.

Cllr Alan Speake said, “It’s good news of course that Plaid’s Transport Minister has been able to secure the electrification of the main line as far as Swansea, when the London govrenment had originally planned that the scheme would stop at Bristol. But we must see this as just the first phase. It is vital for West Wales that the rest of the line, to Carmarthen and beyond, should also be electrified so that trains can run through rather than having to change at Swansea.”

Cllr Linda Davies Evans added, “The One Wales government has also agreed to invest in doubling the track around the west of Swansea, and this work will enable trains to run to West Wales more frequently when it is completed. This is another important step, and I hope that it will be completed rapidly, so that extra trains can run and the whole service become more reliable.”

Plea for speed limit at Denham Avenue

Plaid County Councillor Mari Dafis has asked for a speed limit of 20 mph to be imposed at Denham Avenue, Llanelli, in the interests of safety. Cllr Dafis said this week, "There are serious problems at Denham Avenue. Although the speed limit is currently set at 30mph, in practice a number of vehicles actually travel at up to 50mph along this stretch of road.

"There have been problems with parked cars being smashed into as a result, and I am concerned about the possibility of a serious accident occurring if no action is taken. There are two schools in the vicinity, and that ought to be sufficient reason for reducing the speed limit to 20mph and introducing other measures which will help to keep traffic within the speed limit.

"I have been told that budgetary constraints prevent the council from doing anything this year, but I will keep pressing for this in the hope that action can be taken when funds are available."

Response to language strategy

The Welsh Government recently published a new draft strategy for Welsh-medium education, and Plaid's 30-strong group of councillors in Carmarthenshire has this week given its response. Group leader, Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths said, "Carmarthenshire is one of a very small number of counties in Wales where there is still a majority of Welsh speakers. It is absolutely crucial for a county like this that there is a strong and clear strategy for the expansion of Welsh medium education, and we welcome the fact that the Government has produced the first-ever national strategy for doing this. There are, however, a number of weaknesses, and we have highlighted these in our response.

"We very much welcome the One Wales Government's proposal to ensure that a proper and thorough survey is conducted to establish the true level of parental demand. This is something for which we have been calling in the county council although to date the Labour/Independent administration has refused to properly carry out a survey. Instead, we have had a sham questionnaire in one part of the county, with no real attempt to fully explain the advantages. But most important of all, there is no purpose in obliging councils to conduct surveys unless they are also then obliged to make provision to meet the full level of demand highlighted by those surveys.

"We also felt that the targets being set were not ambitious enough, particularly in a county like Carmarthenshire, and have called on the government to set more challenging targets."

Welcome for Welsh education expansion in Llanelli

Plaid councillors in Carmarthenshire have welcomed a report from the county’s officers recommending a number of options for increasing the number of Welsh medium places in prmary schools in Llanelli. The demand for Welsh-medium education has increased substantially in the town, and the county council has been struggling to respond to the demand for some two years now. According to the latest plans, the Council intends to increase the number of places in all of the current Welsh schools, and recognises the need to start planning now for more Welsh schools in the area.

Councillor Dyfrig Thomas said, “More and more parents are choosing Welsh-medium education for their children in the town. They understand the advantages of ensuring that their children are completely bilingual, and also know that Welsh schools are the best way of doing that.

“I very much welcome the plans to increase the number of places in Ysgol Dewi Sant as well as the substantial increase in Ysgol Ffwrnes, and this is as well as the new school for Brynsierfel. But all of this is just a short term answer to the immediate problem – the figures clearly show that we need to find a site for a further Welsh school urgently, and start planning for another school after that.”

Cllr Thomas added, “It’s very encouraging to see that the demand is growing in every part of the town, from people in all our comminties.”