Exit stage left

Rumours of dissatisfaction within the Labour group on Swansea Council, reported here last month, have been confirmed with the exit of Roger Smith and Glyn Seabourne from their designated spots on the opposition benches.

We hear that the small but significant exodus was initially sparked by an uneven allocation of table-scrap positions recently conceded by the ruling Lib Dem coalition. But it was the awarding of a committee chairmanship to appease a leadership contender following a very closely-run contest in May that is said to have been the last straw.

The resignations will come as a blow to group leader David Phillips who many observers feel did well to arrest Labour’s electoral decline in 2008. However, the same people contend that a dominant inner circle of old guard and little in the way of the largesse needed to lubricate the political machine may yet cause other departures before the end of the year.

Update: Rockin' Rene helpfully points to some other alleged shortcomings.

On the offensive

Stand-up comic Richard Herring provides a thought-provoking insight in today’s Guardian regarding the funny side of fascism. In a rationale of his show 'Hitler Moustache', in which he ponders the potentially offensive issue of whether racists have a point, Herring argues that “there is no harm in exploring the truth about racism when all moral, scientific, social, historical and genetic evidence demonstrates it to be groundless and ridiculous. And funny.”

No argument from us. Although it should be said that a brief scan of the readers’ comments on the EP website can be just as entertaining in serving the same purpose and you don’t have to buy a ticket either.

Changed?

The jerky progression from Thatcher’s outright denial of the existence of society to Major’s aspiration for a classless version and onwards to the present-day spectacle of a Welsh tory AM quoting Abraham Lincoln in the Western Mail is a remarkable one – not to mention totally unbelievable.

There are probably others a lot more capable of commenting on how ‘social inequality’ and ‘Conservative’ came to be synonymous from 1979-1997 but Angela Burns and her colleagues at Westminster and Cardiff Bay will need to do a lot more to convince people that their transformation is something other than skin-deep.

Keeping a lid on things

The reported stalled attempt by sacked Swansea social worker Eleni Cordingley to get a pre-tribunal hearing for unfair dismissal provides a spell of temporary relief for senior figures at Calamity Hall but that's all it represents.

The sweaty palms, according to sources, are not so much a sign of concern over the variable track record of Swansea Council at such proceedings as corporate terror that a tribunal would see a damaging amount of previously unrevealed detail about managerial shortcomings finding its way into the public domain.

We understand that Cordingley’s representatives, who believe that she was scapegoated, plan on recounting a list of the more questionable customs & practices that existed within the department. They will also be pointing the finger at a number of individuals who allegedly escaped sanction or even scrutiny during the internal investigation(s).

Predictably, lawyers acting for the local authority hold a different opinion over what is germane in pursuing a claim and point to the actions of a professional body who struck off the social worker for misconduct. But the feeling in both camps is that they are treading water and that the lid is most probably going to come off as to why Swansea’s child protection service went from beacon to basket-case is just a few years - the only real question is who gets fingered during the process.

Headlines

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Blair to give personal account of war

30 July 2009

Time to reinvent the wheel (again)

It used to be said of the former Welsh Development Agency that if something of the sort had not been in existence then it would have to be invented. An agency achieving the critical investment link between government & business and which actually made a tangible contribution to the economy in the process had the proportions of a ‘no-brainer’. It’s success was even validated by regular protests from English local authorities of uneven playing fields.

This however was all too much for ministers who saw the WDA and its lesser-achieving fellow quangos as old-hat and even slightly subversive when the received wisdom was all about ‘accountability’ – i.e. accountability to politicians whose own business and commercial experience could be encapsulated in a small bucket.

The inevitable result of economic anschluss and a dogmatic political environment hostile to physical infrastructure investment, as opposed to the much nicer-sounding ‘knowledge economies’, has been little more than a series of extended inter-departmental skirmishes masquerading as strategic policy.

Now Prof. Brian Morgan, described in the Western Mail as “a prominent entrepreneur and an academic at Uwic”, has started to ask questions out loud about the nature of the emperor’s apparel.

Morgan, himself a former chief economist at the WDA, talks about “logjam of decisions” and claims that “each business support initiative has taken at least twice as long as planned, while officials appear to have no conception of making timely decisions.” More importantly, he states that the current structure is flawed “because it labours under the fiction that the minister is always responsible for making every decision” which, of course, he is not – nor ever could be.

The test for the respective components of the One-Wales government is how they react to this criticism from an influential and respected figure within Welsh business circles. It would be a grave error to simply dismiss his comments or suggest a political motive and it will be interesting to see if one or two leadership contenders are astute enough to come to the same conclusion.

Update: Similar sentiments from A Change of Personnel.

Telling it like wot it is, chaps

Like many before him, Cammers yesterday appeared to experience one of the pitfalls of live radio and had to apologise for being a potty-mouth on air. Soon after telling an Absolute Radio presenter that the public was "pissed off" with politicians, he went on to further endear himself with sections of the public - but not his party - by adding that "The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – is too many twits might make a twat."

Cameron’s aides later stressed that "twat" was not defined as a swear word under radio guidelines (unless you’re Jonathan Ross, of course) which makes you wonder if they had checked beforehand – and that all the profanity had a purpose. Politicians, eh?

Headlines

Guidance after police speed case

BBC Wales

Closing arguments

To a number of Swansea Council-watchers, a potential legal challenge against plans to close one of three primary schools was always on the cards. Admittedly it is not a particularly brilliant insight given that the local authority has a track record of keeping members & officer working groups closeted away for months while they evolve detailed procedures; only to later ignore them entirely when taking the actual decisions. As it stands, lawyers acting for parents of threatened Llanmorlais school in Gower are coming to the opinion that this is what happened in Calamity Hall last month.

The local paper also reports comments made by solicitors that there has been a lack of transparency in the consultation process, although a related editorial launches a robust defence of the political administration stating: “We do not believe councillors make a decision to close any school without any thought for the consequences – even if those who practise politics find it convenient to present the other side as callous idiots while they, of course, are the guardians of altruistic intelligence.”

It’s a strangely inappropriate reaction given that the article in question doesn’t actually mention any politician but rather how campaigners who are trying to keep the school open are being continually denied access to performance figures which were purportedly used to inform the closure decision. Somehow you can’t help feeling that there would be a less sanguine reaction if it was the local press rather than local parents who were having successive Freedom of Information requests rejected.

But if the author is looking for a political dimension then perhaps he or she should ponder more on the fact, as borne out by the minutes, that only six councillors out of 72 actually made the final call. For ourselves – and call us shit-stirrers if you like – but we hold the view that decisions which affect entire communities, no matter how stupid, should at the very least be made by the people elected to represent those communities.

A matter of perspective

A union spokesman interviewed this morning on BBC Radio Wales repeatedly told listeners that redundancies and wholesale cuts in humanities courses at Cardiff University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning would be “extremely bad for Wales”. Doubtlessly, union reps facing similar problems in Swansea, Carmarthenshire, Coleg Gwent and Neath Port Talbot – to name but a few – will be kicking themselves for not coming up with that one.

Snail's pace progress

Confirmation that Wales is losing out in broadband speed provision gets coverage today in the industry and mainstream press.
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A study commissioned by regulator Ofcom, involving over 60 million separate service performance tests in over 1600 homes between November 2008 and April 2009, shows wide variations between providers and regions in the UK. Virgin Media (nee NTL) comes out top with BT languishing at eighth out of nine placings but it is the variations between nations that will reboot a continuing argument about the need for better infrastructure investment.
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WAG claims to have “invested significant amounts of money into increasing both the availability and take-up of broadband technology over the past few years” but the Regional Innovative Broadband Support (RIBS) scheme, has been a ponderous exercise about total coverage and has done little to enhance speeds.
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Spokesmen remain insistent that the One-Wales government can address the problem but critics and competitors remain unconvinced that anything significant will happen while the cosy relationship between the Assembly and BT remains a key factor.

Getting heated over waste

Always ones to take advantage of a slow news day, the environmental lobby manages to get space in the Western Mail to slag off the Assembly government’s waste strategy which has just completed the consultation stage.

Friends of the Earth Cymru, backed by Greens, argue that including incineration is a backward step and that the approach should be abandoned in favour of waste reduction through recycling. They claim that “parts of Europe, such as Flanders and Germany", are already achieving the 70% recycling target (which WAG says should be reached by 2025) - although they fail to mention that other parts of Europe, notably Holland, employ incineration as a major element in their municipal waste strategies – and use the output as a cost-effective form of heating.

It’s definitely a debate worth having although it might be the wrong one as Assembly officials admit to being frustrated not so much by ‘how’ as ‘who’ within the overall waste strategy. The number of unsuccessful joint ventures between councils and the likely local opposition to whatever methods are eventually employed has seen at least one comment made to the Assembly’s environment committee that it might be better if waste disposal was taken out of the hands of local government altogether. There is no such proposal in the strategy document but experience shows that this is seldom a reliable indicator of intent - or outcome.

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Policy promises to become "aspirations"

27 July 2009

Throwing a Googley

Former shadow home secretary David Davies sends a timely reminder of his continued existence to Cammers by stating that “My party would be mad to give control of sensitive records to an internet giant notorious for ignoring privacy concerns”.

The MP who resigned from the shadow cabinet to cause a by-election at Haltemprice & Howden over something-or-other kicks off his article in the Times tentatively with: “When I read ... that the Conservative Party was planning to transfer people’s health data to Google, my heart sank. The policy described was so naive I could only hope that it was an unapproved kite-flying exercise by a young researcher in Conservative HQ. If not, what was proposed was both dangerous in its own right, and hazardous to the public acceptability of necessary reforms to the state’s handling of our private information.” Thereafter, you definitely get the impression that he is against the idea.

Davis has chosen his ground well and carefully to fire off a shot at those who would keep him on the backbenches. These same individuals however will now be deciding on the most effective way to point out that the policy proposal comes from a team formed under Davis’ watch.

Deja vu?

Staying on the public sector theme, the news that the local health trust is facing a constructive dismissal claim from a top official has got conspiracy theorists nodding gloomily about earlier expressed fears.

Swansea’s chief executive is reported to be taking legal advice after failing to be offered a job in yet another organisational shake-up but critics claim his latest shafting at the hands of the NHS hierarchy is a result of his stated opposition to plans to transfer neurosurgery from Swansea to Cardiff. An additional claim is that the same thing happened to consultant paediatric neurosurgeon Tim Buxton - who finally won a high court action against the trust earlier this year – when he took a similar stand.

As it happens, children’s neurosurgery was indeed moved to Cardiff during the time he was suspended.

Old joke recycled

Word is leaking out that Jeremy Clarkson faces a fine and imprisonment for using a very rude anatomical word to describe the overall abilities of prime minister Gordon Brown.

CPS officials have apparently stated that charges are to be brought on the basis that the presenter's ill-advised outburst represents a clear breach of the Official Secrets Act.

Lashing out

Peter Black indulges in an uncharacteristic rant at the local public sector and top of his shit-list are Neath Port Talbot council for losing sensitive personal data; although his attempted correlation between this misdeed and the level of council tax is more than a little spurious.

NPT has always managed to infuriate the Lib Dem AM and never more so at those times when their controlling Labour group attract defecting councillors or un-opposed candidates – a means of recruitment that he clearly expects to be exclusive to his own party.

But taking his proposition at face value that there is indeed a link between poor performance and ineffective data safeguards then Black is uniquely placed to validate this claim. Not just because he is a prominent and long-serving member of Swansea Council, where children’s services remain in special measures following intervention by the Welsh Assembly, but also because the local cabinet member for social services is a member of his constituency staff.

Then again, perhaps this morning’s tetchiness is more to do with the result of the Norwich North by-election which turned out to be a disappointing non-event for Liberal Democrats, prompting a need for cat lover Black to take a kick elsewhere in understandable frustration.

Fitzgerald in the frame

Swansea council’s embattled presiding officer remains firmly in the frame as opposition groups continue to make capital over her comments made during a private members meeting in Calamity Hall that many social ills could be tackled by ‘compulsory long-term contraception’.

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Having seen tory group leader Rene Kinzett castigate the sacked former social services cabinet member, it is now Labour's turn to get stuck in with a notice of motion at next week’s council.

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However, the typically overdone text which calls on Lib Dem leader Chris Holley to disassociate himself from Fitzgerald's comments, etc, etc, may well backfire, according to coalition sources. It seems that there are plans to ask if the Labour leadership is willing to come down just as hard over racist comments from within their own ranks about a proposed gypsy site which were also allegedly expressed behind closed doors.

Of course, this scenario very much depends on whether Fitzgerald, as presiding officer - and who appears to be fast running out of allies - actually counternances a debate or for that matter alows the questions tabled elsewhere in the agenda which query the role of her other half and two other unelected officials who appear to have unrestricted access to civic buildings.

Huw Lewis and the News

Huw Lewis provides a refreshing example of a politician thinking outside the box with his suggestion of “a series of ‘super local’ television and radio channels run by newspapers in Wales”.

His un-costed proposal is designed to arrest the decline of provincial newspapers, such as the Evening Post where staff have been hit by further job losses – although his own list of “flagship” papers suggests a hint of geographic bias along with a limited grasp of current circulation figures.

No doubt critics will point out that regulatory requirements alone mean that it cannot all just happen with “a dozen start-up grants for this kind of modern news service" or without the co-operation of an industry firmly geared towards market dominance and preferably a monopoly. (A viewed shared elsewhere).

But the idea will nonetheless win him some publicity and even a few friends among journalists – for the time being.

Noises off

The reaction among enthusiasts at the prospect of Wales losing the British leg of the 2010 World Rally Championship will probably be on a par with the anguish expressed in other circles over BBC ending live coverage of Assembly proceedings on S4C2.

Perhaps it could be argued that neither will be missed to any great degree by ‘mainstream’ audiences, but the manner in which two notionally accountable public bodies decided their demise does tend to raise a question. Namely, if an anticipated squeeze on public expenditure is all it takes to prompt executive action over events deemed to have only anorak-appeal then where does it all stop? After all, this is an administration which lacks the financial clout to even build a decent road network. So why not go a stage further and ask ourselves if the whole expensive apparatus of devolution and its entourage of flame-proof quangos is affordable or even desirable.

OK, maybe that’s all slightly OTT but if a Welsh government and a regional broadcaster cannot uphold their respective remits to recognise & support a diversity of interests within the community then just the absence of a debate should in itself ring a few alarm bells.

Those who want Wales to go it alone – and those who think that coalitions are just a temporary anomaly - need to come to terms with a few realities. One of these is that it is money, not strategy, that talks. Without the ability to exert financial influence, it will be only a matter of time before the Assembly is regarded by the sporting and business worlds as not so much a golden goose as the squawking, annoying variety that gets far more attention than it merits. In some circles, that change of perception has already begun.

Sociopathy@Swansea

We had heard about the kerfuffle among Swansea councillors at their social services seminar last week but dismissed it as another example of the yah-boo-sucks standard of behaviour on all sides that has officers banging their heads on desktops in despair.

Rockin' Rene Kinzett however thinks that the sociopathic dribble uttered by presiding officer Wendy Fitzgerald is worth a second and wider airing. That is of course up to him – although it has to be said that he might actually be doing the member for Penllergaer a favour in alerting those who are bound to be attracted by her personal brand of parochial fascism, i.e. people within his own party who are a lot more scary and who are likely to be running the country pretty soon.

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BBC 'only news provider' by 2010

22 July 2009

Hypocrisy is its own reward

The spectacle of tory Alun Cairns wringing his hands over six-figure public sector salaries in Wales is an unedifying one to say the least. Whilst the eighty-odd officials may earn substantially more than the accident-prone AM on paper, it is very likely that none of them have been able to milk the system sufficiently to pay for a second home within jogging distance of their main domicile – or had the cheek to try to influence the rules to sustain the arrangement.

When it comes to matters considered “morally indefensible in the face of impending cuts in public services”, Cairns remains very much a role model.

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'Food champion' needed for Wales

BBC Wales Online

Better than fiction

Daytime TV has never been so entertaining as the spectacle of watching ex-News of the World dissemblers Kuttner & Coulson squirming before the something-or-other select committee claiming to have absolutely no recollection whatever of signing off payments to ‘inquiry agencies’, i.e. phone hackers - that is when they weren't challenging the right of two committee members to even ask questions. This tetchy reaction was hardly surprising as the proliferation of invoices, expense sheets and other evidence being waved about clearly indicated that MPs relished the role reversal.

One of the best parts was when former managing editor Kuttner was asked if Clive Goodman & Glen Mulcaire, who were was jailed for hacking into the phone messages of royal staff had continued to receive payments after they had gone to prison. Kuttner was unable to say one way or another but promised he would ‘look into it’.

Nick Robinson seems to have been at a slightly different hearing. But, as someone whose own career move has mirrored Coulson’s then perhaps this it to be expected.

Update (22 July): The Guardian spins its own account.

Big John

Like so many other people in Jaxxland and beyond, we would like to add our best wishes to Big John Hartson for a speedy recovery from his illness.

John, who can fill a football pitch on his own, is a player with immense
passion which can inspire teammates and indimidate opposing sides. His appearances for Arsenal, Celtic and Wales were as much a highlight for his Swansea fans as they were for the boy from Talycoppa.

Our hopes are with John and his family.

No country for old gits

Sid confirms his townie credentials – along with his usual innate charm.

Headlines

‘Seagulls are ruining city’s cafe culture’

South Wales Echo - 20 July 2009

Half a picture

Most people in south west Wales will be understandably be asking just how temporary is “temporary” over plans to move emergency neurosurgery from Swansea’s Morriston hospital to Cardiff due to yet more local staffing problems. And it is only a matter of time before the calls begin for pledges from bureaucrats to be underpinned by political assurances - especially when you remember that parts of Morriston are themselves sixty-five year old ‘temporary’ structures dating back from the second world war.

The Beans on Toast, who normally treat the save-our-neurosurgery campaign as a personal badge of honour, seem fairly sanguine over the situation; having relegated news of the move to the rear section of their Saturday edition. They even appear resistant to the growing local paranoia which feeds on the fact that recruitment and training of new doctors in Wales is controlled by the Deanery – a part of Cardiff University. Or is it more likely that they haven’t figured that part out yet?

Railroaded?

There are mixed messages coming out of Calamity Hall as to whether council leader Chris Holley did or did not screw the system when he personally accepted a freebie feasibility study into a proposed new multi-million tram system.

We understand that an internal investigation into his private dealings with a major construction company was delayed when the Ombudsman also decided to look into the matter. It appears that the local government watchdog has now indicated that there was no actual breach; prompting the Lib Dem leader to employ one of his own unique expressions to claim it has “proven that I did nothing” - and who can argue with that?

However, an official statement by council chief executive Paul Smith which provides a measure of vindication also sounds a less positive tone by confirming that: “His [Holley's] actions fell short of what would be recognised as good practice and did expose himself, his office and the council to adverse comments and criticisms”.

There is no indication if the investigation findings will become publicly available, as far as we know, but according to the Beans on Toast, among the recommendations is that all future [committee] reports to be considered will need to be obtained through council officers. This will cause a few double-takes among staff who know that the council’s own procurement rules already insist on such a requirement.

The row which led to allegations of possible 'back-handers' by the council's many critics has overshadowed embryonic plans for a £510 million super tram scheme connecting coastal stations around Swansea Bay. At least one supporter has since demanded to have his name removed from the on-line petition organised by a Lib Dem councillor. More worryingly for the coalition however is the emerging view within its own ranks that it this same arrogant disregard for official procedures displayed by those at the top of the political heap which lies behind many of the financial woes that now beset the authority.

An unrepentant Holley however hit out at those who shopped him, claiming : “I feel that they have no idea what they are talking about”. Unsurprisingly, the general feeling in the community and various newsrooms is that Swansea Council has a leader suffering from precisely the same affliction.

Wrong move?

Rene Kinzett, the ‘colourful’ tory councillor and parliamentary hopeful will no doubt be gutted to learn that he doesn’t rate a mention in the list of rising stars recently published by a firm of political lobbyists – nor does the Swansea West constituency appear in the top 200 tory target seats. Then again, it is also thankfully missing from other surveys.

It does, however, figure at number 48 in the Lib Dem top 100 where the party came second in 2005 to Labour who held on by 4,269 votes. But even this assessment might now need further validation since the Lib Dem candidate at the time was .. err.. Rene Kinzett.

Only in Swansea.

A fitting endorsement

Continuing the transport theme, we’re told that a rooftop photo-opportunity staged to mark the start of work on a revamp of Swansea’s bus station (which is sited a mile away from the train station) received an endorsement of sorts when council cabinet members, contractors and Assembly’s officials were provided with goodwill messages by the local seagulls who usually occupy the upper levels.

No further comment is necessary.

A glimpse of the future

The views of Sustainable Transport Cymru, as expounded by former ITV Wales political correspondent and Guardian commentator Lee Waters today, were hardly a surprise – especially as it seems that they already had an inkling of what was in the WAG transport proposals.

“We're fed up of strategies promising greener transport when half the transport budget is tied up in road schemes”, stated Waters – a comment which proved remarkably apposite in the light of what subsequently happened.

But is this a cause for celebration? Wales already has a lamentable record of infrastructure investment compared to other European recipients of Objective One aid and it now also seems to have a government that appears unduly influenced by alliances comprised of pressure groups who cannot otherwise muster political support through the ballot box or those which exist to promote the interests of the private(ised) passenger transport sector.

If anyone should be fed up after today’s announcement of two major road schemes getting binned it is those who have dutifully turned up to the Assembly’s economic recovery roadshows and thought that were making a contribution. Among these will be the CBI’s David Rosser who is already raising understandable concerns not just about this specific decision but how a devolved government – let alone an independent one - can fund any sort of meaningful infrastructure improvements with such patent limitations placed on public funds and political ambition.

Update (16 July): Reaction

Headlines

Hospital's brain doctor shortage

BBC Wales - 14 July 2009

Professionals

Following on from the previous post, the story in the Western Mail that UK taxpayers fund the salaries of ‘29,000 professional politicians’ to the tune of £500 million every year is either a sobering thought or one to send you screaming to your hotel room mini-bar.

“Professional” in the context applied is of course a technical description, i.e. they do it for money, and yet - if you can manage to resist the call for a debate over a growing elite of politicians and advisers who have little experience of actual life beyond the campaign trail - it is a phenomenal growth which adds new life to the (very) old joke that politicians have now replaced rats as the preferred subjects among scientists for laboratory experiments.

There are apparently several reasons for this trend: Firstly, there are now officially more politicians on the planet than rats. Secondly, there is far less likelihood of scientists ever forming an emotional attachment with a politician. But the overriding factor is that there are some things that rats just won’t do.

Shocked and stunned

Never one to miss a trend, Lib Dems have cottoned on to parsimony as the new politics by ‘exposing’ the travelling costs incurred by staff at the economic quango International Business Wales (IBW).

Notwithstanding the previous role of fellow AM and Euro-apparatchik, Mike German, Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams feels that spending £750,000 on 35 assembly government credit cards is “disgusting” during a recession. There are many that will agree that an average of £22,000 per employee on travel looks excessive, especially compared to the responsible claims submitted by her cross-party colleagues.

But business, and especially attracting business investment, is all about meeting & greeting and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise. Similarly, claiming that the £750K would be better spent on supporting home-grown firms is populist nonsense.

Yet releasing the story has had its effect; if only as another ill-disguised swipe at IWJ’s uncomfortable grip on the vagaries within the enterprise & transport portfolio. Consequently, other AMs will be interested to see if Williams is sufficiently incensed at the cost to “every Welsh taxpayer" that she raises the matter with Rodders at First Ministers questions this afternoon. We shall see.

Guessing games

As the Assembly nears its nine week recess, so the annual ritual commences of guessing which minister will slip in a policy shift whilst the troops are on hols. Initial betting is on finance man Andrew Davies. A few think he used a recent interview with the Beeb to soften the ground in advance of a forced landing of some key public sector reforms in order to placate the remaining rump of trade union support. An announcement during recess would mean being able to avoid pointed accusations in the Siambr of a u-turn.

Other money is on an anticipated flash-mob by the burgeoning horde of health quangos who reportedly have a backlog of expensive and controversial decisions waiting to be dropped with the media from next Monday onwards. A minority suspect that Jane Davidson might use the ‘quiet’ period to pull something out of her biodegradable handbag which surprisingly doesn’t cost 15 pence.

But as far as the pobol y cwm of Cardiff Bay are concerned, the focus will be on the Heads of the Valleys or rather the super-sensitive ministerial advice that deputy first minister Ieuan Wyn Jones has refused to release to his colleagues until the end of term. An action which has so much caused outrage – some of it almost genuine.

With all this stress and excitement, it’s no wonder that the poor dears need a good long break.

Tit for tat

Whatever the overall circumstances that contributed to the inevitable deselection of Sian Caiach, it is not just puzzling that the Plaid hierarchy has permitted such a personalised and rather damaging feud to drag on, but that no-one has taken a closer look at operations in St James’ Crescent to see who actually leaked the results of the internal election which saw Bethan Jenkins take the top slot for the South Wales West region with just 14 votes, while sitting AM Dr Dai Lloyd got 62.

Party chairman John Dixon, who has been single-mindedly pressing for Caiach’s suspension for some time hit the headlines himself last month when his work by his IT firm appeared as an £10,000 expenses item for Plaid MP Adam Price . The suspicion within the constituency is that it was someone in Caiach’s camp who tipped off the press.

Satisfaction guaranteed

Further revelations in the Gruaniad (old joke) of more hacking and gagging are no doubt added delight for spectators who enjoy watching Grub Street turn on itself. But the extent to which the News of the World is getting the same one-sided scrutiny treatment which it has meted out in the past will obviously please some more than others.

Is there anything beyond Barnet? (except Enfield)

While Assembly members congratulate each other on the transparency of their expenses system – despite the 108 different recommendations on what needs to be changed, another report is published which is likely to have far wider ranging effects on the public purse and how it gets divvied up.

The Independent Commission on Funding & Finance for Wales - a.k.a. the Holtham Commission - has published its first report entitled “Funding devolved government in Wales: Barnett & beyond”.

Overall, the report is unlikely to satisfy the opposing camps who see the present formula as a burden, a benefit or just a pig’s breakfast depending on their outlook and attitude towards the prospect of economic independence – although both will stoutly claim a victory of sorts.

But hearts will also sink among the anoraks at one of the recommendations which states that “the UK Government and the Assembly Government should jointly agree a new Ministerial concordat on the detailed funding arrangements for Wales” - especially after the minor savaging handed out today by members of the Welsh Select Committee over the "random thresholds" contained in the Welsh language LCO.

Headlines

Police officer in blackmail plot

7 July 2009

Getting it right for Wales

Strange, in light of the public interest that they helped generate, that neither the Beeb or the Western Mail provide a link to the report produced by the independent review into current 'financial support arrangements' for Assembly members. Clearly an oversight on their part.

It might be a bit slow loading as there seems to be a fair bit of interest in the contents and recommendations.

Comment from Jaxxland follows soon.

Tory two-step

The Conservatives continue to seize the agenda – and thereby the initiative – as the ground shifts again in the pre-election positioning game.

After a weekend which began with sterile countering over just who would inflict the first and deepest cut in public spending, Cameron neatly jumps on a clumsily announced government review of public bodies with specific ‘practical efficiencies’ that involves scrapping a few bureaucratic quangos or at least making them more 'accountable', i.e. less effective.

It’s a skilful switch in focus even if it does rely a little on most journalists not knowing or caring that it was the venerated Mrs T and her veggies wot spawned the phenomenal growth of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations; all of whom have an impact on our daily lives and provide around 28% of us with employment. Yet if the contradiction is ever pointed out, Cameron will simply say that the Tories had the balance right but it is Labour that has taken the practice of sustaining a system of non-accountable executive power to excess.

To many, the experience of seeing promises that a Conservative government would tackle the democratic deficit is akin to hearing Genghis Khan offering to break out the BBQ sauce. Yet perhaps it is just this sort of audacity that is needed when threatening to kick shit out the unions just doesn’t convey the same magic as it did and New Labour has pretty much finished the job of rolling back the tide of socialism anyway.

But before Conservatives wrap themselves entirely in the reformist mantle, it’s worth remembering that for every public service that went out of democratic control into the hands of non-elected quangos during their last time in office, just as many were privatised – and all the signs so far is that not much has changed their thinking in that regard.

Lacking in gravity

Cambria Politico (Bettsy to the rest of us) poses the question "Why isn't Kirsty making a bigger impact?".
Having given the matter some thought, we feel that it probably has something to do with altitude.

Follow that bus

The twists and turns of the bendy-bus saga have reached Morristion where traders claim that works to provide 'landing-stages' for the articulated vehicles is causing disruption on the roads.

But a contrary opinion comes from independent and laughingly non-aligned councillor Ioan Richard who informed the local paper that he had: "done my own research and followed it twice in my car from Morriston Hospital down through Morriston centre to the Wych Tree roundabout at peak rush hour, and I can say it went very smoothly through Morriston, without a hitch or hold-up."

A bunch of readers, most of whom seem to have a predisposition against the 19 metre-long means of transport, have not held back on also expressing their views regarding the member for Mawr via the paper's website. Some question the validity of his actions, his opinions, his definition of research and his sanity while others want to know how he feels justified in wasting his time - and that of his constituents - in following buses around an area of the city that he does not represent.

Update: Bus-chaser Ioan Richard has put up his version of events along with a ropey defence which goes along the lines of “the coalition is only finishing off what Labour started”. A claim already debunked elsewhere - but an entirely understandable attempt given that the scheme is as popular as radioactive toilet paper. We’re told that Richard is so desperate to be mayor before the next local elections that he will do anything to ingratiate himself with the ruling clique (although this apparently does not extend to giving the metro an unequivocal endorsement).

Ah well, at least when it comes to calling people a liar, he remains in a league of his own.

Bleating

Ordovicius has picked up on some of the credentials of the Taxpayers Alliance which we pointed out a few weeks ago. Strange however that the right-wing agenda of the "wolves in sheep's clothing" only became worth mentioning following criticism by an Alliance spokesperson in reaction to press revelations that Plaid, among others, receives substantial payments from AMs and MPs for office accommodation.

Headlines

Raiders hit Ann Summers and sports shop

2 July 2009

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photo courtesy: Rocky Horror Bike Race

Cuts in the community

Cuts imposed by Lib Dem-run Swansea Council are already starting to have an impact. Among the casualties are a series of successful IT classes held within the community for people who want to continue learning.

At last week’s council meeting, the education cabinet member confirmed that a “total of 44 IT courses have been cut at 8 venues throughout the County. The venues are Bonymaen Community Centre (2 classes); Bryn House (4 classes); Dynevor Centre (8 classes); Forge Fach Clydach (6 classes); Hafod Community Centre (3 classes); Montana Park Community Centre (7 classes); Waunarlwydd Community Centre (14 classes)" - which is actually only seven venues.

The budget ‘saving’ from the cuts amounts to £76,100 but we understand that a voluble member of the ruling hybrid coalition is most annoyed that most of the cutbacks are in areas that have Lib Dem or Independent councillors. He is reported to have contacted the chief education officer - or "organ grinder" as he put it - to demand a review.

Headlines

Animal set to fill vacant Quadrant unit

S.Wales Evening Post - 2 July 2009

Cheques and balancing acts

The Finance, Audit & Business Improvement Scrutiny Board of Swansea Council – a body probably unsuitable for asthmatics – today receives a report on how businessman Alun Thomas mistakenly received a cheque for £121,936.90 from the local authority back in March.

The report concludes that ISiS, a newish computerised payments system extolled by Lib Dem cabinet member Mary Jones and her techy minions managed to screw up. Or to be more exact, the people using the system screwed up inasmuch as the person creating the cheque got the details wrong and the 2 other people responsible for re-checking the details also got it wrong.

There are no significant measures suggested to prevent a repeat occurrence other than a recommendation that procedures which are already in place are actually enforced. Indeed the only workable sanction appears to be that the money was recoverable through the courts if Mr Thomas had decided to keep schtum and cash the cheque.

Not much of safeguard – and not much of a system after all, it seems.

Welsh Lib Dems left behind

Why is the Honourable member for Torbay so animated about an Arts Council for Wales grant to Swansea artist Sue Williams who has been handed £20,000 to study women's buttocks?

Surely he shares the views of the artist that more needs to be done to emulate the African approach whereby "the bottom is treated with respect; as opposed to attitudes in the West which are "trivial, sensational and sexual."

And anyway, aren't there enough Lib Dems in Wales available to comment on this clearly serious matter?