The Druid: Fighting for Anglesey

Isle of Angleski

2012-01-17T22:59:00.000Z

A reader alerts me to the new Isle of Angleski blog...

"A statement by Comrade Minister Sargeant - Angleski Elections will be delayed until 2013.The Cardiffgrad Capitalists were defeated after last minute support was offered by local Marxist - Comrade Wyn Jones.
The Llangefski Politburo will be controlled by the Glorious Commissioners until further notice."

Redwina Hartski would be proud.

++ Official: Ynys Môn local elections postponed to 2013 ++

2012-01-17T15:26:00.000Z

Welsh Local Government Minister, Carl Sargeant, has today issued a statement saying that he WILL postpone the local elections on Ynys Môn by one year until May 2013. He further goes on to say that the ~~Commissars~~ Commissioners he appointed to run the council will continue in place with NO timetable for removal.

In this way he hopes to bring about the Orwellian sounding aim of "democratic renewal" on Ynys Môn by suspending the democratic process and removing any kind of democratic oversight of the Executive — possibly even beyond the delayed 2013 election.

The full statement is below.
Sargeant statement delaying Ynys Môn elections

Slaying the Golden Goose with a Rotor Blade.

2012-01-16T07:44:00.000Z

How Kyffin Williams might have been forced to
paint Ynys Môn in two or three years time.

The Welsh Government is committed to delivering a three percent annual reduction in CO2 from 2011 onwards. Part of the way it hopes to achieve this is through promoting the development of renewable energy in Wales such that it will deliver 4TWh of electricity per annum from renewable energy to 2010 and 7TWh to 2020. (For comparison purposes, in 2010 UK’s total electricity generation stood at around 26TWh.)

In 2004 the Welsh Government identified that there was an installed renewables capacity of only around 380MW (equating to around 1TWh; for comparison purposes Wylfa A has a capacity of 900MW and Wylfa B will generate 3300MW) in Wales and therefore reviewed the various forms of renewable energy technology which would allow it to reach its 4TWh target:

"Offshore wind is an emerging technology and cannot compete commercially with onshore wind at present without grant support as demonstrated by Round 1 offshore windfarm projects. All substantial hydroelectric power in Wales has already been developed and there remains little scope for further development. Utilising Biomass to produce electricity at competitive prices remains a challenge and Wave and Tidal Technologies are still emerging technologies in the developmental phase and are a considerable distance from commercial applications. Photovoltaics are interesting at the small scale, but not currently commercially viable outside of building systems."

Accordingly it concluded (somewhat prematurely perhaps) that onshore wind was basically the only "commercial renewable energy technology" which would allow Wales to reach its targets. As onshore wind has very obvious land planning implications — they require large amounts of open land on which to site turbines, sub-stations, and pylons to provide a grid connection, in addition to visual impact issues of, in some instances, 140m tall wind turbines — the Welsh Government in 2005 rushed through Technical Advice Note 8 (TAN8) as the main planning instrument to enable the development of onshore wind farms in Wales.

The seven "Strategic Search Areas" defined in TAN8 to be 'sacrificed' to large-scale
wind farm development shown in red above.
The closest to Ynys Môn is Clocaenog Forest on the Conwy and Denbighshire border.

TAN 8 basically defines seven opaquely named "Strategic Search Areas" (SSAs) within rural sections of Wales which, subject to empirical evidence gathering and scrutiny before they were identified, the Welsh Government decided could be 'sacrificed' to the development of large scale (over 25MW) wind farms. Clustering large scale wind farms in geographically defined areas was supposed to minimise the visual and environmental impact and also provide for efficiency in connecting them to the national grid. Also, given that such areas would be changed out of all recognition, this strategy also helps the Welsh Government restrict and contain the public discontent that was sure to follow the plans to a few relatively sparsely populated areas.

As you can see from the above map, there are no SSAs on Ynys Môn — the nearest one being in Clocaenog Forest on the Conwy and Denbighshire border. Ynys Môn was not identified as being suitable for large-scale wind farm development, no doubt due to it being encircled by the largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Wales amongst other reasons.

TAN 8 clearly states that the Welsh Government wants to protect such landscapes. It states:

"Large areas of Wales were excluded from consideration as SSAs by features that militate against larger wind power developments. In particular large wind power proposals within a National Park or designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty would be contrary to well established planning policy and thus SSAs have not been considered for these areas". [Section 2.7]

Unfortunately however, TAN 8 does not rule out the development of wind farms outside of SSAs. Although it explicitly states that "most areas outside SSAs should remain free of large wind power schemes", it encourages Local Authorities to consider the development of wind farms up to 25MW on urban or brownfield sites in addition to "smaller community based wind farms schemes (generally less than 5 MW)". However, crucially for Ynys Môn Council, its says that each Local Authority must do so through:

"a set of local criteria that would determine the acceptability of such schemes and define in more detail what is meant by 'smaller' and 'community based'. Local planning authorities should give careful consideration to these issues and provide criteria that are appropriate to local circumstances." [Section 2.12]

By 'community based', the Welsh Government clearly means that smaller schemes should be managed both with the consent of and for the advantage of communities. Ynys Môn has not yet prepared any such local criteria, nor has it defined how it proposes to define the meanings of 'smaller' and 'community based'.

Furthermore, according to TAN 8, Local Authorities should:

"consider the cumulative impact of small schemes ... and establish suitable criteria for separation distances from each other and from the perimeter of existing wind power schemes or the SSAs. In these areas, there is a balance to be struck between the desirability of renewable energy and landscape protection. Whilst that balance should not result in severe restriction on the development of wind power capacity, there is a case for avoiding a situation where wind turbines are spread across the whole of a county." [Section 2.13]

Ynys Môn Council is not considering the cumulative impact of the 50 plus applications for wind turbines which have been made on the Island as it says it plans to deal with them on an individual and ad-hoc basis; criteria for separation distances have not been established; and, as the below map of wind turbine locations clearly shows, they are already spreading across the whole of the county — a situation with TAN 8 explicitly warns Local Authorities to avoid.

Wind Turbine applications: spread across the whole of Ynys Môn, despite TAN 8
instructing Local Authorities to avoid this.
Furthermore, despite all these applications being dealt with individually,
are they not in effect turning Ynys Môn into a de-facto Wind Farm?

TAN 8 was introduced by the Welsh Government six years ago in 2005. Ynys Môn's 'Energy Island' strategy was officially launched two years ago in 2010. Yet Anglesey Council did not issue for consultation its Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) for onshore windfarms — i.e. a local policy on how to deal with wind turbines — until just last month. The document itself sets out in great detail the planning process for applicants, but crucially is entirely devoid of any strategic consideration of how to deal with wind turbines on Ynys Môn:

It does not address the issue of avoiding wind turbines spreading across the whole Island as TAN 8 says it should
It allows for wind turbines to be erected in the AONB — what therefore is the point of having an AONB?
It does not establish any criteria for separation distances from residential properties, again despite TAN 8 saying that it should
It considers cumulative impact only from a visual impact standpoint — rather than recognising the need to consider all applications in the round. The current situation means that Ynys Môn in its entirety is being turned into a large-scale wind farm by default, yet each application is being considered individually. This what TAN 8 meant when it stipulated that regard should be had to the potential cumulative effect of smaller proposals.
It contains no consideration of "smaller community based schemes" whatsoever.

In contrast, the joint SPG on onshore wind issued by Conwy and Denbighshire councils (issued in 2006 - take note Ynys Môn planners!) is a model of clear and strategic thought:

It strategically sets out policies on how to deal with large (over 25MW), medium (5-25MW) and small wind farms (<5MW)
It strategically limits all large-scale wind farms to the TAN 8 SSA of the Clocaenog Wind Farm Zone.
Medium wind farms can only be developed within the Clocaenog Wind Farm Zone or on urban or brownfield sites
Both large and medium size wind farms must be a minium of 500m from the nearest residential property
Small wind farms are defined as being either 'Community' schemes or 'Domestic' schemes. In the case of domestic schemes, only one turbine no more than 15m in height is allowed. Community schemes must be owned by a community group, be composed of no more than three turbines no more than 70m tall, and must be a minimum of 500m from the nearest residential property.
No windturbines are allowed in an AONB.
The number of small developments will be limited and consideration given to the cumulative impact of them.

Quite frankly, Ynys Môn's draft SPG is so lacking in any strategic thought it would be better if they quietly binned it and adopted Conwy and Denbighshire's grown-up one instead.

This is what Jonathan Jones CBE, the head of Visit Wales had to say about wind turbines recently:

"There is a growing recognition of the grave threat that wind turbines represent for the natural environment of Wales — the basis of our tourist economy. All our research consistently shows that the main reason for coming to Wales on holiday is the beautiful, natural and unspoilt environment. If we kill that then we kill an industry."

Unless Anglesey Council changes direction rapidly we are in danger of turning Ynys Môn into a large floating wind farm — one which will destroy a tourism industry which, even according to the council's own estimates, brings in £215 million of income to the Island every year. In light of figures like this, those who criticise the campaign group Anglesey Against Wind Turbines as being anti-jobs are extremely wide of mark.

There is still time to stop the worse happening. Please respond to the consultation on Anglesey's SPG for onshore windfarm before 10th February (click here). Furthermore, please join the Anglesey Against Wind Turbines protests outside the Council's Llangefni offices at 11.30am on the 1st February — the date of the next Planning Committee meeting.

Anglesey Plaid: "surprised and disappointed" with Ieuan Wyn Jones

2012-01-13T11:07:00.000Z

The Daily Post headline

The Leader of the Plaid Cymru group within Anglesey County Council, Cllr Bob Parry, has slammed Ieuan Wyn Jones's decision to support postponing elections on Ynys Môn.

In the Daily Post he says, "It is very disappointing and surprising that the party have gone against the views of its local members who have opposed the delay". As Cllr Parry apparently didn't know about the decision until afterwards, one has to wonder who Ieuan Wyn Jones consulted prior to making his decision. The Daily Post reports that he wrote to the Minister supporting the postponement "on behalf of the party's constituency committee". Judging by Cllr Parry's surprise, we can only conclude that this committee is too august a body to include Cllr Parry, who is after all only Deputy Leader of the council and Leader of the Plaid Cymru group.

Ieuan Wyn Jones's letter to Carl Sargeant apparently says that the delay in the presentation of the Boundary Commission's proposals for Ynys Môn meant that there was little option now but to defer the elections for 12 months. A better question surely would be to ask, "why have the boundary commission's proposals been so delayed?" Or "why are these far reaching boundary changes being rushed through on Ynys Môn with only four weeks consultation when the rest of Wales will have four years?"

It is the Welsh Government and Boundary Commission's responsibility to meet the deadlines of local democracy, not vice versa.

++ Ieuan Wyn Jones eagerly "reluctantly" supports postponement of Ynys Môn local elections ++

2012-01-12T18:50:00.000Z

As was obvious following his side-stepping of the issue last month, Ynys Môn AM Ieuan Wyn Jones has today written to Welsh Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant to say he "~~eagerly~~ reluctantly" supports the postponement of Anglesey's local elections to 2013. By throwing his support behind Labour in the Senedd, this means that Ynys Môn residents will almost certainly be denied the opportunity to vote in local elections this May with the rest of Wales. Both the Welsh Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have joined forces to oppose any postponement — with Plaid Cymru's support Labour would not have been able to force a postponement.

This means that if you...

object to the performance of your local county councillor
object to Ynys Môn setting a 5% council tax rise (most likely the largest council tax hike in Wales and big enough to trigger a local referendum in England)
object to not having a say in where the £4.3 million savings Ynys Môn has to find in local services fall
object to Anglesey council's plans to introduce monthly bin collections
object to the huge increase in applications to erect industrial-size Wind Turbines all over the Island
object to other flawed faux-"renewable" schemes like the Peboc Biomass plant which will import wood all the way from Nova Scotia to burn in Llangefni (apparently to "cut" carbon emissions!)
simply want to exercise your democratic right to vote at the same time as everyone else in Wales

...then thanks to Ieuan Wyn Jones you will no longer have the opportunity to have your voice heard at the Ballot box until 2013. By which time it will be too late.

It is also worth noting that in supporting the postponement of Ynys Môn's local elections, Ieuan Wyn Jones is going against:

His own Plaid Cymru councillors on Ynys Môn council, who, out of principle, have explicitly opposed the postponement
The former Plaid Cymru National Chair, John Dixon, who has said that the new electoral system on Ynys Môn is tantamount to "rigging the system"
Every single town and community council on Ynys Môn, apart from Labour-controlled Holyhead Town council
The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), including its Plaid Cymru members
All Independent councillors on Ynys Môn council
At least two of the five Labour councillors on Ynys Môn council
The Welsh Conservative Party
The Welsh Liberal Democrats

So why is Ieuan Wyn Jones supporting it? Because...

(a) he knows Plaid Cymru will probably gain the most new councillors through the new exclusively multi-member ward system being proposed for Ynys Môn; and

(b) because he also knows the reduction down to 30 councillors will make Ynys Môn Council non-functional and is a precursor to rolling it up into a "Greater" Gwynedd council — thus creating a permanently Plaid Cymru controlled mega-council.

Mr Wyn Jones has in my view put narrow party political interests ahead of the interests of the people he represents.

Ynys Môn annexes beachhead on mainland.

2012-01-11T12:30:00.000Z

The beachhead: territory annexed on the mainland by Ynys Môn

Reversing the losses it first suffered almost two millennia ago when the Roman General Caius Suetonius Paulinus invaded the Island on ships launched from Y Felinheli, Ynys Môn today retook Y Felinheli in addition to also annexing Bangor, Bethesda, Bethel, and Llanfairfechan. This will allow the Island to expand the reach of its famously incorruptible and robust governance to mainland provinces.

Full details here and here. The consultation ends on 4th April 2012 and you can make your comments known by emailing: bcomm.wales@wales.gsi.gov.uk

++ Ynys Môn local boundary changes: consultation ends today ++

2012-01-03T13:42:00.000Z

Proposed boundaries (in yellow) overlaid on a map of Ynys Môn.
New ward names in purple, numbers in brackets indicate number of
councillors to be returned by each ward.
(click to enlarge)

Whatever you may think of the proposed boundary changes for local elections on Ynys Môn, today is your last opportunity to let the Local Boundary Commission for Wales know. All you need to do is email them on: lgbc.wales@wales.gsi.gov.uk

You may want to ask them why Ynys Môn has only been given just six weeks for this consultation (over the Christmas period too) whereas the rest of Wales will have up to four years to consult on their own local boundary changes?

Or why their proposals will make Ynys Môn the only county in Wales to elect all of its councillors via multi-member wards?

Or why they have proposed such unnatural new divisions such as "South Eastern Anglesey" which combines Llangristiolus and Rhostrehwfa in the North with Gaerwen and Brynsiencyn in the South and then is neatly divided in half by the natural barrier of the Malltraeth marshes?

Or why the oddly shaped "Central Anglesey" seems to be composed of the leftover parts of all the other wards?

Or whether they think a council is viable with just 30 members.

Anyway, whatever questions or comments you have, today's your last chance to have your say. The full proposals are here and an overlay of the proposed new boundaries onto a map of Ynys Môn is above — so make your comments directly to: lgbc.wales@wales.gsi.gov.uk

P.S. Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i chi gyd!

Squeezed: the connection between Ynys Môn farm incomes and wind turbines

2011-12-30T13:19:00.000Z

This post is intended as a short addition to my last post, a critique Ynys Môn's Energy Island strategy. In it I mentioned that a squeeze in farm profitability was pushing farmers towards various farm diversification schemes, including — controversially — the erection of wind turbines. Figures just released by Aberystwyth University's annual Farm Business Wales Survey show just how steeply farm incomes (with the exception of dairy, of which there is relatively little on Ynys Môn) have dropped over the past 12 months:

"Upland cattle and sheep farms recorded a decrease in the value of outputs of almost 1 per cent between 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, while inputs rose by 7 per cent – resulting in an income decrease of 18 per cent.

"The value of outputs on lowland cattle and sheep farms in the identical sample rose by 3 per cent, while inputs increased by just over 12 per cent, leading to a similar 18 per cent fall back."

After a difficult decade including the Foot and Mouth disaster and continued government dithering over tackling Bovine TB, and now with such a considerable reduction in farm profitability due to the rising outgoing costs of feed and fertiliser, there is little wonder that additional income from the currently massively over-generous Feed In Tarifs are becoming so attractive.

The pressure on farmers is unlikely to ease up anytime soon. The Eurozone crisis adds huge amounts of uncertainty as both livestock prices and CAP payments are very sensitive to the Sterling-Euro exchange rate. CAP reform will see income support payments reduced whilst also requiring farmers to be be "greener", meaning they will need to protect "habitat" and take land out of production further squeezing income. Furthermore farmers in Less Favoured Areas (LFAs; roughly half of Ynys Môn is classified as LFA) will no longer receive higher levels of support. The list goes on and on.

Accordingly, with all this going on and its controversial side-effects on our landscape, it is both ironic and inexplicable that the Welsh Government decided to do away with a Rural Affairs Minister at cabinet level and downgrade and split its rural affairs department.

For those interested, the relevant sections comparing upland and lowland farm incomes over the past twelve months are below.Farm Survey

An ill wind blowing across Ynys Môn

2011-12-22T13:19:00.000Z

Wind Turbine locations on Ynys Môn
(source: AAWT)

Considering that Ynys Môn has been promoting itself as an 'Energy Island' for a few years now (and will soon become an Welsh Government sponsored Energy Enterprise Zone), the council itself seems remarkably ill-prepared and lacking in direction when it comes to any forms of energy other than Nuclear.

For example, the proposed 25,000 tonne Anaerobic Digestion plant in Mona has been criticised as being far, far too large. With only 35,000 tonnes of appropriate biodegradable industrial and abattoir waste in the whole of North Wales, the plant would need to ship in source materials from as far away as Mid Wales according to Friends of the Earth (a body which normally supports AD plants!). The Welsh Government enshrined a 'Proximity Principle' in TAN21, which states that waste should be treated or disposed of as near to the source of origin as possible. What therefore is the logic of placing an AD plant of that size in Mona? Indeed, in what appears to be a tacit acceptance of this fact, the developer has since hired several hundred acres of land in Valley to grow silage to feed the plant when it is approved. Not only is this pushing up the price of silage on the Island for farmers who need it to feed livestock, the application was originally given planning approval on the grounds that it would divert waste from landfill; now we learn that he is going to have to grow a crop to feed it. Thats the equivalent of erecting a wind turbine and then placing a enormous electric fan opposite to blow air at it!

The Biomass Plant proposed on the Peboc site in Llangefni is a remarkably similar story. It will apparently burn up to 180,000 tonnes of "locally sourced" timber every year. Seen any huge forests around Ynys Môn lately? Me neither. Instead the developer will be shipping it from Scotland and, amazingly, Nova Scotia in Canada. What's green about that?

Considering where the source materials are coming from, neither of these plants seem to have any logical reason whatsoever to be located on Ynys Môn — other than because Anglesey is promoting itself as an Energy Island and is possibly being thought of as a soft touch by grant-seeking developers. Furthermore the benefits of having them here are also not entirely clear — especially when you consider how few local jobs they will produce. For example, the developer of the Peboc biomass plant claims it will create 250 temporary jobs and 150 permanent jobs. Curiously their own Transportation Assessment mentions that the plant will only require 25-30 staff... furthermore there is no analysis of what effect building a massive incinerator (because that's what a 'biomass plant' actually is) will have on present and future employment in Llangefni — let alone on the tourism industry. What will be the net effect on jobs?

Then we come to the recent proliferation of planning applications for Wind Turbines on the Island. Personally I am yet to be convinced of their effectiveness as a means of reducing carbon emissions — especially when they anyway require fossil-fuel plants running on permanent standby to produce energy when the wind doesn't blow.

More than any other 'energy' development on Ynys Môn, wind turbines have created the largest popular opposition movement in the shape of Anglesey Against Wind Turbines. Around 200 people attended a stormy Penmynnydd Community Council meeting last week to object to an application to build some 100m-tall wind turbines in the area. Significant numbers also attended a similar meeting of the Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf community council this week when a similar application was discussed in Brynteg. CAP reform and the 'greening' agenda will see farmer's incomes squeezed so they legitimately need to diversify and find other revenue streams, but it is difficult to argue that 100m-tall turbines will not be a massive blot on the landscape, are hugely unwelcome to those who live near them, and could potentially effect the wider tourism industry.

The Council has now announced a public consultation into Supplementary Planning Guidelines governing Onshore Wind Energy applications — but it seems a little late in day considering there are currently already over 50 planning applications for turbines on the Island, each of them being considered independently of the rest. It seems to me that the Council needs a clear strategy for wind farms. Like Conwy, which only allows extremely tall turbines to be erected in one defined area and has imposed a fairly low height restriction on them elsewhere, Anglesey council needs to do some serious thinking rather than letting them proliferate throughout the island on an ad-hoc case-by-case basis.

So in my view, apart from the preparations for Wylfa B, the council has got itself into a real mess with its Energy Island 'strategy'. With the exception of the underwater turbines off the Skerries, the developments being proposed so far:

deliver no discernible green benefits considering the long distances the source materials need to travel
ultimately provide relatively few low-skilled, manual jobs without a proper assessment of the overall net effect on jobs
require the shipping into Anglesey of large amounts of unpleasant waste (the Peboc biomass plant alone estimates 78 daily deliveries of wood; 5 daily deliveries of tallow and vegetable oil, and 88 trips related to the shipping of pellets. Thats a helluva lot of HGVs everyday)
do not lead to Ynys Môn becoming a 'Centre of Excellence' in any of these technologies
potentially have a dubious effect on tourism and other businesses

So what is the point being an 'Energy Island' if we don't gain anything from it? Surely the vision behind the Energy Island strategy originally was to promote Anglesey as a Centre of Excellence in energy technology, not a dumping ground for dubious, grant-seeking, "dirty" developments. The same is true of wind turbines: they are not a new technology, the community as a whole does not benefit from them, and we can't compete with the Danes or Germans in the development and manufacturing of them as they already have the expertise, experience and economies of scale.

Ynys Môn needs to be looking to utilising its unique Island resources and promoting renewable technologies in their infancy — as with the Skerries underwater turbines. In other words we need some vison, better strategic long-term thinking, and higher aspirations.

UPDATE: You can now register your objection to the Peboc biomass plant here.

Commissioners: agreeing 5% council tax hike crucial for returning democratic control to Ynys Môn

2011-12-17T13:39:00.000Z

The Anglesey Commissioners roadmap to recovery

The Anglesey Commissioners released their second quarterly report to the Minister yesterday, covering the period July to September this year. Below are the key passages (emphasis mine):

4.1 During the Quarter, whilst Commissioners have continued to exercise the responsibilities previously reserved to the Executive, they have followed a process of gradual re-engagement of the Shadow Executive and Elected Members in the work of the Council. Relationships with Commissioners are good, and Elected Members have adopted a much more positive approach.

4.2 Commissioners have involved Shadow Portfolio Holders in regular meetings with Officers and this has been received well, allowing constructive relationships to develop and providing mentoring for Officers and Executive Members. In this way the Executive has been re-engaged to work alongside Commissioners to observe the way in which they are operating.

4.3 Members have also contributed effectively to building a consensus around the Corporate Plan and Budget Planning process. [...]

4.5 The experience to date is that the majority of Councillors have been supportive and have demonstrated a willingness to work with Commissioners and Officers to put the Council on a more business like footing for the future. Re- engagement will progress during Quarter 3 in order to test sustainability.

6.0 The issues to be addressed during the next Quarter (September to December) and the longer term prospects up to May 2012 and Beyond

6.2 The milestones for Quarter 3 will be to:-

Prepare the budget strategy for 2012/2013;
Agree the strengthened corporate management arrangements; Establish the Improvement Board and implement the Performance
Management Framework;
Make substantial progress to improve poor performing services; Progress citizen engagement;
Make further progress in economic renewal;
Strengthen the Constitution;
Establish constructive relationships with Regulators;
Develop an agreed plan to develop the Corporate Centre; Implement risk reporting for the Council.

7.2 At this stage there are positive signs that the improvement process has commenced, but there is still a great deal of work to be done to deliver against the recommendations of inspection reports, as well as further developing the fundamental strategic issues.

7.3 The most urgent issues have been addressed and a stable platform for improvement has been created. However, the limited capacity of the corporate centre has meant that some important developments have taken longer than the Commissioners consider ideal and action has been taken to secure additional capacity.

7.5 The Commissioners are satisfied that their 10 Key Themes will address the concerns of regulators and the perceived weaknesses identified by Commissioners, in order to secure improved services to the people of Anglesey. It is too early to say when sustainability will be achieved, but Commissioners will continue to work with Officers and Elected Members in developing their capacity and capability to resume control of the Council.

7.6 Progress against the tasks agreed for Quarter 3 will be an indicator of when the Council is likely to be ready to return to democratic control.

59.0 It is too early to say when sustainability will be achieved, but Commissioners will continue to work with Officers and Elected Members in developing their capacity and capability to resume control of the Council. Progress with the tasks agreed for Quarter 3 will be an indicator of whether the Council is likely to be ready to return to democratic control in the Spring of 2012.

For me two key points come out of this document:

1. There are continued references throughout the report to the weakness of the 'corporate centre' and how this has delayed improvements. The report enlarges on this point in the following section.

"The limited capacity of the corporate centre has been a factor in delaying progress in key areas. There have been continuing issues in ICT and HR and the need to make a number of interim appointments in Finance at short notice have delayed important milestones The improvement process in Children‟s Services was slowed down by the need to make interim appointments and to obtain external advice. These risks have been mitigated to some extent by the excellent quality of those inputs but this highlights the need to create a staffing structure for the future which will attract suitably skilled employees, able to met the challenges of the improvement agenda."

So this is not a problem with the councillors but with weaknesses in the permanent corporate functions themselves. Which begs the question what on earth was achieved by the two whole years of Welsh Government intervention in Ynys Môn prior to the introduction of the Commissioners — including the highest paid civil servant in Wales, David Bowles, and a whole 'Recovery Board' staffed by the Great and the Good?

2. The Commissioners will not make a recommendation as to whether the improvements are sustainable and the council is ready to return to democratic control until the end of the third quarter (i.e. after the period from October - December 2011). Furthermore, the decision will be based on councillors accepting without too much fuss the Commissioners recommended budget for 2012/13 which will controversially see council tax on Ynys Môn increasing by 5% — very likely the highest percentage rise in Wales. By witholding their decision until after December (and by making it contingent on Councillors agreeing to large council tax rises) the Commissioners seem to be purposely making a May 2012 election extremely unlikely. The lack of certainty means that with just five months until the local government polling day in May (remember Carl Sargeant hasn't yet said that the election on Ynys Môn will definitely be postponed), possible candidates aren't able to prepare properly. Indeed just this week I received an email from a someone who wants to stand as an Independent candidate at the next election. She said:

"...uncertainty about the date would make it more difficult for new people who did not have party political back-up, as they will need to start their campaigns early but they could not be certain as to the area they needed to canvass, and could not make plans to ensure that they timed their door-to-door campaign to best effect. As there are currently few women elected to the Council that would also discriminate against women being elected for the next term."

So, even if the Commissioners do decide in January that the council can be returned to democratic control, it seems likely that the very fact there will be so little time between that point and the official Wales local election date in May, it will be used as an excuse to force a very unsatisfactory postponement.

The full report and annex are attached below.

Quarter 2 Report to Minister Appendix 3 Corporate Governance Priorities (Q2 Position)

Schism: Ieuan Wyn Jones and Ynys Môn's Plaid Councillors

2011-12-15T12:38:00.000Z

IWJ: deliberately avoiding
the question

As reported in yesterday's Daily Post, Ieuan Wyn Jones has sought to completely sidestep the question of the whether he supports the postponement of local elections in Ynys Môn or not. This is what he is quoted as saying:

"Plaid Cymru’s Constituency Committee for Ynys Môn is carefully considering the plans for local government electoral changes on Anglesey. The document presented by the Boundary Commission needs to be thoroughly evaluated in view of the far-reaching proposals contained within it.
"We will not give a knee-jerk reaction like some other parties but give the proposals the consideration they deserve. We will be presenting our response before the deadline early in the New Year."

There is no question that the proposed boundary changes need to be considered carefully and in detail — nobody disputes that. However the issue is why is Ynys Môn only being given four weeks (over the Christmas period too) to consult on them whereas the rest of Wales will have four years? If Ieuan Wyn Jones considers that they should not be responded to in a "knee-jerk" manner and, indeed, that they will lead to "far-reaching" changes then why would he accept that we are only being given four weeks to consult on them?

The fact remains that these boundary changes are being rushed through by the Minster in order to facilitate a postponed election in 2013 under new electoral arrangements designed purposefully to eliminate Independent councillors. This is not how proper, sustainable, organic "democratic renewal" should be brought about. Even Plaid Cymru's Ynys Môn councillors — those who notionally will gain the most from the proposed changes — have taken a principled stand against them. Furthermore Plaid Cymru's former Party Chair, John Dixon, has said unequivocally that he thinks the proposals amount to "rigging the electoral system" and has spoke out against them. Yet it seems clear from Ieuan Wyn Jones' side-stepping response to the Daily Post that he is prepared support a postponement and in so doing is ignoring both his own local Plaid Cymru councillors, and the best interests of Ynys Môn, in favour or securing narrow party advantage at a rigged and postponed local election in 2013.

In the meantime, certain commentators on this blog and elsewhere continue to support the proposed boundary changes and delayed elections on Ynys Môn. Below are the reasons why I feel they are wrong:

The proposed reduction down to 30 councillors leaves too few for the council to operate effectively. Although a smaller reduction in numbers is warranted, a council of just 30 members will require that, on top of their duties to constituents, virtually all of them will need to take executive and portfolio positions, staff the various committees, attend to statutory obligations on police and fire associations, etc. This will mean in the short-term that being a councillor will become a full-time job; and in the long-term it will simply pave the way for rolling Anglesey up into Greater Gwynedd — something that is not in the best interests of Ynys Môn residents.
For the above reason, younger people with jobs, mothers with small children etc. will not find it possible time-wise to fulfil their obligations as councillors and will thus be discouraged from standing for election. Reducing the amount of people able to stand for election is not conducive to 'democratic renewal'.
A reduction down to just 11 new multi-member 'super-wards', spanning both urban and rural areas, could mean that all the elected members in one ward could come from just one small part of the ward (likely the urban parts) and thus be unfamiliar with the rest of their ward. This is not in the best interests of constituents.
Similarly, these larger wards make it impossible for Independent councillors without Party backing to get elected. For example, the proposed ward of Central Anglesey has 5,829 electors and therefore approximately up to 3,000 households. Independent members will have no chance to canvass all of these households and sending out a leaflet would could cost upwards of £2,000 in printing and postage charges. Again reducing the pool of people able to stand for election is not conducive to 'democratic renewal'.
As already discussed, why are these proposals being rushed through? The rest of Wales will get four years to consult on their boundary changes, Ynys Môn is getting just four weeks (over the Xmas period too thus effectively making it shorter).
Postponed elections will not allow issues like next year's council tax rises, cuts to services etc to be discussed and debated, nor will it allow all the Parties and candidates to set out their policy stalls in an election.
Finally, as the WLGA says, all Welsh counties should be treated equally. The Minister is attempting to introduce an electoral system unique in Wales to achieve his own desired election result. That is wrong.

Anglesey's "il Sorpasso"

2011-12-14T23:59:00.000Z

Back in 1987 there was much jubilation in Italy when, for the first time, the size of the Italian economy overtook that of the UK. The Italians nicknamed it "il Sorpasso" ('the surpass'). Unfortunately for them it didn't last long and the UK economy has now been consistently larger since the mid 1990s. However today marks Ynys Môn's own "il sorpasso" moment as it finally overtakes Gwent Valleys to become officially the second poorest region in Wales, and the third poorest in the UK.

The 'il sorpasso' moment: Ynys Môn no longer bottom of this table.
Top five and bottom five GVA per head regions, 2009. Source: ONS

We know this from the latest regional GVA per head figures released by the Office for National Statistics this morning, and reproduced above. As it happens, it appears that our "il sorpasso" moment may have actually came and passed unnoticed in 2004 — historical GVA data revised in line with new EU standards which were also released by the ONS today show that Ynys Môn actually overtook Gwent Valleys back in 2004. The Telegraph has the full story.

Unlike Italy in 1987, these figures do not really provide much cause for celebration on Anglesey: being the third poorest region out of 133 sub-regions in the UK is not much of an improvement. But at least we are no longer last.

Decision time for Ieuan Wyn Jones

2011-12-13T18:32:00.000Z

At an Extraordinary Meeting of Ynys Môn council this morning councillors unanimously agreed to resist both the proposed boundary changes and mooted postponement of next year's local elections on the Island. Significantly the two Labour councillors present, J Arwel Roberts and Raymond Jones, went against both Senedd colleague Carl Sargeant and their (absent) Labour leader on the Council, John Chorlton, in supporting the motion to reject the proposals.

Most importantly however for Carl Sargeant's chances of pushing his measure through the Senedd, Plaid Cymru's Ynys Môn Leader Bob Parry, and members of his group, also spoke passionately against the Welsh Government's proposals. Ieuan Wyn Jones told the Daily Post today in response to the news that both the Welsh Conservatives and Lib Dems will oppose the move, that he was "in discussions with Plaid councillors on Anglesey to consider a response". Now that his local councillors have clearly shown on which side they are on, will Ieuan Wyn Jones listen? And if so will he join the Welsh Conservatives and Lib-dems in blocking these proposals in the Senedd?

So, to help Ieuan Wyn Jones make up his mind, here is a ready reckoner of who is now for and against Carl Sargeant's proposals:

Against:

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)
The Welsh Conservative Party
The Welsh Liberal Democrats
All Independent councillors on Ynys Môn council
All Plaid Cymru councillors on Ynys Môn council
At least two of the five Labour councillors on Ynys Môn council
A clear majority of Ynys Môn's town and community councils
The former Plaid Cymru National Chair, John Dixon

For:

Carl Sargeant
The Welsh Labour Party (presumably, though Labour members in the WLGA unanimously voted against the proposals, as did at least two Labour councillors on Ynys Môn)
Holyhead Town Council

Those who apparently can't make up their mind even three weeks after Carl Sargeant made his announcement:

Ieuan Wyn Jones

Crushed: Ynys Môn and Carl Sargeant

2011-12-12T23:18:00.000Z

Carl Sargeant crushes local democracy on Ynys Môn

Welsh Local Government Minister, Carl Sargeant, will be in Ynys Môn tomorrow to meet with his Commissioners — no doubt to "consult" with them on whether he should do what he has already decided to do anyway, i.e. postpone the Island's local elections for 12 months. This will allow him to ensure that when Ynys Môn residents are finally entrusted to once again exercise their right to vote — a full year after everyone else in Wales — they will vote within rushed through but entirely new boundaries and according to an electoral system which uniquely throughout Wales will be made up of only multi member wards. You see, Mr Sargeant does not like who Anglesey residents have been voting for in the past, therefore his solution for "democratic renewal" is to simply rig the electoral system on Ynys Môn so as to make it exponentially more difficult for those he doesn't like, the Independents, to get elected.

Some defend Mr Sargeant's questionable methods by arguing that it is a price worth paying to get rid of the "rot", forgetting that there are some hard-working, excellent Independent Councillors on one side and some awful Party-affiliated Councillors on the other. Unfortunately the new system will see the former punished and the latter prosper. Mr Sargeant's defenders also forget that the Island's political problems were exponentially exacerbated by the Welsh Government's previous attempt at intervention through the forced appointment of 'local government troubleshooter' David Bowles, who unfortunately did far more harm than good — indeed his highly-paid two year reign as Interim MD led directly to the appointment of the Commissioners themselves. Though to be fair to Mr Bowles at least he only said that the Commissioners should stay until 2012:

"I recommended commissioners should be appointed until elections in 2012, together with investment in democratic renewal." — David Bowles in March, 2011

Accordingly, the genius idea of pursuing "democratic renewal" through (a) postponing actual elections, and (b) reducing the pool of people who will find it possible to get elected is Mr Sargeant's alone.

In the meantime, between now and when we are eventually allowed to vote again, too many important and irreversible decisions affecting everyone on Anglesey will be made by Commissioners with no democratic legitimacy or accountability. For example, successive administrations on the Island, mindful that Ynys Môn is the poorest region in the UK, have successfully managed to keep Anglesey's council tax amongst the lowest in Wales — now we discover that the Commissioners want to impose a 5% rise in our Council tax next year, quite likely the largest rise in all of Wales. Similarly, Anglesey residents will have no democratic say in what services will be cut next year, or on controversial plans to erect a rash of wind turbines across the Island, and so on and so on until May 2013.

Is this really a price worth paying in order to achieve a sham "democratic renewal" achieved through the dubious means of purposefully manipulating the Island's electoral system?

Explosive Wind Turbines

2011-12-08T22:35:00.001Z

On the day that a Scottish windturbine exploded in spectacular fashion in today's gales, a reader writes:

I attended the public meeting held last night by Penmynydd and Star Community Council. Between 150-200 people attended, some were unable to squeeze into the hall. The Community Council Chair did a good job as almost to a man (and certainly every woman and child) was opposed to the plans being discussed for an industrial size wind turbine development in the community.

About half the people were from the community and they spoke with passion about their worries about the noise and flicker that are known to cause health problems; and about the loss of jobs that will result from the destruction of the landscape that is the main attraction for tourists and visitors; and their fear that high quality businesess will not be attracted to come to the island when they can't offer skilled staff a good quality of life; and the worry that homeowners will not be able to sell their houses as no one will want to come here to live in the shadow of the turbines.

Despite the strength of public feeling and genuine concerns, the Councillors voted 3 to 2 in favour of building the first of what could be many turbines - a 71 meter high turbine that will be seen for miles around.

Update: One Ynys Môn County Councillor comes out completely against the approval of any further wind turbines on the Island:
No to Wind Turbines

Commissioners behind closed doors. (Updated)

2011-12-05T17:37:00.001Z

In the newly delivered December edition of Anglesey Council's "Môn News" propaganda sheet, in a section entitled "Anglesey's Commissioners — making good progress", one of their top three priorities is listed as:

"fully engaging with the people of Anglesey to reflect their views and priorities".

Furthermore, one of the Commissioners is then specifically quoted as saying:

"Improving the way we engage with people is vital. In time, we hope to see community engagement play a key role in the way Anglesey develops and provides future services".

Meanwhile, we discover from the published agenda of this Thursday's Full Council meeting that item 15, "Commissioners 2nd Quarterly Progress Report" will be made only after the "exclusion of the press and public".

"Community engagement" in action? "Democratic renewal"? Hmmmm.

UPDATE: The Council gets in touch to say:

"The draft Q2 progress report has been forwarded to the Minister for consideration and he will be meeting with Commissioners next week to discuss its contents.

Subject to the Minister's views, we anticipate that the report will be published on our website within the next fortnight.

Members will be provided with a verbal briefing on what is contained within the draft report during Full Council on Thursday.

The verbal briefing will take place in the closed session because the report is still in its draft form and has not been agreed with the Minister."

Which is all well and good. However I'm afraid that at a time when the Minister is both (a) directing the Local Government Boundaries Commission for Wales to exclusively introduce multi member wards throughout Ynys Môn with the sole aim of achieving a certain election result (i.e. the elimination of Independents), and (b) is "minded" to postpone Ynys Môn's local elections until 2013, things are beginning to appear more and more anti-democratic.

You won't see this on Fferm Ffactor...

2011-12-01T08:30:00.000Z

How many Glastir points does that get you?

A curious form of 'Democratic Renewal' (updated)

2011-11-29T10:47:00.001Z

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has come out against Carl Sargeant's proposed postponement of Ynys Môn's local elections in May next year. Despite the specific circumstances of the Welsh Government's intervention in Anglesey County Council, the 22 Welsh local authority leaders who attended the WLGA's Co-ordinating Committee last Friday felt it vital that ALL electors throughout Wales, without exception, should have the right to exercise their right to vote. The WLGA will be writing to the Minister accordingly.

Quite right too — it is a curious form of 'democratic renewal' which denies people the right to vote in a timely and normal manner.

UPDATE: Apparently even the Labour group within the WLGA voted against postponing the poll on Ynys Môn — which is fairly substantial vote of no confidence in Carl Sargeant's actions from within his own Party.

UPDATE 2: The WLGA's letter to Carl Sargeant AM opposing the postponement of local elections on Ynys Môn:
WLGA letter to Carl Sargeant

The 2013 Ynys Môn Local Election results today

2011-11-28T10:24:00.001Z

After some weekend number-crunching, here are my predictions for the 2013 local elections on Ynys Môn, assuming that the proposed new boundaries are accepted:

Plaid Cymru: 11 seats
Independents: 7 seats
Labour: 6 seats
Conservative: 5 seats
Lib Dems: 1 seat

This would most probably result in a Plaid / Labour coalition, and the installation of Plaid's Bob Parry as Leader and Labour's John Chorlton as Deputy Leader.

Clearly the big winners would be Plaid Cymru, which would explain why Ieuan Wyn Jones promoted multi-member wards as the solution to Ynys Môn's local government problems during the Assembly election hustings. As far as I can see, Labour will not gain as many new seats as they suppose, and will in all probability only win two of the three seats on offer in the new 'Holy Island Port' super-ward.

A closer look at the new proposed boundaries throws up some interesting facts. Below is a map of the current electoral boundaries and the parties which hold them:

Anglesey's current local electoral map
Red: LAB, Green: PC, Blue: CON, Yellow: LD, Grey: IND
Click to enlarge

And this is a map of the new proposed boundaries overlaid on the above current map:

Yellow lines indicate the new proposed boundaries.
Number of Councillors returned by each new ward in brackets.
Click to enlarge

Although a number of current wards are cut into two, including Bodorgan, Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog, Llanfair-Yn-Neubwll and Pentraeth, only one of the current wards is to be split across three of the new wards: Bodffordd. Its almost as if the Boundary Commission was trying to ensure that somebody with a powerbase in Bodffordd could never get elected again...

An electoral enigma.

2011-11-25T12:06:00.001Z

A little summary of Welsh Labour's position on various electoral issues:

AGAINST: reducing number of Welsh MPs from 40 to 30 in order to achieve a consistent MP to voter ratio of around 1:76,000 voters.

FOR: reducing number of Ynys Môn Councillors from 40 to 30 in order to achieve a consistent Councillor to voter ratio of around 1:1,750 voters.

AGAINST: any top-down changes to Wales's electoral system without the "agreement of Welsh people".

FOR: top-down changes to Ynys Môn's local government electoral system from single member wards to exclusively multi-member wards without the agreement of Ynys Môn residents.

Newton's Third Law alive and well on Ynys Môn

2011-11-24T18:47:00.001Z

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Why local democracy should be restored in Ynys Môn sooner rather than later

2011-11-23T10:39:00.001Z

After having already leaked over the weekend his intention to postpone the local elections in Ynys Môn to 2013, the Minister for Local Government Carl Sargeant now officially announces that he is "minded" to do so. His full statement is below.

Some have argued that this is no bad thing; the Commissioners are doing such a good job, they say, lets have another year of them.

I'm afraid I'm not so sure and would instinctively prefer to see local democracy restored on Ynys Môn as soon as is feasible.

Why? Becasue although the Commissioners have undoubtedly brought about some improvements, there is one important area where they are clearly not making headway and that is in finding the savings mandated in the council's Affordable Priorities programme. Ynys Môn must find £10 million savings over four years, and the Affordable Priorities plan — pushed through by our own councillors before the introduction of Commissioners — was an entirely sensible programme to find £3 million in savings this year in a way which avoided cuts to popular services such as leisure centres, swimming pools, libraries and so on. We now know that the council is £1 million behind in finding these savings, which will almost certainly mean deeper cuts affecting popular services will need to be made next year. And now, seeing how the the local elections will be delayed until May 2013, the decisions on what to cut will be made by unelected Commissioners leaving Islanders with no democratic involvement in the process.

By contrast, were the local elections to proceed in Ynys Môn next May (or shortly thereafter), it would have presented the various candidates and parties the ideal opportunity to set out their stall with regards to what they would cut if elected, thus giving the electorate a powerful say in how the cuts are directed. As it stands, however, there will be no opportunity at all for the public to effectively engage until May 2013 and whatever cuts are made in the intrim will not only be deeper because the Commissioners have failed to deliver the necessary savings this year, but will also be decided upon solely by these same unelected 'technocrats' who are answerable to nobody.

(Tangentially, its instructive to learn that one of this year's largest overspends, £344,000 in the Education budget reportedly relating to supply staff costs during the senseless dispute at Ysgol Goronwy Owen in Benllech, was another episode in which the Commissioners failed to cover themselves in glory as the sorry saga dragged on un-resolved for months.)
Sargeant statement on YM elections

Follow me on Twitter: @Y_Druid

Anglesey's new electoral map? (Updated)

2011-11-22T10:15:00.000Z

40 single member wards replaced with 30 multi-member wards, returning 30 councillors
Click to enlarge

The Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales has released their "further review" (after their first effort was scrapped by the Minister) into carving up Ynys Môn — this time into eleven multi-member wards returning a total of 30 councillors. An illustration of how this will change Anglesey's council election map is above. The details are below:

Detailed summary of the proposals
Click to enlarge

These proposals will lead to a reduction in the number of councillors from 40 to 30, resulting in a councillor to electorate ratio of 1:1,649 (up from the current 1:1,237). Considering that seven current councillors (20% of the total) were returned unopposed at the last local elections I am not against a reduction in numbers as this can only improve democracy on the Island, however I would note that a Local Authority of just 30 members would become very vulnerable to being rolled-up within a larger super-authority at some point in the future (e.g. Greater Gwynedd).

What does concern me greatly however is the fact that if these proposals are accepted in their entirety, then Ynys Môn will be the only Local Authority in Wales who's members will be entirely returned by multi-member wards. Why should this be so? Well, because in his direction to the LGBCW, the Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant specifically told them to do so:

Carl Sargeant's specific directions to the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales

The charitable explanation would be to suppose that Carl Sargeant believes that introducing multi-member wards might help shake certain incumbents out of what could be termed 'rotten boroughs'. The more cynical explanation is to note the eerie similarity between the above direction to the LGBCW for Anglesey, and Welsh Labour's proposals to replace the current arrangements for electing Assembly Members throughout Wales with 30 two-member (i.e. multi-member) constituencies, with all AMs elected first-past-the-post. The Electoral Reform Society had this to say today of those proposals:

...under the system proposed by Labour, the party would have won 11 more seats - 41 instead of 30, giving Labour 70% of the Senedd on 42% of the vote.

Steve Brooks, Wales director of the Electoral Reform Society, said: "While this may be good news for aspiring Labour candidates, it's bad news for Welsh voters.

"Two member first-fast-the-post would rob thousands of voters of a choice and voice."

He said the Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats would have less than a third of seats, despite getting more than half the votes in May.

"That would be damaging for democracy and damaging for devolution"

Anyway, the full report from the Local Government Boundary Commission is below. Members of the public have up until January 3rd to have their say, and can do so by emailing: lgbc.wales@wales.gsi.gov.uk

UPDATE: John Dixon, respected former Chair of Plaid Cymru, has just written the following regarding Carl Sargeant's decision to force an entirely new and different electoral system on just Ynys Môn:

"But is it right to have a different approach in one council area from that being implemente deverywhere else, where the main reason for that difference appears to be to facilitate the election of different people? There is no doubt in my mind that the Minister has acted in accordance with the powers conferred upon him, because those powers don’t seem to require that he provides any reason or argument for adopting a different approach in one area, or place any constraints on what considerations he might apply.
And that’s where my concern lies. There is a dangerous precedent here, under which the Minister has directly interfered in the work of the boundary commission to instruct them to take a particular approach in Ynys Môn,largely because he doesn’t like the result of the elections there. I don’t like them either – but I’m simply not convinced that rigging the electoral system is the right way to deal with that problem. "

Isle of Anglesey Further Draft Proposals e

Local Democracy on Ynys Môn to be denied for another year

2011-11-20T17:47:00.001Z

BBC Wales are reporting that next May's local elections to Anglesey Council may be postponed for a year. The BBC merely says it is a possibility, but the fact that someone has decided to sneakily leak the story to the media on a Sunday makes it fairly clear that this has actually been decided.

When the Commissioners were first sent into Ynys Môn back in March this year, the Local Government Minister, Carl Sergeant, floated the possibility that Anglesey wouldn't go to the polls until May 2013 (instead of May 2012 like all other Welsh Councils) in order to allow the Commissioners to complete their work and for new electoral boundaries to be put in place on Ynys Môn. However, since then there has been precious little information about whether to not next year's local elections would go ahead or not. In fact, at a Commissioners Board Meeting held in Llangefni on September 5th (which I attended), the assembled Councillors asked the Commissioners present whether the elections would go ahead on May 3rd, 2012 or not — however farcically none of the Commissioners or Senior Officers knew and the Chief Executive was consequently asked to write to Carl Sergeant to find out.

Since then, nothing had been heard… until now. And instead of having an official announcement that local democracy on Ynys Môn is to be suspended for a further 12 months, we are instead informed through the backdoor thanks to a sneaky leak to the BBC on a Sunday.

++ Serco wins RAF Valley contract ++

2011-10-14T18:56:00.000+01:00

RAF Valley staff learned today that Babcock International has lost the Supply, Motor Transport, Workshop and Fire Services contract for the Hawks at Valley. Government services outsourcing firm, Serco Group — which, amongst other things runs hospitals, prisons and local authority education services — will take over Babcock's responsibilities from April 2012 after a six month handover period. Babcock will retain the Aircraft maintenance part of the contract until it comes up again for tender in a couple of years time.

Problems on the HORIZON?

2011-10-07T12:13:00.000+01:00

Its being reported today that RWE N.power — one half of Horizon Nuclear Power, the joint venture company behind Wylfa B — is looking to pull out of the UK new nuclear programme because of the huge costs it is having to bear due to the forced closure of nuclear plants in their home market of Germany. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster the German government, under pressure from Germany's historically strong Green Party, decided to close down all of its 17 nuclear reactors by 2022.

It was always clear after the German decision to scrap nuclear power that the sums for Wylfa might begin to look decidedly shaky if the potential to duplicate similar new nuclear plants elsewhere was diminished — especially when you also add into the mix the deteriorating European economic situation. Indeed, this is not the first time that rumours about the demise of Horizon have appeared in the press — back in July the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that both RWE and their other partner, E.On, were on the verge of shelving their UK nuclear projects. More recently there have been further rumours that Horizon had been looking for a third energy company to join the joint venture in order to both generate more investment and spread the risks further.

So, will this stop Wylfa B? My guess is probably not. Why? See the below diagram:

Source: The Economist

The fact is that most nuclear plants (including the current Wylfa reactor) and half of UK's coal plants are due to close over the coming decade meaning that of a total of around 75GW in generating capacity in the UK, 20GW will disappear by 2015. And as the current peak demand is around 65GW and growing, that means that the UK could be facing energy blackouts by as soon as 2015.

So ultimately the fact is that the UK Government needs Wylfa B far more than Horizon needs to build it. Lights will start to go off within a few years so there is no option but for the UK Government to ensure that plants like Wylfa are built, by hook or by crook…

Anglesey Aluminium: Credit where credit is due

2011-10-06T12:33:00.002+01:00

Following yesterday's announcement by Anglesey Aluminium of the preferred bidder for the final parcel of their land in Holyhead, we now know that the Penrhos site, which shed 450 jobs in 2009 when the Aluminium smelter closed, will soon provide for well over double that number of jobs.

This did not happen by accident. The credit for it lies not with the various politicians now queuing up to claim some of the kudos, but with Anglesey Aluminium's Works Director, Brian King. He persuaded the Rio Tinto Board not to take the easy option of a quick land sale to developers and instead resolved to only sell the site on to companies with concerete business plans to create sustainable jobs.

So just two years on from when Anglesey Aluminium was forced to close, we now know that the site will soon provide work for over 1,000 people. This is a far better 'legacy' for Ynys Môn than Anglesey Labour Party's shortsighted demands that the site be gifted to the Island like the old Shell works at Rhosgoch — a site which incidentally still lies empty more than 20 years later.

So hats off to Brian King for his vision and resolve to do the right thing by both Holyhead and Ynys Môn.

Wales v Africa

2011-07-28T11:06:00.001+01:00

Clearly we would all rather be on Ynys Môn: the Indian Ocean paradise
of the Seychelles islands has an economy the same size as ours.

Last February Peter Hain made waves and was accused of considerable complacency when he stated that Wales was wealthier than Rwanda. Seeing as we are in the dog days of the summer and there isn't much else happening on Ynys Môn (today's Daily Post top Anglesey story: "Amlwch hotel boss told to travel 25 miles to pay off 1p bill"), I thought I would take a look to see how the Welsh economy does compare to those in Africa. As it turns out Peter Hain is right: Wales is wealthier than Rwanda: some 8x more wealthy. With a GVA of approx. £45,514m Wales's economy is actually somewhere between that of Ethiopia (£39,517m) and Tunisia (£49,332m).

The size of Ynys Môn's economy (£780m) compares almost exactly to that of the Republic of Seychelles (£770m), the Island paradise in the Indian Ocean. Gwynedd (£1,620m) is the equivalent of Eritrea (£1,668m) and Conwy and Denbighshire (£2,543) on a parr with Sierra Leone (£2,566m). Wales's largest regional economy, that of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan (£10,108), is somewhere in-between Equatorial Guinea (£10,007m) and Chad (£10,200m).

For benchmarking purposes, you may be interested to learn that Scotland's economy (£103,532m) is more than double the size of Wales's, and is somewhere between Morocco (£81,471m) and Algeria (£172,500m). Northern Ireland's (£28,827m) is just slightly larger than Cameroon's (£25,275m).

England's economy is off the scale (£1,083,289m) and in fact the entire economy of the UK (£1,295,663) is only slightly smaller than the GDP of all of Africa combined (£1,411,370).

The full figures are below.

For stats bods, I used the 2009 PPP-basis GDP figures for African countries (and converted to £ using the average USDGBP conversion rate for the same year). For UK and Wales regional economies, I have used the 2008 Headline GVA figures which are a useful comparator to GDP.

If you build it, they will come.

2011-07-13T18:34:00.000+01:00

Many, many congratulations to the fabulous organisers of the Llangefni Carnival, which this weekend made its triumphant return to the town after almost twenty years of absence.

The Seven grass-skirted organisers take a lap of honour
(Click to enlarge)

And the band played on... amongst the huge crowds in Llangefni town centre
(Click to enlarge)

The organisers were all volunteers, but between them they managed to breathe more fresh life into Llangefni in just one day than several other bodies I could mention have managed in years... Let us all hope it returns to being an annual event from now on.

Sense, Prudence, and Assassination Threats

2011-07-11T12:12:00.002+01:00

Last week I attended the Adjudication Panel for Wales tribunal held at Tre-ysgawen Hall examining whether Cllr Peter Rogers had transgressed the respective codes of conduct of both the North Wales Police Authority (of which he is a member) and Anglesey County Council in light of his alleged behaviour at Holyhead Police Station in January 2010. Cllr Rogers had attended the station in support of a Rhosyr constituent of his who had been accused of threatening to assassinate another county councillor following a failed planning application. It was alleged that Cllr Rogers had sought to use his influence as a member of the Police Authority to gain an advantage for himself or others; and also that through having raised his voice at a Detective Constable, Cllr Rogers had behaved in a bullying or harassing manner. He was eventually cleared of all the above charges, and instead found guilty of the far lesser charge of having brought Anglesey Council and the office of councillor into disrepute and given the least consequential punishment possible: a slap on the wrist.

Although the tribunal itself was conducted in the very model of good sense and judgement, the same cannot be said in this instance of either the Police or the North Wales Police Authority which brought the original complaint against Cllr Rogers to the Ombudsman. The Police took over three months to investigate an obviously far-fetched claim then behaved in an unnecessarily heavy-handed manner in arresting, finger-printing, photographing, then keeping in the holding cells for several hours the man who had supposedly made the 'assassination' threat – even thought he presented himself at Holyhead Police Station willingly (Indeed this man suffered greatly because during the investigation he had also been prevented from continuing his job of teaching children with special needs how to play musical instruments). It was only when Cllr Rogers discovered that the Police had no corroborating evidence other than the original allegation that he is supposed to have shouted in exasperation, "you have no evidence", at the detective constable and said he wished to make an official complaint. The chairman of the tribunal in his summing-up pointedly remarked that the investigation "could and should have been brought to a close much earlier".

None of the Police Officers who gave evidence claimed that Cllr Rogers had explicitly stated he was a member of the Police Authority whilst speaking with them. The Police Authority's complaint to the Ombudsman was therefore entirely based on inference, i.e. as some of the Police Officers were aware that Cllr Rogers was a member of the Police Authority, they may have assumed that he was possibly acting on Police Authority business rather than as a councillor representing his constituent. It was on such a flimsy basis that North Wales Police Authority brought the original complaint to the Ombudsman's Office. So flimsy in fact that Mr Tal Michael, the Chief Executive of North Wales Police Authority (and known to readers of this blog from this episode), no doubt sensing which way the tribunal was likely to find, sought unprofessionally to introduce new evidence to the Tribunal at the very last moment to the evident disconcerture of Mr Peter Davies, the Tribunal Chairman. For his efforts, Mr Michael was gently but firmly "put in [his] place" by Mr Davies. The Tribunal found conclusively (and embarrassingly for the North Wales Police Authority) that the Police Authority code of conduct was not even engaged as Cllr Rogers was not present on Police Authority business nor did he give the impression that he was.

There were so many opportunities throughout this entire unhappy saga for sensible people to have shown some intelligence and discretion and thus avoided a huge and unnecessary waste of public money. The Police could indeed have brought their investigations into the ridiculous assassination allegations to a close much earlier with less disruption for everyone; the North Wales Police Authority could have discussed and resolved the 'shouting' issue with Cllr Rogers informally, rather than seeking to "throw the book at him" and thus triggering an expensive eighteen month investigation by the Ombudsman's Office and three day tribunal. The costs of everything, including the time of the Police Officers, barristers, clerks, Ombudsman's staff, various monitoring officers, rooms at Tre-ysgawen Hall etc. must be well into the hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money – money paid by all of us in tax. Unfortunately sense and prudence with public money was sadly lacking from all involved.

Declaration of Interest: Cllr Peter Rogers is a family friend and also endorsed my candidacy in this May's Welsh Assembly Elections.

Ysgol Goronwy Owen and Commissioner Gareth Jones

2011-07-05T14:09:00.000+01:00

Where are you Commissioner Jones?

Following a serious and unprofessional falling out between the Headteacher and staff at Ysgol Goronwy Owen in Benllech, five teachers have now been on 'sick leave' for six weeks. In consequence only one full time teacher has remained at the school and the majority of lessons for its 150 pupils have been performed by supply staff.

As this unhappy situation seemingly rumbles on and on endlessly, and with parents now threatening to withdraw their children from the school, one would be entirely justified in asking why Anglesey County Council has not acted quicker and more decisively to end the dispute. Afterall the Welsh Assembly withdrew executive power from our elected County Councillors back in March and replaced them with five Commissioners who are able to act with unfettered executive power. Each is paid handsomely at £500 a day for their services to the Island and have a hotline direct to Cardiff Bay. Yet despite this, the shambles in Benllech continues with no resolution in sight before the Summer holidays.

Interestingly the Commissioner who holds the portfolio for Education and is therefore responsible for sorting out the problems at Ysgol Goronwy Owen, former AM Gareth Jones, is also the Commissioner who is apparently least frequently seen at the Council... Is there a connection?

What Plaid's Assembly opening boycott stunt really shows us.

2011-06-08T10:57:00.002+01:00

The boycotting of yesterday's official opening of the Assembly by a rump of Plaid AMs has provoked a great deal of media comment. As far as I'm concerned the most interesting aspect of the whole affair is that it highlights the extraordinary disjoint between what Plaid Cymru claims it stands for – and what it actually does. Here is my contribution to the debate as per my letter in today's Daily Post:

On Tuesday four Plaid Cymru AMs boycotted the official opening of the Welsh Assembly on the grounds that their desire for an independent republic of Wales was incompatible with attending a ceremony presided over by the Queen. Strangely this idealism hasn't prevented any of the four from taking the oath of alleigence to the same Queen — a pre-requisite to taking up their positions (and, more importantly I suspect, their taxpayer-funded salaries); neither has it prevented Senior Plaid Cymru politicians such as Baron Wigley of Caernarfon or Lord Elis-Thomas from accepting life peerages from the Crown (in fact Dafydd Elis-Thomas is even a member of the Privy Council, a body which directly advises the Monarch herself).

So is Plaid Cymru really, truly for an independent Wales or not? Their latest manifesto doesn't mention the 'I' word except in relation to the 'operational independence' of S4C. Furthermore many of the party's stated policies actually make Welsh Independence less rather than more attainable. A party which was serious about seeking further devolution from the UK (as exemplified by the SNP in Scotland) would surely seek to pragmatically boost the private sector whist at the same time creating a lean, mean Welsh public sector which could be adequately funded with taxation raised within Wales's borders alone. Instead Plaid Cymru advocates ever more regulation of the struggling Welsh private sector whilst at the same time building an ever larger Welsh public sector, all funded by ever larger block grants from Westminster.

Isn't the truth that Plaid Cymru has become nothing more than a party well to the left of Labour which wraps itself in the Ddraig Goch for electoral advantage? The boycotting of the official Assembly opening is a publicity stunt designed to reassure activists and traditional supporters that Plaid Cymru really does believe in Welsh Independence, even though their every action makes it less rather than more likely.

As to Ieuan Wyn Jones's no-show on the grounds that he was "on holiday", it reminds me greatly of the contortions Gordon Brown wrapped himself in when he decided not to attend the official signing ceremony of the EU Lisbon treaty (because he didn't want to be seen to be too pro-Europe) but then did so several hours later by himself. IWJ seems to want the nationalist kudos for not attending, whilst at the same time avoiding the jeers.

UPDATE: Betsan Powys has some more on IWJ's French holiday here.

Auto suggesting WAG.

2011-06-02T19:44:00.002+01:00

How Google auto-suggest sees the Welsh Assembly:

Try it for yourself.

Google's mission statement: "...to organise and collect all the world's knowledge..."

More on those Welsh GCSE results

2011-05-31T12:06:00.000+01:00

Over the weekend I discovered that BBC Wales had also acquired the data for the average spend per pupil for each Local Authority — which, following on from my last post, means it is possible to see what effect increased or decreased education spending had on actual GCSE results in each Welsh county (the updated rankings with average spend is here). The results are very interesting:

GCSE results compared to Average spend per pupil
(click to enlarge)

As the above chart shows, outside the clump in the centre, there appears to be very little correlation between increased spending and better GCSE results. The county which achieved the highest average GCSE results (Vale of Glamorgan) actually spent the least (£5,001 per pupil), whereas one of the highest spending counties (Blaenau Gwent) achieved some of the poorest general results. Clearly there is a great deal of difference between the general prosperity of those two particular counties, which led me to plot the results versus the average percentage uptake of free school meals in each county:

GCSE results compared to uptake of Free School Dinners
(click to enlarge)

This chart shows a very clear negative correlation between the 2010 GCSE results and the uptake of Free School Meals. As Free School Meals are offered to children from low income families, it is therefore no surprise that these GCSE results also correlate to the total out of work claimant rate in each county too:

GCSE results compared to total out-of-work benefit claimants
(Click to enlarge)

Of course it has long been accepted that academic performance is a function of relative prosperity therefore these results are not surprising, but it is informative to test the actual Welsh GCSE results in this way. If you are so inclined you can see how the Welsh GCSE results correlate to several other factors here.

So what does this mean?

A lack of correlation between spend and academic performance seems to suggest that as long as education spending is above a certain threshold, additional spending will not necessarily yield better results.
The clear negative correlation between prosperity and results indicates that unless something is done to break this link, it could lead to a downward spiral of ever poorer educational attainment linked to ever decreasing prosperity levels (education levels being one of the major functions of economic performance).

So what can be done? As I suggested in my previous post, clearly radical changes are needed to our education system in Wales if we are to break the link between prosperity and school performance. As not all children are academically minded, my personal preference would be to stream pupils earlier into either academic or vocational schools as per the German model. It is pointless to enforce an academic one-size-fits-all approach when clearly not all children have an equal aptitude for academic subjects — in fact this turns the more vocationally-minded children off school altogether, meaning they can't wait to leave school at 16 rather than move on to doing vocational courses.

Education is of critical importance to Wales if we want to turn around our economic prospects. Will this new Assembly show any boldness in its policy making? I for one will not be holding my breath.

Those "crude" school league tables Leighton Andrews doesn't think you should have.

2011-05-27T13:40:00.000+01:00

League tables comparing the academic results of secondary schools in Wales were abolished ten years ago in 2001 by Jane Davidson. Recently, in response to a number of FOI requests by BBC Wales, WAG has revealed the GCSE results of all Welsh schools in 2010 — however as Education Minister Leighton Andrews still believes that league tables are "crude" these results were banded into twenty "families" of 10 schools where pupils have similar levels of family income and special needs. Separately WAG has also released 'value added' scores for schools which show whether each pupil's GCSE results are better or worse than was predicted for them at the age of eleven — thus showing to what extent a secondary school has contributed to a pupil's progress either positively or negatively.

So, how did Ynys Môn's secondary schools perform? See below:

It appears that Menai Bridge's Ysgol David Hughes and Llangefni's Ysgol Gyfun deliver the best academic results on the Island, with pupils also passing crucial English/Welsh and Maths GCSEs – the key performance indicator for GCSEs. The results for the Amlwch and Holyhead schools are some way behind. Holyhead however has a very high Value Added score meaning that despite these poor results it is apparently delivering better results for its pupils than they were predicted to receive at age 11. With a value added score of -7 it appears that the opposite is true of Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones in Amlwch.

How do these results compare with the rest of Wales though? See below to see how each Ynys Môn school performed in terms of % pupils achieving a A*-C GCSE including English/Welsh and Maths against the average attainment in each Wales county:

% 5 A*-C GCSEs inc. English/Welsh and Maths
Ynys Môn schools (in black) compared to average results in each Welsh County
Click to enlarge

When put into context like this, it is clear that pupils in Menai Bridge and Llangefni are on average achieving some of the best results in Wales. However the performance of some of the other schools on Ynys Môn clearly demonstrate cause for considerable concern — even taking into account the fact that schools in poorer catchment areas tend to under-attain academically.

If interested, you can see the complete "crude" league table of the GCSE results of each of Wales's 222 schools used to generate the above chart here.

Of course these results are only a snapshot in time of just a single measure — performance in one set of exams. As these figures are not produced annually it is impossible to see if schools are on average improving or declining — as I noted at the beginning these figures were only obtained this time due to FOI requests from BBC Wales. However, thanks to the OECD's PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) programme which compares 10,000 15-year-old students worldwide in reading, maths and science, we are able to see how Welsh pupils compare internationally over time. Conducted every five years the 2009 results for Wales were the lowest in the United Kingdom and clearly shows that a considerable gap has opened up between the attainment of Welsh students and those from other regions in the UK, particularly in Scotland and Northern Ireland:

2009 Rankings in the PISA tests

As Education is one of the key functions of economic performance, the above poor PISA results show that we are just storing up further economic problems in the future for ourselves here in Wales. In order to compete as a small country on the periphery of Western Europe, educational levels are one of the most important tools in our armoury to attract new businesses here. Why would any company want to set up in a region which not only is further away from the major markets, has higher business rates than the rest of the UK, but also has lower average levels of educational attainment? Education is absolutely crucial to both Ynys Môn and Wales if we are to create and sustain better, well paying jobs in the future

My personal view is that our current education system needs to be radically overhauled in Wales — merely tinkering around the edges will not produce the vast improvements necessary to ensure future economic success. Our school system, throughout the UK, is one-size-fits-all and overly focussed on academic subjects and funnelling more and more students into a university education. The problem is that not all children are necessarily academically minded. In my view Wales would be far better served by introducing an education system more similar to that in Germany where pupils are streamed around ages 10-11 based on their aptitude into either academic-based schools (called Gymnasiums in Germany) which will prepare them for university, or into more vocational-based schools (Hauptschules and Realschules) which lead to full apprenticeships or further vocation training.

The German Education System

It is not by accident that Germany has the largest manufacturing base in Europe and is home to some of the largest and most successful engineering and manufacturing companies in the world. There is clearly a lot that we can learn from the German eduction system (amongst others) if we want to transform our future economy — but unfortunately that requires our Welsh Government to be bold... But what is the point of devolution if we are merely going to continue doing the same as the rest of the UK?

UK Interim report into Fukushima disaster concludes Wylfa B can continue

2011-05-18T13:09:00.001+01:00

The UK Government's Chief Nuclear Inspector has today released his interim report into the implications to the UK's nuclear fleet in light of the Fukushima disaster.

He clearly states that the UK is highly unlikely to suffer a similar situation to the one which gave rise to the meltdown in Fukushima:

"The direct causes of the nuclear accident, a magnitude 9 earthquake and the associated 14 metre high tsunami, are far beyond the most extreme natural events that the UK would be expected to experience. We are reassuringly some 1000 miles from the edge of a tectonic plate, where earthquake activity is more common and severe."

He also goes on to point out that we do not use the same reactor types in the UK or plan to do so in the future:

"UK nuclear power plants, both operational and those planned, are of a different design to the BWR [Boiling Water Reactor] reactors at the Fukushima-1 site."

He report then makes the following 11 conclusions for the UK:

Conclusion 1: In considering the direct causes of the Fukushima accident we see no reason for curtailing the operation of nuclear power plants or other nuclear facilities in the UK. Once further work is completed any proposed improvements will be considered and implemented on a case by case basis, in line with our normal regulatory approach.

Conclusion 2: In response to the Fukushima accident, the UK nuclear power industry has reacted responsibly and appropriately displaying leadership for safety and a strong safety culture in its response to date.

Conclusion 3: The Government’s intention to take forward proposals to create the Office for Nuclear Regulation, with the post and responsibilities of the Chief Inspector in statute, should enhance confidence in the UK’s nuclear regulatory regime to more effectively face the challenges of the future.

Conclusion 4: To date, the consideration of the known circumstances of the Fukushima accident has not revealed any gaps in scope or depth of the Safety Assessment Principles for nuclear facilities in the UK.

Conclusion 5: Our considerations of the events in Japan, and the possible lessons for the UK, has not revealed any significant weaknesses in the UK nuclear licensing regime.

Conclusion 6: Flooding risks are unlikely to prevent construction of new nuclear power stations at potential development sites in the UK over the next few years. For sites with a flooding risk, detailed consideration may require changes to plant layout and the provision of particular protection against flooding.

Conclusion 7: There is no need to change the present siting strategies for new nuclear power stations in the UK.

Conclusion 8: There is no reason to depart from a multi-plant site concept given the design measures in new reactors being considered for deployment in the UK and adequate demonstration in design and operational safety cases.

Conclusion 9: The UK’s gas-cooled reactors have lower power densities and larger thermal capacities than water cooled reactors which with natural cooling capabilities give longer timescales for remedial action. Additionally, they have a lesser need for venting on loss of cooling and do not produce concentrations of hydrogen from fuel cladding overheating.

Conclusion 10: There is no evidence to suggest that the presence of MOX fuel in Reactor Unit 3 significantly contributed to the health impact of the accident on or off the site.

Conclusion 11: With more information there is likely to be considerable scope for lessons to be learnt about human behaviour in severe accident conditions that will be useful in enhancing contingency arrangements and training in the UK for such events.

Based on conclusions 1, 6, and 7 above, it is clear that the disaster at Fukushima will not prevent the continued development of Wylfa B here in Ynys Môn.

Read the whole report below:

Japanese earthquake and tsunami: Implications for the UK Nuclear Industry

Anglesey Aluminium Statement Today (UPDATED)

2011-05-16T09:29:00.003+01:00

The owners of Anglesey Aluminium will be making a statement at lunchtime today — probably to reveal to which company or companies they will sell their Penrhos site to. The 184 acre site was put up for sale back in November last year with an expected price tag of £10m. More later.

The beach at Penrhos Coastal Park

UPDATE: Anglesey Aluminium has announced it has signed an option agreement to sell agricultural land and a portion of the Penrhos Coastal Park to a company called Land & Lakes who plan to create a holiday leisure resort there, which could create up to 600 full time jobs (though its not clear how many of these will be construction jobs). Furthermore they promise to sorce 70 percent of their 'produce' from the local area. More information here.

As this announcement relates to agricultural land and parts of Penrhos Coastal Park, this means that the fate of the actual Penrhos site of Anglesey Aluminium is still to be announced.

A new Leader for Ynys Môn (Updated)

2011-05-14T00:47:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow is a big day in the Council's calendar: its the day of the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Leader Clive McGregor will step down and a new Leader and Deputy will be elected — though the likely term of office will be just one year (as the local elections will be next May) and neither will enjoy the normal powers or monetary reward of their new positions due to the intervention of Commissioners. Despite this four hats have been thrown into the ring.

Of course, had the January plotters simply decided to wait until today's AGM to install a new Leader, the Commissioners would never have been sent in...

UPDATE: The new Leader is Bryan Owen of the Original Independents with Plaid Cymru's Bob Parry retaining his Deputy post.

"Even more effective"

2011-05-13T22:47:00.003+01:00

Despite quite a bullish podium speech following his election a week ago today, this afternoon Ieuan Wyn Jones announced the inevitable, i.e. that he is to step down as leader of Plaid Cymru "sometime within the first half of this Assembly term". This is actually good news for Ynys Môn as it means that, when he does relinquish the leadership sometime over the next 2.5 years, he will be able to devote 100% of his time and energy to actually representing Ynys Môn rather than to running a political party — a fact he himself tacitly admits by pledging at the end of today's announcement to "being an even more effective" Assembly Member for the Island.

About time.

P.S. To my readers from the early 19th century, this post is also available in semaphore here.

No regrets.

2011-05-07T12:02:00.000+01:00

How coming second looks like:
IWJ's votes on the left, mine second from right (click to enlarge)

Many, many thanks to each and every one of the 7,032 Anglesonians who cast their vote for me on Thursday. I'd also like to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported and helped out in the campaign — it has been particularly moving to discover that some of the greatest support during the campaign came from some of the most unexpected quarters...

I gave it my best shot and have no regrets.

Probably the...

2011-05-06T00:03:00.000+01:00

Probably the best tasting pint of my life...

After six months of hard work as a candidate, and having visited 56 polling stations on Ynys Môn today, I've just had probably the very best pint of my life (actually, the best three pints of my life.)

Whatever the result tomorrow, thanks to all readers and commenters of this blog. I've given it my best shot and whatever will be will be.

"This politician deserves your trust"

2011-05-03T20:41:00.000+01:00

Many of you may have received the following leaflet from Ieuan Wyn Jones over the past few days:

...it includes the following bullet point:

If you are wondering why it doesn't name the 'Political Editor' or the 'National Newspaper' from which the quotation is taken, its probably because this is the original quote:

"Ieuan Wyn Jones is not the sort of leader to inspire adulation, but his role as Deputy First Minister has lent him more gravitas and allowed image makers to present him as a decent man who cares deeply, if not passionately, about his country. This was most apparent in the video unveiled at [Plaid Cymru's 2010] conference in which there are lingering shots of him looking thoughtful and concerned. This uncharismatic politician who used to be a country solicitor deserves your trust more than the flashy showmen who seduce you with their smarmy wiles until you recognise them for the shallow vessels they are, is the subliminal message."

Deserves your trust...? You decide.

Googling Anglesey

2011-05-02T19:02:00.000+01:00

In case there was any doubt that the Royal Wedding was a giant advert for Ynys Môn, see the below graph of the volume of searches for "Anglesey" on Google for the past three years:

Relative volume of searches for 'Anglesey' on Google from 2008-present

See more detail here.

A Royal Wedding Flashback

2011-04-29T14:59:00.000+01:00

For all Royal Wedding watchers on Ynys Môn, I fully recommend this brilliantly written post by regular commenter, ex-soldier, and newest Anglesey blogger, 'Red Flag', as he poignantly and entertainingly recalls his time lining the route of wedding of Prince Charles and late Princess Diana in 1981.

Seven days to go...

2011-04-28T10:58:00.000+01:00

As you may have noticed the amount of new blogposts by myself has decreased over the last couple of months or so. This has been due the demands of campaigning: including attending various hustings, public meetings, and, most importantly, the pounding of pavements all over Sir Fôn actually meeting people and businesses.

Over the last year and a half I have chronicled through this blog the economic, civic, and social problems faced by the Ynys Môn. This Island has over the the past ten years lost over 2,100 private-sector jobs – the equivalent of the entire population of Beaumaris. Well known companies which survived the recession of the 1980s and 90s, which have provided stable, well paid work for generations of Islanders have in recent years closed in rapid succession:

The Octel chemical plant in Amlwch began production in 1953 and continued through the 80s and 90s (under various different names) until it closed in 2005 with a loss of 110 jobs.
The Peboc Eastman chemical plant in Llangefni was established in 1970, continued production all through the 80s and 90s, and only closed its doors in 2008 with a loss of 100 jobs
Anglesey Aluminium started smelting in 1971 and continued production all the way through the 80s and 90s, only closing with a loss of 400 jobs in September 2009
The Eaton Electric plant in Holyhead opened in 1960 under the name Midland Electric Manufacturing Company, it operated all through the 80s and 90s and closed just three months after Anglesey Aluminium in December 2009 with a loss of 250 jobs

And these are just the big companies, countless other small local businesses and shops have also gone out of business – as witnessed by the numbers of empty fonts on the high streets of our main towns. As a result Ynys Môn is, according to the Office for National Statistics, now firmly planted at the bottom of the UK's prosperity league table with a GVA per head figure of just half of the national average. The case for economic support for Ynys Môn is clear and apparent, yet when the Welsh Assembly Government distributes its business support funding we discover that Ynys Môn, like much of North Wales, receives well below the average spend per head:

Total business grants received by each local authority per head of population
since introduction of Economic Renewal Programme in July 2010
click to enlarge

Agriculture has also been hard hit, with the economic contribution of agriculture on the Island having declined by 68 percent over the ten years up to 2007. This has directly affected the Welsh Country Foods abattoir and meat-packaging plant in Gaerwen (where, incidentally, I found my first paid job). It began operating back in 1980s and continued throughout that decade and the 1990s and only began downsizing in 2009 with a loss of 200 jobs; the 'Chuckies' chicken processing plant in Llangefni was established even earlier and also continued production throughout the 80s and 90s, until it lost a whole shift (140 jobs) in 2009. Where is Môn Mam Cymru now?

And then we come to the Council. With the recent appointment of the Commissioners by WAG, Ynys Môn has now suffered the most stringent local government intervention ever seen in the Wales. The political problems at the council could and should have been sorted out 15 years ago, not allowed to fester and continue until this point. Will the latest intervention solve the problems? To be frank the latest signs are not encouraging at all.

This election gives us a real chance to draw a line under the past. If like me you feel strongly about the decline of Ynys Môn and think we need a new representative in the Welsh Assembly , then I would like to ask you to join my campaign and help rebuild our Island.

As we move into the last week of the campaign if you would like to take part and help by...

delivering leaflets
canvassing door to door or by telephone
putting a sign in your window

...or in any other way, then please use the 'contact me' section above and get in touch!

An intelligent use for Rhosgoch.

2011-04-22T11:38:00.000+01:00

The disused Shell site at Rhosgoch: time to put it to good use.

Its great to hear that a consortium of ten community and town councils in northern Ynys Môn have put forward proposals to convert the disused 198 acre Shell Site at Rhosgoch into a 'Centre Parcs' type attraction. The proposal is for Wylfa B developers Horizon to build accommodation for their workers on the site, which could then be converted into an adventure holiday destination following the completion of the new reactor.

This proposal would effectively kill two birds with one stone. Firstly a new and dedicated estate for housing workers would ensure that a large proportion of the Island's tourist accommodation is not displaced during Wylfa B's construction – it would be difficult to grow our tourism industry if all the existing tourist accommodation was taken up by Wylfa workers. Secondly it finally finds a fantastic dual-purpose use for the Rhosgoch site, which has remained as wasteland ever since it was donated to the Island by Shell back in the 1980s. The influx of holiday makers to such an attraction would also provide an invaluable long-term boost in the arm to the economy of Amlwch and its surrounding area.

Its worth pointing out that a suggestion to convert the Rhosgoch site into exactly this kind of attraction was included in the crowd-sourced 'People's Manifesto for Ynys Môn', created by contributors to this blog last July:

'The Council should consider promoting the creation of a unique, big attraction somewhere on the Island which combines Anglesey’s strengths (its suitability as a water sports venue coupled with its proximity to the Snowdonia National Park) and has the potential to attract new visitors from Liverpool, Manchester, the Midlands and elsewhere in North Wales - without cannibalising existing businesses in the way, for example, a retail park would. One suggestion would be something like a ‘Centre Parc’ crossed with the ‘Eden Project’ crossed with the ‘Coed y Brenin’ Mountain Biking Centre. Such an attraction could offer visitors boating, walking, riding, various cycling paths, swimming pools with slides and waves, etc. - and all within a short distance from other activities in Snowdonia National Park. The facility would also offer tiered accommodation and a network of shops and restaurants. The council’s role would be to identify a suitable site, provide access roads, car parks, drainage, and then find a suitable private company to build and operate the site. The old Shell site at Rhosgoch might be a suitable location for this attraction - it belongs to the council, has remained unused for 20 years, is fairly tranquil and is close to the sea."

Read the whole thing here.

“They're more interested in making the backs of the buildings look nice for the ferries”

2011-04-21T12:52:00.000+01:00

The Daily Post backs Enterprise Zone status for Holyhead

I was in Holyhead on Monday with Wales Office Minister, David Jones MP, to meet with local small business and shop owners to discuss the economic problems facing the town. The general consensus was that despite the millions which have been ploughed into Holyhead over the years, due to a lack of consultation with local residents and businesses (“they just do what they want to do”), and due to a lack of vision and direction in both WAG and the County Council, the economic fortunes of the town have declined rather than improved. This is certainly borne out by the fact that Holyhead now has the highest jobseekers to vacancy ratio in all of Wales. There was also great dissatisfaction that more had not been done to help two of the town’s largest employers, Anglesey Aluminium and Eaton Electric, which both closed within months of each other in 2009 losing 700 jobs between them – the eleventh hour offer of a £48m loan to Anglesey Aluminium was “too little, too late”. In terms of attracting new businesses to replace them the feeling was that too much money and effort was being spent on brushing up the appearance of the place (“they're more interested in making the backs of the buildings look nice for the ferries”) but not enough was being done to proactively support the existing small businesses or attract new enterprises which should provide the beating heart of any town. Unsurprisingly the Council and many of its members came in for severe criticism.

There are of course no silver bullets for the economic problems being faced in Holyhead or, indeed, all over Ynys Môn. But one thing is certain: you cannot continue to do the same things and expect different outcomes. The time has come to try something radically different and that is why I have been pushing for Holyhead to become the first Enterprise Zone in Wales. Announced in last month’s Budget, 21 Enterprise Zones will be set up in England, with the closest one to us being in Wirral Waters, Birkenhead. As Economic Development is devolved in Wales, WAG has now received £65m as the ‘Barnett consequential’ of this policy and it will be up to the new Welsh Government to decide post May 5th how to use this money. I sincerely hope that WAG will give serious thought to introducing a similar Enterprise Zone policy here in Wales due to their terrific potential to help revive some of our most economically struggling areas – and to this end, I’m delighted that the Daily Post has also come out in support of my calls for Holyhead to become Wales’ first Enterprise Zone (see image above).

In terms of the specifics of Enterprise Zones, the Welsh Conservatives would push for the following:

tax breaks for both existing and new businesses – including the lifting of business rates and discussions with Westminster on the possibility of also obtaining corporation tax reductions
simplified planning rules to assist businesses setting up or expanding
the roll out of super-fast broadband

It is also important to note that the benefits of having an Enterprise Zone in Holyhead would not be just confined to Holyhead. As Ynys Môn’s largest town, it is in the interests of the Island as a whole to have a thriving, profitable and growing economy in Holyhead. Enterprise Zones have their critics, but quite frankly, its time to try something new and radical in Holyhead: to simply carry on tinkering around the edges will not change anything.

Today's Post

2011-04-18T08:23:00.000+01:00

I have a guest post up on Wales Home today. You can read it here.

Carwyn Jones accuses me of "negative personality politics"

2011-04-12T23:52:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post to update you that last week I sent a letter to the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, raising concerns regarding the appointment of Alex Aldridge as a Commissioner by WAG Local Government Minister, Carl Sargeant. It was reported in the Daily Post here.

I made the point to the First Minister that although this latest intervention was necessary, it has effectively brought about the suspension of local democracy on Ynys Môn at exactly the time when Island services will need to be rationalised. Accordingly, as nobody can be held democratically accountable for the decisions made, it is essential that residents have absolute confidence in the abilities of the Commissioners and the process by which they were appointed. In my opinion, and in the opinion of other residents I have spoken to, the appointment of Mr Aldridge fails both of these tests.

Why?

Firstly, whilst Mr Aldridge was the Leader of Flintshire County Council, it suffered numerous and serious failures of corporate governance (including this one) which make the goings on at Anglesey Council appear like child's play in comparison.

Secondly, because its appears that the usual Nolan guidelines for the selection of Ministerial appointments have not been followed. Mr Aldridge is known to be a friend and associate of Mr Sargeant's and the public perception, rightly or wrongly, is of one Labour politician from Flintshire appointing another Labour politician from Flintshire to a public-funded position without seemingly having followed the correct procedures. Surely this is not the way in which the Welsh Assembly Government should be bringing about a “democratic renewal” in a place like Ynys Môn?

My letter has generated a furious response from the First Minister. Regarding my first point, he writes:

"You allege that he is not suitable appointee because of certain matters which occurred within Flintshire County Council around ten years ago. I do not think it reasonable to blame the leader of a council for the detail of how the Council's maintenance stores operate and similar matters. Nor can it be right to drag up old issues which have long since resolved and use them to attack people who have much else to offer."

I'm afraid I don't think it 'unreasonable'. And, as it happens, it is not just I who has questioned Mr Aldridge's appointment considering the numerous failings at Flintshire under his watch. Even the national magazine, Private Eye, raised its eyebrow at Mr Aldridge's appointment in last week's Rotten Borough's column (sadly not online).

Regarding my second point the First Minister writes:

"[Mr Aldridge] and the other Commissioners were appointed because of their experience and expertise ... All Commissioners were selected following a process of shortlisting, sifting and interviewing on the basis of objective criteria, and all of this was managed by Assembly Government officials who have no loyalty to any party or constituency."

But then goes on to negate everything he has just written by adding,

"The very urgent nature of the situation meant that it was impossible to follow a longer or more formal process, and that is widely accepted practice."

Huh? Did the interviews take place or not? How many people were interviewed? Why was it urgent? We know that Sargeant sat on this report for weeks before acting on or releasing it to the public. He had plenty of time to follow the correct procedures, but instead gets around due process by claiming it was "urgent" – which, incidentally, was exactly the same excuse which WAG used for not having advertised or followed a more formal process for David Bowles' appointment.

Anyway, just to round off his letter, the First Minister writes:

"The early signs of [the appointment of the Commissioner] are very promising, with both members and officers of the Council working well with the Commissioners to restore good governance. But the kind of negative personality politics that you use in your letter has contributed significantly to Anglesey's current problems and I cannot accept it being applied to our commissioners too".

So there you are: if you dare to raise any valid concerns about the suitability of our new Commissioners you get accused of "negative personality politics". Is this really the level of debate we want in this country?

Gravy Train arrives in Llangefni

2011-04-08T13:59:00.000+01:00

I have been asked what I think of the choice of Commissioners now that they have all been named, so I will repeat the below letter I sent to the Daily Post earlier this week:

Ynys Môn residents were cheered to hear that WAG Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant had finally decided to take firmer action to sort out the problems at Anglesey County Council. However now that all five Commissioners have been named it increasingly appears that this latest intervention is less about turning around our Council and more about providing jobs for a favoured few elite retirees: a retired fellow Labour politician from Carl Sargeant’s home of Flintshire, a retired assembly member, a retired chief constable, a retired NHS Trust chief executive, and a retired council chief. With the exception of the latter one wonders exactly what skills the rest have that are relevant to a Local Authority in trouble? Furthermore two of them seemingly stepped down from their previous positions for health reasons but now feel well enough to accept the £500 a day fees the Commissioner role entails. With the average weekly wage on Ynys Môn being around £396, they will earn more in one day that most residents do in over a week. The Anglesey Central Railway may not have yet reopened but it appears that the gravy train has arrived in Llangefni nonetheless.

I feel that this latest, deeper intervention could have been a golden opportunity to treat the political problems which have been festering at the Council for the last 15 and more years. However, WAG's choices of commissioner are completely wrong for the job at hand – indeed have even written to the First Minister to complain about the selection of this one in particular.

I have now been campaigning for political reform at the Council through this blog for some time and I just feel that through bad advice and hasty decisions Ynys Môn has been let down once again.

Peter Rogers and I, or One way to vote for Ynys Môn

2011-04-05T10:24:00.001+01:00

Peter and I, yesterday.

I handed in my nomination papers for this May's Assembly elections last week and I'm both happy and proud to be able to say that Peter Rogers countersigned my nomination as a witness. Accordingly Peter will not be standing for election in May and will be backing my candidacy.

Peter has been a fearless and formidable voice for Ynys Môn for many years and a family friend for even longer. I am delighted by his support and proud to have his nomination going into this election. This means that the vote will no longer be split and is good news for Ynys Môn residents who want their vote to mean that they can see the back of Ieuan Wyn Jones.

As many of you will know, Peter Rogers sat in the First Assembly (1999-2003) as a regional Conservative AM for North Wales. He was also the Conservative constituency candidate for Ynys Môn in the Assembly election in 2003 and has always fought hard for the interests of Ynys Mon. He was also always Plaid Cymru's most feared competitor on Ynys Môn.

This is what Peter says in today's Daily Post:

"There are so many economic and social problems facing Anglesey. It is time for change and now there is a candidate who can beat Ieuan Wyn Jones. He is a Welsh speaker from the Island who has been a successful businessman and is now dedicated to helping Anglesey. I have not buried the hatchet with the Tories but this candidate has my personal backing"

What Does This Mean?

Below are the complete results of the last three Assembly elections.

The combined Peter Rogers and Conservative vote in 2007 comes to within 900 votes of Ieuan Wyn Jones' tally. According to the latest ITV Wales/YouGov poll, whereas the Conservative vote is consistent, Plaid Cymru is now polling 5 percentage points below where it was at the 2007 election (17% now compared to 22% in 2007) meaning that Ieuan Wyn Jones is unlikely to get more than 10,000 votes next month. If we consider that UKIP are not fielding a candidate and that they picked up over 800 votes in 2007, then the only conclusion is that Ieuan Wyn Jones is vulnerable.

Labour are currently riding high in the same polls (though the poll expert Mike Smithson disputes whether they are polling quite as high as YouGov report) but people vote differently in different elections, and for Labour to win they would need to more than double their 2007 vote.

If you want to see Ieuan Wyn Jones removed and a fresh start for Anglesey, our economy and Wales, then there is now only one credible way to vote.

Anglesey Recovery Board advised WAG against sending in Commissioners

2011-04-03T21:33:00.000+01:00

It has transpired that the Anglesey Recovery Board advised WAG Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant AGAINST sending in the Commissioners, their final report reveals.

The Recovery Board last convened on January 31st, 2011, and made their own recommendations to Carl Sargeant on how to deal with the new instability at the Council following the failed attempt to force out Leader Clive McGregor at the beginning of January. Until this week WAG had refused to release this final report.

Here are some of the key passages:

"...the Council has made progress under intervention. But overall ... a sustainable recovery is not reasonably foreseeable by August, at least. There may be a better chance of this by May 2012; but in view of the speed at which power and loyalties shift within the council and the significant impact that can have, we cannot predict that with confidence."

On what they feel should be the appropriate response:

"We are equally clear that this situation demands some more stringent form of intervention. This should not be a matter of punishing councillors but rather of ensuring that continued instability does not obstruct or detract from tackling the serious strategic, financial and delivery challenges facing the island. In other words, any further action needs to address to the particular problems we have identified. It also needs to encourage, rather than abandon, some of the positive progress and willingness that we have seen."

"...we believe that, on balance, councillors should not be absolved of all decision-making responsibility. That would be unfair on those who have shown genuine commitment to the recovery so far. "

"...retaining some form of decision-making within the council would require councillors to develop and demonstrate a more mature approach to their responsibilities, which would in turn inform a future decision on ending the intervention."

However this is what the Recovery Board had to say about 'further direction', i.e. sending in commissioners:

"we detect a real risk that some councillors could exploit a further direction for their own political ends and thus enhance their chances of re-election in 2012 on a platform of resisting external control. That sort of continued antagonism cannot be in the interests of the island and its citizens. Further action needs to require councillors to change their ways; anything which encouraged them to portray themselves as victims or martyrs could be counter-productive."

This advice, of course, was ignored by Carl Sargeant who anyway decided to send in Commissioners.

So what form of 'more stringent' intervention did the Recovery Board recommend? Read on:

Reconstituting and renaming the Recovery Board as an Intervention Board, which would adopt a more directly challenging approach to the Council and its executive. 
The Board should hold the council officers and executive to account on a number of clearly defined issues regularly and in public. Each of these issues to have specific measurable targets and time limits.
The Board should reserve the right to call in some decisions and ask the executive to think again. This should be limited to major concerns where we think there is undue delay or where an inappropriate decision is about to be made.
The Board should be supported by staff, external to the authority, who will identify issues for discussion and provide evidence to be used in reviewing and challenging decisions. There may be some financial provision in the Council’s own budget for training and corporate renewal.
The Board should report publicly and regularly on its work, rather than just making its reports to the Minister available. This might involve a web page or a column in the local press.
The Board and the Council (with the involvement of the Electoral Commission and the main political parties as appropriate) should develop a clear strategy and set of actions to support democratic renewal.
An end date should be agreed with David Bowles and the search for a new interim chief executive should begin now. The power to appoint a chief executive should remain with the Minister, and consideration should be given to withdrawing the power also to appoint other statutory officers. This would enhance the seriousness of the intervention. 
Better and more dedicated support should be provided in council and committee meetings to ensure adherence to procedure and guarantee that all members are fairly heard.
A review of the concept of Energy Island should take place to determine the Council’s fitness to handle such a major project now and in the future.
If this approach does not succeed over a six month period the natural next stage would be the formal withdrawal of executive functions from the Council.

Considering that the members of the Recovery Board had been meeting with all parties over a period of 18 months it is undeniable that they were best placed to advise the Minister on the most appropriate action following January's instability. However Carl Sargeant decided to completely disregarded their recommendations. Why?

Read the whole report below:

31 Jan Recovery Board Report

Remembering Brynle

2011-04-01T18:59:00.000+01:00

Brynle Williams

I was greatly saddened to hear this morning that Brynle Williams, the Conservative regional AM for North Wales and leader of the 2000 fuel protests, had passed away. As a farmer and pony breeder he was the Assembly's greatest advocate for Welsh farmers and a regular visitor to Ynys Môn.

I last spoke to him on the phone about a month ago when, despite being in his hospital bed, he immediately remembered having attended this meeting. He had sounded strong, said he was on the mend, and kindly promised to attend my campaign launch once a date had been decided.

Gruff, unpolished and full of genuine passion for his and our part of Wales, he couldn't have been more different from the new breed of career politicians who pass directly from University to political researcher posts and then into Westminster or the Assembly. He will be missed by many.

Gareth Jones AM appointed as Anglesey Commissioner

2011-04-01T10:11:00.002+01:00

Gareth Jones

Gareth Jones, the 71 year old retiring Plaid Cymru AM for Aberconwy and former Headmaster of Ysgol John Bright, has been appointed as the fourth Commissioner to Ynys Môn council.

I am sure that Mr Jones is extremely competent, but I question why every single Commissioner is a public sector retiree well past the peaks of their careers (indeed one of whom previously stepped down citing ill health)?

Surely if we are to make this latest intervention into Anglesey County Council a success a more diverse range of backgrounds and specialities is necessary? For example, one of the three Commissioners sent into failing Doncaster council was Julie Kenny, a business woman and entrepreneur. I would have thought that considering the problems at Anglesey County Council, a number of Commissioners with management consultancy and accountancy skills would be most appropriate.

Unfortunately the current intervention is beginning to look more and more like a gravy train rather than a serious attempt to send in the most suitable and best qualified people to turn around a failing council.

UPDATE: The fifth and final Commissioner will be Margaret Foster, former Chief Executive of Cwm Taf NHS Trust. She retired last year.

++ Commissioners pay confirmed ++

2011-03-30T13:33:00.000+01:00

Earlier this week when asked by Anglesey's Councillors to reveal how much they are being paid, our new Commissioners refused to answer. I can now confirm that they will be paid £500 a day for their troubles.

David Bowles' first interview since the sending in of the Commissioners

2011-03-28T10:09:00.000+01:00

Anglesey Interim MD David Bowles has given a rare interview to this week's edition of the Local Government Chronicle (subscription required) in which he squarely apportions blame for the Council's downfall on Independent councillors, takes a indirect swipe at Clive McGregor, and dismisses calls for an elected mayor.

On the cause of the problems:

"The problem when you have a large number of independents is that they either have a charismatic leader who pulls them together or it becomes very divisive, which is what has happened in Anglesey."

This is of course a sideways way of saying that Leader Clive McGregor hasn't been strong enough to hold the Independents together.

On his recommendations to Carl Sargeant:

Mr Bowles said he had advised Wales' local government minister Carl Sargeant in January to send in commissioners after infighting among independent councillors led to the possibility of leader Clive McGregor being overthrown.

"I recommended commissioners should be appointed until elections in 2012, together with investment in democratic renewal."

A bit of revisionism going on here. The plot to overthrow Clive McGregor in January was not due to "infighting among independent councillors" but actually led by both the Labour and Plaid Cymru groups within the Council with the support of the Original Independents.

On an elected mayor:

...Mr Bowles said this option might not rescue Anglesey, saying "just look at Doncaster".

This a reference to the disaster which ensued at Doncaster after residents there elected an English Democrat mayor in 2009. Read more here.

On boundary changes:

"There are very few multi-member wards, and if you could break those single-member wards you'd then break down some of the parochial attitudes"

An odd thing to say: currently there are no multi-member wards on Ynys Môn, just 40 single member wards. I would have thought David Bowles would know this – unless his comment has been taken out of context by the reporter.

On a merger with Gwynedd:

"If [the commissioners] succeed I hope it'll attract new people to stand as councillors." He added that Anglesey was "a unique place and a merger with Gwynedd would be a last resort".

On the future of Anglesey County Council:

"The long-term survival of the council depends on very substantial changes to its running," Mr Bowles told LGC.

Exactly what those "substantial changes" are we don't know yet. Frankly I doubt if even the Commissioners themselves are sure.

++ David Bowles to step down shortly ++ (Updated)

2011-03-25T10:46:00.001Z

It seems certain that Anglesey County Council Interim MD, David Bowles, will be stepping down sometime over the next few weeks – probably to free up the £270K a year he currently receives from the Council (and by extension from us residents) in order to pay for our five shiny new Commissioners instead.

UPDATE [28 March]: The BBC now confirms that David Bowles will be stepping down on April 30th and Richard Parry Jones, the current Corporate Director for Education and Leisure at Anglesey, will be acting up to the post.

An Open Letter to Anglesey's Commissioners

2011-03-23T22:59:00.000Z

Dear Commissioners,

On the occasion of your first full week of work on the Island allow me to take the liberty of offering you the below well meant advice on how to make your intervention here a success:

1. Make sure that when you leave Anglesey County Council you return it with its borders intact – in other words without parts of Gwynedd or Conwy attached to it. Remember you are just visitors here, do no lasting damage.

2. You may have been appointed by the Welsh Assembly Government but your primary responsibility must always be to the people of Ynys Môn – not to your paymasters in Cardiff Bay.

3. In order to find the required savings within the Council over the next two years you will need to make crucial decisions regarding the rationalisation of some cherished services. You must always remember that this is a task for which you personally have no democratic mandate; furthermore, due to the temporary suspension of local democracy, Anglesey residents will have nobody to hold to account for the decisions you make. For these reasons it is imperative that you tread lightly and strive to genuinely consult residents as widely as possible. Above all remember that you must always endeavour to make decisions which are best for the people of Ynys Môn — not for the Welsh Assembly Government.

4. Avoid making decisions behind closed doors. Be guided by the example of the commissioners in Doncaster who always meet in public and publish their agendas and minutes on their own dedicated website (see here).

5. Your single most important task (and the one for which you will be judged) is to introduce a sustainable "democratic renewal" to the Island. Understand this does not simply equate to paving the way for a referendum on an Elected Mayor. You must again consult widely and pursue several different options if you are to discover the best approach.

6. Do not repeat the mistakes of the previous Recovery Board in attempting to draw a line under the misdeeds of the past. The fracture of trust between officers and members, and between members and each other, have their roots in certain events. For these wounds to be permanently healed, these events need to be investigated properly and any misdeeds by either officers or councillors need to be dealt with correctly once and for all. If you do not do this, there will be no lasting recovery.

7. Remember that people are innocent until proven guilty. The previous policy of requiring members to 'name and shame' certain of their colleagues before the Ombudsman made an independent ruling caused great harm and lasting antagonism. If councillors are to be disciplined: do it properly, don't take shortcuts.

8. Its probably best to seek local advice before finalising your living arrangements on the Island!

Yours faithfully,
"The Druid"

Quote of the Day (Nuclear-edition) (updated)

2011-03-22T08:34:00.002Z

Arch-green environmental evangelist and Guardian columnist George Montbiot writes:

"You will not be surprised to hear that the events in Japan have changed my view of nuclear power. You will be surprised to hear how they have changed it. As a result of the disaster at Fukushima, I am no longer nuclear-neutral. I now support the technology.

A crappy old plant with inadequate safety features was hit by a monster earthquake and a vast tsunami. The electricity supply failed, knocking out the cooling system. The reactors began to explode and melt down. The disaster exposed a familiar legacy of poor design and corner-cutting. Yet, as far as we know, no one has yet received a lethal dose of radiation.

... Atomic energy has just been subjected to one of the harshest of possible tests, and the impact on people and the planet has been small. The crisis at Fukushima has converted me to the cause of nuclear power."

Read it all here.

UPDATE: Readers might be interested in the below latest Press Release from Horizon:

Horizon Nuclear Power, the company behind proposals for a new nuclear power station at Wylfa on Anglesey, today said it is continuing with its development programme and will take full account of the learnings from recent events in Japan.

Alan Raymant, COO of Horizon said:

"The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan have shocked the world and our greatest sympathies are with all those affected by the events.

"At the same time the problems with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant must be, and are being, taken very seriously by the nuclear industry.

"The geology on Anglesey, and the technologies that my company, Horizon Nuclear Power, is considering for a new power station at Wylfa are both different to the circumstances in Japan. Nevertheless its right that we learn the lessons from those events.

"We are continuing to develop our proposals. Safe, clean nuclear power generation is increasingly important as part of the UK's energy mix and to the economy of Anglesey and North Wales.

"What we must and will do is make sure our plans reflect the learnings from the forthcoming Chief Nuclear Inspector's report into the events in Japan.

"We are privileged to enjoy strong local support for new nuclear build and we have always promised the people of Anglesey and North Wales that safety is our number one priority. That remains the case and is the basis on which we'll go forward."

Changing Allegiances? (updated)

2011-03-19T11:52:00.007Z

In his statement to the Senedd on Wednesday, Carl Sargeant made a great deal of how Commissioners were necessary because Anglesey Council was unstable due to Councillors changing groups in order to support the latest plots. His exact words were:

"...the membership of political groups changes on a whim, as members back or oppose the latest plot. In the last 18 months, around a third of all councillors have changed their allegiance between various groups at least once, with scarcely any attempt to justify their actions to those they represent. Imagine the uproar if 20 AMs or 215 MPs did so."

Today's Western Mail unquestioningly repeats this 'fact' in painting the antics at Anglesey Council as the "ugliest example of cynical politics". However the truth is that a third of councillors (i.e. 13 members) have not changed allegiance – and not a single one has done so more than once as claimed by Sargeant. Furthermore the single largest change of allegiance came about in June 2010 when WAG appointee David Bowles himself engineered the split of the Original Independents by encouraging Clive McGregor to form his four man Llais i Fôn group.

Since then Llais i Fôn was bolstered by one more member following the Rhosneigr by-election – but that surely doesn't count as a member changing allegiance.

More recently another member of the Original Independents ~~was coaxed to leave the Independents by both David Bowles and Clive McGregor, though its unclear whether he is now a member of Llais i Fôn or just unaffiliated~~ left of his own free will to become an unaffiliated councillor due to disillusionment with the direction taken by the group [Updated 19 Mar @22:15 following contact from the Councillor in question]

One member of the Menai Group left to become unaffiliated several months ago. That was certainly not in order to support any "plot".

And finally the three members of Anglesey Forward/Môn Ymlaen joined the Original Independents at the beginning of this year.

That makes a total of just nine 'changes of allegiance', the majority of which were instigated by and supported by WAG appointee David Bowles. Why does WAG feel it needs to embellish the truth in order to justify suspending local democracy and sending in the Commissioners?

Challenging the Commissioners

2011-03-18T07:31:00.005Z

Mark Isherwood AM speaking in the Senedd on Wednesday in response to Carl Sargeant's statement regarding Anglesey County Council:

"This is not the first council in north Wales to have failed in recent years. There was no intervention in the other council, even though serious failings were upheld in a series of PricewaterhouseCoopers reports into a housing function and an independent investigation that found further major failings and concerns in that area. There was also a legally binding 40-page industrial tribunal document, which named and shamed a number of people on a number of serious matters. Why has the person who led the council during the period to which those validated failings apply been appointed as a commissioner to Anglesey to drive forward improvement on a failed authority?"

He was referring to a series of events which culminated with this.

Councillors out, Commissioners in

2011-03-17T14:34:00.004Z

Having digested the events of yesterday, here are my initial thoughts on the Auditor's Report and Carl Sargeant's statement:

From the moment that Clive McGregor sacked John Chorlton and Hefin Thomas from the Executive at the end of January for their part in an attempt to depose him as Leader, and then wrote to WAG Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant saying, "...this Authority will not recover. I do not believe that investing further money in the recovery process is justified", it was inevitable that WAG would have to be seen to take action. The emergency audit called in response to Clive McGregor's letter recommended yesterday that Commissioners be sent in to run the council. Carl Sargeant duly and inevitably obliged.
Was WAG action merited? Thanks to its hardworking staff Anglesey County Council is by no means a 'failing council', however considering how many "Last Chance Saloons" there have been over the last 18 months WAG had no alternative but to finally take decisive action. Councillors — and in particular certain group leaders — have to accept their responsibility for having taken a completely unnecessary gamble in trying to force Clive McGregor to stand down early. The best thing that many of them can now do would be to take this opportunity to retire. They must surely recognise that they no longer have a future or meaningful role within the Council.
However, it is undeniable that the WAG intervention in Ynys Môn has been a miserable failure. Accepting some successes in addressing problems with corporate governance, scrutiny, and the winner-takes-all mentality, the Interim MD and Recovery Board have not delivered value for the vast sums of public money which has been spent on them. I do not believe that David Bowles has demonstrated judgement worthy of his £1,000 a day price tag — his role was to bring councillors together, instead it seems clear that he has only succeeded in creating animosity where generally it did not exist previously. With a couple of honourable exceptions the appointees to the Recovery Board have been lacklustre. The majority's only qualification for the role was their availability; and who in their right mind would appoint a Professor of Communications and Creative Industries with a background in TV and no Local Government experience whatsoever as Chair of such a body? WAG needed to appoint people with a proven track record in ether Local or National government in Wales and who Anglesey councillors would have respected. WAG got it wrong and we are now witnessing the fallout.
Unfortunately it seems clear that Carl Sargeant and WAG are about to repeat the same mistakes. There has been no transparency about the appointment process of the three already named Commissioners; all three are public sector retirees who's glory days, one would suspect, are long behind them (indeed one stepped down from his previous position due to ill health). Also, considering how much Carl Sargeant made of the fact that many Ynys Môn councillors were elected unopposed, does it really therefore make sense to appoint as a Commissioner ex-Flintshire councillor Alex Aldridge, who was elected unopposed to the Flint Coleshill ward? Anyway, in a council which already has its fair share of retirees are these really the men who will usher in a "democratic renewal" in Ynys Môn?
Furthermore as it appears that the Commissioners will probably be with us for at least the next two years (until delayed Local Elections in 2013), it will be these unelected, mandate-less, un-transparently appointed commissioners who will be taking decisions on how to find the £10 million savings required over that time period. It will be they who will be making decisions on job losses within the council, leisure facilities, libraries, and other services. Considering how sloppy the previous Recovery Board became about keeping a record of their activities I wonder how transparent these Commissioners will be and how they intend to interact with the Anglesey public?

Carl Sargeant's Statement on Ynys Môn in full

2011-03-16T15:43:00.000Z

Mr Llywydd, I would like to make a statement about the future of the Isle of Anglesey County Council, and about the actions I am taking following the Auditor General’s re-inspection of it, which he reported today.

Last month I made a written statement to the Assembly which described the situation within the Council following Brian Gibbons’ intervention in 2009. That intervention tried to help the Council help itself, with the support of a high-calibre Recovery Board and a Managing Director with a strong track record in corporate recovery.

That yielded some progress. But the basic problem remains. There are too many Anglesey councillors who are more concerned with pursuing their own advantage than with delivering for the island. The pervasive political culture puts making and breaking political deals ahead of the needs of Anglesey’s citizens.

That makes the Council critically unstable. As soon as any administration takes office, its rivals start plotting to undermine or supplant it. There is and can be no trust, no consistency and no stability. And that means the people of Anglesey can have no confidence in their elected representatives, or hold them effectively to account.

As a result, the membership of political groups changes on a whim, as members back or oppose the latest plot. In the last 18 months, around a third of all councillors have changed their allegiance between various groups at least once, with scarcely any attempt to justify their actions to those they represent. Imagine the uproar if 20 AMs or 215 MPs did so.

To compound the problem, a high proportion of councillors are not opposed at election time: they are repeatedly returned by default, because no-one stands against them. That might be testament to their local influence, but it is not democratic. It means the members concerned feel immune from challenge and can behave as they please. They do not need to be accountable to those who elected them, because no-one elected them. It also means that Anglesey has one of the worst gender imbalances anywhere – only 2 out of 40 councillors are women.

I accept that in politics different allegiances are often formed, usually in order to bring stability to an elected body.

But this persistent instability, shifting loyalties in pursuit of personal advantage and neglect of the public good cannot continue. It is not democracy – it is the politics of the playground.

It would be wrong to tar all councillors with the same brush. I know that some are fully committed to change and recovery, and have tried to take a stand. But they are too few, and their approach does not seem to have any chance of prevailing. Equally, there may be many who would prefer things to change but feel unable to act. As my Recovery Board put it, if there is a silent majority which supports recovery, it is still largely silent. That is not good enough.

The people of Anglesey will know better than me that the island faces some severe challenges. It is one of the most isolated parts of Wales, with high levels of deprivation in both urban and rural areas. It has suffered from very significant job losses in recent years as major employers have collapsed or left the island. The population is ageing and declining, causing serious over-capacity in some of the Council’s services. The current financial climate will present a huge challenge in protecting the frontline services residents need. I will require responsible and decisive action from the council.

The potential development of Wylfa B may offer an opportunity to address some of these problems, but it is an opportunity that needs to be pursued sensibly and strategically. This has been very difficult given the large number of changes within the executive. The constant changes in portfolio holders responsible for driving this forward in the last few years and presents a damaging impression of the council’s credibility in leading this major inward investment.

Enough is enough. I have been more than patient in giving the Council a chance to sort things out itself. I have been more than generous in providing them with the support to do so. But it is clear that these councillors are unwilling to accept the responsibilities that their public office requires and instead wish to continue acting in a way which is destructive and dangerous to the future of Anglesey and its citizens.
I am not prepared to continue in this way. I will therefore be bringing our current intervention to an end that sought in vain to support the Council to resolve its own problems. Despite that, I would like to thank my Recovery Board for the very considerable efforts they have made. They have been instrumental in the progress the Council has made over the past 18 months and it is with the greatest regret that I have to conclude that their current role is largely over. It is unfortunate that even the valuable advice, commitment and dedication of seven very high-calibre individuals has not moved the Council forward in key areas, which underlines the need for a stronger intervention. I am very pleased that the Board has agreed to lend its very considerable knowledge and expertise to help us move to that new intervention.

I am therefore giving a further and much more stringent direction to the Council, effective immediately. It will bring stability to the council’s politics, ensure consistency in strategic decision-making and protect front-line services. The main terms of that direction will be as follows.

Firstly, I accept the Auditor General’s recommendation that I should appoint Commissioners to run the Council. They will assume all of the functions of the Council’s executive. The Commissioners will be scrutinised by the Council and its committees in the same way as the executive is now.

I am pleased to announce that I have appointed 2 commissioners to exercise the Council’s executive functions on my behalf. They are:

◦ Mr Byron Davies - former Chief Executive of Cardiff County Council;
◦ Mr Alex Aldridge – former Leader of Flintshire County Council and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA)

I intend to appoint Mr Mick Giannasi - current Chief Constable of Gwent Police after his retirement from the Police Service at the end of the month. I also plan to appoint a further two commissioners shortly, and will announce their names as soon as possible.

Secondly, last month I commended the Council’s staff for continuing to provide services in the most difficult of circumstances. That has to continue, and the existing delegations to the Council’s officers will remain in place.

Thirdly, I will retain the power to appoint the Council’s chief executive. I will also withdraw from the Council the power to appoint other statutory officers concerned with corporate governance – the monitoring officer and the chief finance officer. It is vital that these posts are occupied by high-calibre individuals who are immune from attack by members. It is equally vital that the council pays heed to their advice. So I am also directing that any decision of the Council or its committees which goes against the advice of statutory officers must be referred to the Commissioners for confirmation or overruling.
The Auditor General also recommended that I should consider instigate a review of electoral boundaries on the island As an alternative, he suggested that I should direct the Council to hold a referendum on an elected Mayor, and that I should consider directing the Council to develop and implement a strategy that promotes democratic renewal.

I will be immediately instructing the Local Government Boundary Commission to undertake a review of the electoral boundaries of the Authority and will be considering what action can be taken to support democratic renewal.

 I also agree fully with the Auditor General and with my Recovery Board that a wider programme of democratic renewal is absolutely essential on the island. More people need to stand for election, and Council politics needs a much greater focus on delivering for citizens. I will be writing to the Electoral Commission to ask them to be involved in this work.

In light of the reduced role of councillors within the Authority which will be brought about by my directions, I will be asking the Independent Remuneration Panel to conduct a review of the allowances of councillors in the Authority with a view to them reflecting their diminished roles. I will be writing to them immediately to ask them to undertake this work.

The actions I am outlining today are not decisions that any Minister can take lightly. Indeed, they are decisions that I can only take with a profound sense of sadness. I would much prefer to trust local authorities and their members to discharge their considerable public responsibilities effectively, accountably and conscientiously. Virtually all of them do. But where they do not, we have no alternative but to act.

When I addressed the Council a year ago I said that I didn’t want to be there under those terms. I didn’t want to be intervening in their affairs. And I didn’t want to be spending large sums of public money on helping them to recover. I offered them a simple challenge: sort yourselves out, act responsibly for the people you represent and we will leave you alone. It is a challenge that they have clearly failed to meet.
Mr Llywydd, the actions and attitudes of too many of Anglesey’s councillors have indeed left me with no alternative. They have demonstrated that they care more about their personal standing than about securing recovery. They have spurned the chance to help themselves which Brian Gibbons gave to them with his original intervention, and the intensive support which they have received as a result. Most importantly, they have betrayed those who elected them, and those that they are supposed to serve.
The direction I am making today will help restore effective governance; it will ensure better strategic leadership; and it will protect vital services from the damage that continued petty political bickering causes. I intend that it will continue at least until the next local elections. But it is clearly not a long-term solution. That can only lie in the sort of democratic renewal that the Auditor General and my Recovery Board have advocated. So if Anglesey Council has a future, it is in the hands of the people of the island. All I have done today is to protect them for now from the harmful influence of those who have unfortunately consistently let them down. The people of Angelsey deserve better and this action intends to see that they get it.

Prospects of a sustainable recovery by August 2011 are poor, says the Auditor General.

2011-03-16T12:19:00.006Z

Below is the press release and full report from the Welsh Audit Office. In essence it makes the following six recommendations:

That WAG sends in the Commissioners
That WAG retains the right to appoint an Interim MD, but better define the functions of the job and make it more accountable
In the event that any statutory posts become vacant (e.g. Monitoring Officer) that WAG be responsible for appointing a successor
That the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales re-examine their proposals reducing the number of councillors and introducing multi-member wards in order to bring about "democratic renewal".
If the Boundary Commission is not able to do this by the next scheduled local elections in 2012, WAG should delay the elections on Ynys Môn until 2013
WAG should consider holding a referendum on Ynys Môn for the appointment of an elected mayor.

The BBC report is here.

-------------------------------------------

Welsh Ministers intervention in 2009 has not succeeded in producing a sustainable recovery from the Isle of Anglesey County Council's long history of weak governance, and stronger intervention is necessary. This is the conclusion of the Auditor General's Corporate Governance Re-inspection report, which is published today, and which concludes that the Council's prospects of achieving a full and sustainable recovery by August 2011 are poor and prospects of doing so by May 2012 ahead of local council elections are uncertain.

The Minister for Social Justice and Local Government requested the Auditor General to re-inspect the Council in February 2011. He asked for an urgent assessment of the situation at the Council and the progress it has made to date in addressing the findings of the Auditor Generals 2009 Corporate Governance Inspection report.

The inspection found that, although there has been progress since 2009, conflict is once again having a corrosive effect that seriously jeopardises service delivery. Instability and uncertainty have affected staff morale and the prospects for greater collaborative work with neighbouring Gwynedd Council. Instability is also distracting staff and councillors from delivering the ambitious programme of improvement that the Council has set for itself in its Corporate Plan.

Following the Ministerial intervention in 2009, a number of positive changes and learning opportunities have arisen for staff and councillors. The Recovery Board appointed by the Minister, has brought a diverse range of expertise and experience to the Council, and has provided valuable insight as well as monitoring the Council's progress and regularly reporting this to the Minister.

The Council has taken significant steps to improve consistency in its approach to corporate issues, but the inspection found that these changes have not yet been embedded. There has also been progress in ensuring a consistent approach across the Council in business planning, project and programme management and performance management but the Council acknowledges that more work is needed to make sure that the changes are implemented in full, and that they bring about the intended improvements.

But, despite the progress the Council has made, events in the early part of 2011 suggest that the efforts of the Recovery Board and the Interim Managing Director have ultimately proved unsuccessful in resolving the Council's underlying weaknesses of corporate governance. The re-inspection found that the pursuit of power for its own sake or for the advantages that it can bring to individuals or the wards they represent has once again emerged. The report suggests that the Council's lack of diversity contributes to this culture and also deters new blood from standing for election.

The overall conclusion of the re-inspection is that, in order to improve the Council's prospects of recovery, Ministers should continue to intervene in the running of the Council and should strengthen the terms of their intervention.

The Auditor General makes a number of recommendations for Ministers to consider including:

Welsh Ministers should direct that the executive functions of the Council be exercised by commissioners appointed by them.
Welsh Ministers should retain the power to appoint an Interim Managing Director, but give greater clarity in the terms of reference for the post and in defining the accountability of the post holder.
If any of the Council's other statutory officer posts become vacant during the period of Intervention, then the function of appointing should be exercised by the Commissioners.
Welsh Ministers should direct the Council to develop a strategy that promotes democratic renewal, and that they should also request that the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales review its existing proposals relating to the numbers of councillors and the introduction of multi-member wards so that these address adequately the need for democratic renewal. Any such changes should be implemented prior to the next local election. It may therefore be necessary for the Minister to use powers under section 87 of the Local Government Act 2000 to delay the elections until 2013.

The Auditor General also suggests that Welsh Ministers should consider directing the Council to conduct a referendum that seeks the views of the Anglesey electorate on a change to the Council's model of governance to that of Directly Elected Mayor and Cabinet.

Auditor General for Wales, Huw Vaughan Thomas, said today:

It is disappointing that Ministerial intervention has not succeeded in producing sustainable recovery for Isle of Anglesey Council. I acknowledge that, in some respects, the Council has responded positively to the intervention, but much work remains to implement plans and embed the modernisation of the Council's corporate arrangements. For this to happen there needs to be political stability within the Council and I do not believe the Council's current democratic arrangements support the changes that are needed.
In making specific recommendations for further Ministerial directions, I hope that a stronger intervention combined with democratic renewal will help to resolve these issues and allow the Council to move forward in a positive direction as well as securing sustainable recovery for the future.

-------------------------------------------

The full report is attached below (hat tip Photon Blog):

162A2011_IoA_CC_Corporate_Governance_Re-inspection

An important day for Ynys Môn

2011-03-16T10:59:00.000Z

Today will be an important day for Ynys Môn as WAG Local Government Minister, Carl Sargeant, will be releasing a written statement revealing the results of the recent emergency audit of Anglesey County Council and what steps he intends to take in consequence.

In the meantime its worth noting that the WAG Local Government Measure which will give WAG power to forcibly merge up to three Local Authorities — widely interpreted as being an instrument designed to merge Ynys Môn and Gwynedd councils — was passed in the Senedd yesterday on the strength of Labour and Plaid Cymru votes. Both the Welsh Conservatives and Lib Dems voted against it.

As I noted last week, if Ieuan Wyn Jones is as opposed to a merger between Ynys Môn and Gwynedd as he claims, then the real test of his resolve would be whether he would instruct his AMs to vote against this enabling measure. He did not. Furthermore, he was not even in the chamber for the debate...

Press Statement from Horizon Nuclear Power

2011-03-15T15:14:00.000Z

Horizon Nuclear Power, the joint venture between RWE Npower and E.on which is developing Wylfa B has released the below press statement with reference the problems at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan:

Following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, our heart-felt sympathy goes out to all those who have been affected.

It would not be appropriate for us to comment on the nuclear incidents which are currently taking place in Japan, given that we do not have first hand involvement.

However we welcome the statement made on Sunday by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, announcing that the Chief Nuclear Inspector, Dr Mike Weightman, has been asked to prepare a report on the implications and lessons learned from the situation in Japan.

UK nuclear installations are built with a wealth of safety measures in place to ensure that they can withstand a range of natural disasters and avoid causing harm to the public or to the environment. These installations are assessed extremely thoroughly by the regulators to ensure that containment remains effective even in the most extreme circumstances, and the design that Horizon selects for its proposed installations will also go through this thorough assessment.

The results of Dr Weightman's analysis will clearly provide an important check on the UK's standards for nuclear installations.

An Audit Report without recommendations, a Recovery Board which doesn't know what Recovery looks like.

2011-03-14T12:30:00.001Z

The BBC are reporting that the recently completed (but still top secret) emergency Auditor's report into Anglesey County Council does not contain any recommendations. In which case what is the point of it?

We have had over a year and a half of WAG intervention, featuring the highest paid Civil Servant in Wales in addition to regular monitoring by a mini-Quango in the shape of the Recovery Board. Both report back to WAG Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant on a regular basis — why therefore was there a need to carry out an emergency audit too, especially if it does not contain any recommendations? Surely the problems at the council could have been adequately ascertained by simply asking the current well paid overseers?

An Audit without any recommendations reminds me of a snippet from a Recovery Board report from last April. After six (yes, six!) meetings, the Recovery Board basically admitted that they didn't know "what is a successful recovery". In retrospect the consequences of those tasked with solving the problem not knowing what the solution looks like explains pretty well why the problems at the council have got worse rather than better over the last year and a half of WAG intervention.

-------------------------------

On a personal note I am deeply saddened by the devastation and huge loss of life in Japan following the 8.9 richter scale earthquake and tsunami. I spent six happy years living and working in Tokyo and Osaka when younger and still regard Japan as my second home after Wales. I myself experienced many earth tremors (indeed, they happened every day) but they rarely last longer than a few seconds — the latest earthquake lasted much, much longer and must have been quite terrifying. It is a testament to Japanese construction techniques that the quake itself caused so little structural damage; it was the tsunami and the brute force of the ocean which has caused the majority of the devastation we have witnessed on our TVs — and put our own problems into stark contrast.

The irony.

2011-03-10T22:09:00.005Z

At this evening's Wylfa B Project Liaison Group meeting, Ieuan Wyn Jones was at pains to press Horizon representatives -- in front of the assembled audience -- to ensure that local Welsh companies are able to compete and tender for multi-sized parcels of work.

I completely agree.

But considering Ieuan's desire to see local companies getting a fair bite of the procurement cherry...

...why was the construction of WAG's Llandudno Office for instance awarded to a non-local company?
...and why have local Welsh construction firms been excluded from tendering on numerous North Wales school building projects?

Don't do as I do. Do as I say.

Incidentally, by way of comparison, the Coalition Government has introduced measures which would ensure that SMEs get at least 25% of government contracts. I would like to see WAG introduce similar procurement rules here in Wales.

Struck by Lightning...

2011-03-09T13:37:00.002Z

Over the last couple of years I wonder how many electric car makers have come specifically to Anglesey wanting to set up a manufacturing plant in Holyhead, potentially employing up to 400 people?

There must have been a great many because apparently our AM, Ieuan Wyn Jones, can't remember having met with one in September 2009 -- just as Anglesey Aluminium finally closed its gates with a loss of 450 jobs and three months before Holyhead's Eaton Electric also closed losing another 240 jobs. I would have thought that at a time of huge job losses in one of the poorest parts of Ynys Môn a clean tech, cutting edge company wanting to set up in Holyhead would have been welcomed with open arms by the Island's AM. Instead he is quoted in today's Holyhead and Anglesey Mail as saying, "I don't really remember the meeting"...

Following some leads I discovered through an FoI request that in September 2009 Ieuan Wyn Jones AM met with the management of Lightning Car Company together with senior councillors and officers from the economic development unit and Brynle Williams, "on the topic of startup electric car business on the island". According to Cllr Bryan Owen, who attended the meeting and was then the Economic Development portfolio holder, "They [Lightning] were very impressed with the port and road infrastructure. They were keen to move forward and it was left to the Assembly Government to come up with some funding and that's where it died a death as far as I'm aware".

Manufacturing opportunities need to be grasped with both hands when they come along. They provide the kind of mass work we need on this island, and they also require a mix of skilled, semi-skilled and low-skilled workers thus providing job opportunities across the board. Furthermore Electric cars may still be niche currently but they are undoubtedly the future of motoring and the sector will grow and grow from now on -- particularly considering the effect on oil prices due to the current turmoil in the Middle East. Imagine the symbolism of manufacturing electric cars on the 'Energy Island' -- it would have been a tremendous boost to the standing of Ynys Môn.

The final point to mention is that this company wanted to set up at Parc Cybi industrial estate (also known as Tŷ Mawr) just off junction 2 of the A55 in Holyhead. WAG poured millions of pounds into setting up the site, buying the land, connecting it with a fibre-optic internet connection, funding an (ongoing) archeological survey of the land, and putting in the road infrastructure to serve it. Yet several years after completion it is still completely empty; not a single company has set up there and the land is now only used for grazing. Parc Cybi is in effect the most expensive sheep grazing land in the whole of North Wales, and those sheep enjoy a better internet connection than 99% of the human inhabitants of this island!

IWJ: Words versus Deeds

2011-03-08T12:15:00.000Z

Tucked away on page 20 of yesterday's Daily Post was a (somewhat long) Op Ed by Ieuan Wyn Jones setting out his position on the future of Anglesey County Council. I welcome that in response to some prodding in the press he has finally come out and explained his position, the essence if it being that although he feels "further intervention in the workings of the council is ... inevitable", he does not believe that "we have yet reached the position that the best interests of the council or the people of Anglesey would be served by the complete withdrawal of powers from elected councillors and the appointment of commissioners". However most importantly Ieuan Wyn Jones unequivocally states that he does "oppose a merger between Ynys Môn and Gwynedd, since it would not be in the best interests of either council". He has been very clear in words, but lets see if he will also follow through with action.

As it happens the new report on Anglesey Council by the Auditor General will be completed shortly and passed to WAG Local Government minister, Carl Sargeant. We don't know what it will say, but its possible that it could recommend that the problems at Ynys Môn are so intractable that a merger with a neighbouring authority should be looked into. That would be convenient for Sargeant as just next week the WAG Local Government Measure -- which currently includes the controversial powers to forcefully amalgamate local authorities -- will be debated by AMs again. An independent report from the Auditor General recommending the merging of Ynys Môn and Gwynedd would be useful ammunition for Carl Sargeant. The Conservatives and Lib Dems however are pledged to oppose the powers which would allow WAG to force council mergers -- therefore Carl Sargeant will only be able to get it passed if Plaid Cymru AMs support it.

If Ieuan Wyn Jones truly believes that Ynys Môn and Gwynedd should not be merged, will he instruct his AMs not to support this part of the Measure? That will be the true test of his commitment to preserve Ynys Môn.

£128,466.59 (updated)

2011-03-03T23:40:00.003Z

According to this FOI request, that's how much in total the Anglesey Recovery Board has cost the public purse to date.

What have we had in return for £128,466.59?

Well, we've got the seven reports from the Recovery Board to the WAG Local Government Minister which they have made public here. That works out at just under £20K a report then.

(Incidentally, according to its terms of reference the Recovery Board is obliged to produce a report to the Minister after each of its meetings. Why then, you might ask, have no new reports been produced since last July despite the board having met on 15th September, 8th December and most recently on the 31st January? Well, according to this FOI reply, they didn't bother in September as the Minister attended their meeting (therefore there is no need for any public record apparently). They also didn't bother for the December meeting. Why? Because of, and I quote, "the proximity of Christmas"...)

What else have we got? Well apparently not much because, as you know, despite Plaid Cymru and Labour in Cardiff Bay having spent £128K on the Recovery Board and a further £270K a year on an interim MD, the recovery has stalled and the auditors have been sent in, again.

In conclusion: plenty of public money has been spent but we are back to square one. Its like déjà vu all over again.

UPDATE: To further underline the failure of WAG to turn around Anglesey Council, Gwynedd Council have today announced that they are suspending their involvement in the scoping study imposed by Carl Sargeant in December to find areas where Anglesey and Gwynedd councils can cooperate.

Harry Thomas, the Chief Exec of Gwynedd, is quoted in the Daily Post as saying:

“Since Gwynedd Council agreed to the Minister’s request in December 2010, Anglesey Council has experienced considerable political turmoil which has created uncertainty regarding its future political leadership.”
He added: “Such a climate of instability and uncertainty is not conducive to successful large-scale collaboration. Gwynedd Council has consequently had to reconsider its position.
“Despite these developments, Gwynedd Council will continue to work with Anglesey to explore smaller scale, specific collaborative opportunities providing the benefits substantially outweigh the risks.”

Why I will be voting 'Yes' on March 3rd.

2011-03-01T19:57:00.005Z

As it is St David's Day, today its a pretty good opportunity to explain how I will be voting at the Extra Powers for Wales referendum this Thursday, March 3rd, and why.

I will be voting 'yes' for four main reasons:

No matter which party (or parties) are in power in Westminster, UK-wide one-size-fits-all legislation will by definition not be equally optimum for all parts of the United Kingdom. Accordingly the Welsh Assembly is the ideal vehicle for developing and implementing differentiated policies which are specific to the needs of Wales alone. The referendum on March 3rd merely allows for the Assembly to be able to pass laws in the areas it already has competence quicker.
I fully subscribe to the principle that laws which exclusively apply to one region should be decided exclusively within that region. During the previous Labour administration in Westminster we all became accustomed to the sight of legislation which exclusively affected England (and in some cases England and Wales) only being passed due to the support of Scottish Labour MPs representing constituencies which would be entirely unaffected by said legislation. Known as the West Lothian Question, it remains a constitutional abomination. Although the situation whereby Measures passed in the Assembly are scrutinised by MPs and Peers in Westminster is not a direct parallel to the West Lothian Question, the principle of those unaffected by the law in question being removed entirely from the lawmaking process is sound.
A yes vote on Thursday will merely put Wales on almost equal footing with the other devolved governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which already do not need to have their laws scrutinised by Westminster. As a proud Welshman I personally have never seen any good reason why Wales should be treated any differently from Scotland or Northern Ireland.
I instinctively believe in Localism. Political decisions which affect us all, should be taken as closely as possible to us -- not by some overlarge central top-down bureaucracy. This, for example, is why I am so keen to preserve the integrity of Anglesey County Council and not see it submerged within a Greater Gwynedd.

As a final footnote: I personally don't believe that the current Plaid Cymru and Labour coalition in Cardiff Bay has done a particularly good job. Indeed in crucial areas -- Education and Economic Development being just two -- they have failed abysmally and let Wales down. However none of this undermines the case for the Welsh Assembly itself -- it merely underlines the lack of competence and vision of the current crop of AMs from the ruling parties. I fully believe that the nation of Wales' future economic and social success rests entirely upon the Welsh Assembly developing unique and radical policies which differentiate Wales positively from the rest of the UK as both a place to live, work and invest.

'Anglesey Onion': The gift that keeps on giving

2011-02-28T21:12:00.000Z

Anglesey County Council leader Clive McGregor was interviewed live on air this afternoon by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 2 about Prince William having branded us all 'Anglesey Onions'. Listen to it here (fast forward to around 23 minutes in).

I would like to point out that Clive seemed to enjoy retelling the tale of the slaughter of the Druids a little too much for my liking...!

McGregor to Sargeant: "I do not believe that investing further money in the recovery process is justified"

2011-02-25T18:08:00.000Z

A Freedom of Information request has now elicited the below letter which the Leader of Anglesey County Council, Cllr Clive McGregor, sent to Carl Sargeant, WAG Minister for Local Government, on January 24th -- the day he sacked two group Leaders from the Executive:

(NB: the names have been removed)24 Jan 11 CMcG to CS

We are all Anglesonians now...

2011-02-24T19:24:00.001Z

We should offer a double vote of thanks to Prince William and Kate Middleton for not only choosing to carry out their first official public engagement together on their new home -- thus delivering Ynys Môn acres of free media coverage -- but also for so publicly name-checking the island too:

"And it gives me huge pleasure to be introducing to this relationship [with the RNLI] someone who is not only about to join the family but is also about to become an Anglesonian."

++ Council Tax rise will be 3.7% ++

2011-02-23T18:40:00.005Z

I understand that at a meeting of the Executive this afternoon it was agreed that pending approval from the Full Council, the Council Tax rise for 2011/12 will be set at 3.7% -- well below the original estimate of 4.3% floated during the recent Howl i Holi meetings. In order to achieve this reduced rate, all Councillors will be asked to accept a 10% cut in Basic and Special Responsibility allowances.

It remains to be seen what the rises are likely to be for other North Wales councils, but personally I think this sounds like a good settlement considering that council tax rose by 4.5% last year without the need then to find any savings at all. When you consider that this rise is below inflation (currently around 4%), and that there will also be no cuts to Anglesey's libraries and leisure centres this year, it shows just how well the Council does actually function despite the political problems. If the full Council does approve this rise (and I hope it does) it further proves to the Welsh Assembly Government that Anglesey Council is by no means a failing council and certainly does not need to be forcibly amalgamated into a Greater Gwynedd.

UPDATE: Its worth highlighting the below comment from Jeff Jones, former Leader of Bridgend Council:

"The average increase for Wales looks as if it will be in the region of 2.8%. If Ynys Mon sticks to 4.3 % it will probably be the highest increase in Wales this year. If they go for 3.7% then the highest could be Newport at 3.9% with Bridgend at the moment second on 3.77%. Although the real issue is often not the percentage increase but the actual amount paid at Band D. Caerphilli,for example, might be freezing its council tax this year but its band D will be still £897 compared to Newport's £802. Historically the lowest council tax in Wales has always been Pembrokeshire which has a band D of about £707. The lowest Band D in England and Wales is Conservative controlled Wandsworth at £687. In England all council tax increases above 3.5 % would be capped this year. Most English authorities have also taken advantage of the UK government's one one off payment which allows them to freeze council tax for a year. Council tax has also been frozen again in Scotland but the Assembly decided not to go down this route."

UPDATE 2: Neighbouring Gwynedd County Council will see their council tax rise by 3.9%. Another reason to oppose a forced amalgamation between Ynys Môn and Gwynedd.

An Open Letter to Ieuan Wyn Jones AM

2011-02-22T09:01:00.062Z

Below is a copy of an open letter from myself to Ieuan Wyn Jones AM which was published in yesterday's Daily Post. Considering the continuing political problems at Anglesey County Council some people may think that forcing a merger with Gwynedd Council is a possible solution. I disagree. Due to the diligence and hard work of the staff Anglesey County Council's services are very good -- therefore Anglesey is by no means a failing council. To force a full merger of two independent Local Authorities -- with all the attendant turmoil that will cause -- for the sake of dealing with just a handful of troublesome councillors in one of them is, in my opinion, a massive overreaction. In the below letter I ask Ieuan Wyn Jones AM to rule out this option unless such a course of action is endorsed by a majority of residents in both counties.

"Following WAG’s decision to ask the Auditor General to re-inspect Anglesey County Council, we can justifiably conclude that Labour-Plaid’s vastly expensive intervention into the council has failed.

As Labour and Plaid Cymru AMs are currently forcing through legislation which will allow the Welsh Assembly Government to amalgamate councils with little or no public consultation, a new audit of the Council could simply provide cover for WAG to proceed with an unwanted merger of Ynys Môn and Gwynedd local authorities.

Although nobody objects to more cooperation between councils to cut costs, I believe that the majority of Anglesey residents are opposed to a full merger for the following reasons:

Firstly, Gwynedd needs to find £28.8 million in savings over the next four years compared to just £10 million in Anglesey - sharing this burden could result in more Anglesey services being cut.

Secondly, council tax rates are on average £160 higher in Gwynedd meaning big rate hikes for Anglesey residents if they are harmonised.

Thirdly, a full merger will place the jobs of many local authority staff in danger.

For these reasons I completely oppose any merger with Gwynedd Council and ask Ieuan Wyn Jones AM to answer following two questions:

1. Does he agree with his AMs that local authorities should be forcefully amalgamated without the consent of those effected?

2. Will he give an unequivocal statement that he will oppose a merger between Ynys Môn and Gwynedd unless it is endorsed by a majority of Anglesey residents?

Paul Williams

Welsh Conservative Assembly Candidate for Ynys Môn"

IWJ and Sargeant: no communication, no trust

2011-02-21T12:20:00.007Z

Anglesey County Council Leader, Clive McGregor, has released the below statement setting out in considerable detail his side of the story.

Much of it is familiar, but for me the most striking revelation is how little Ieuan Wyn Jones and his WAG coalition partner Carl Sargeant must communicate with or trust each other. According to Clive's document both Ieuan Wyn Jones and Albert Owen sanctioned the new 30 member coalition (comprising of Labour, Plaid, Original Independents, and Menai Group -- and excluding Clive's Llais i Fôn group) which was announced last week. However it was the very formation of this coalition which was the impetus for Carl Sargeant to call for an immediate and emergency audit by the Wales Audit Office.

Is there no communication whatsoever between Ieuan Wyn Jones and Carl Sargeant? It is farcical for the WAG Deputy First Minister to "approve" a coalition and then for the WAG Local Government Minister to immediately veto it. Utter shambles.

Read the whole document below:
Clive McGregor Press Release1

Ynys Môn: the 1% Island

2011-02-19T13:02:00.000Z

Llandudno conference reading matter

As the Welsh Labour Party conference kicks off in Llandudno today I prepared a little gift for delegates in the shape of the front page story of today's Daily Post.

A Freedom of Information request I made reveals that WAG business support funding has been overwhelmingly funnelled to South Wales firms at the expense of those in the North. Out of a total of £48m in business grants offered since last July (when Ieuan Wyn Jones' flagship Economic Renewal Programme was introduced) just £7m has been received by North Wales firms. Furthermore Ynys Môn -- the poorest place in the whole United Kingdom and struggling with over 2,000 job losses -- has received just 1% of that total.

This is how the figures break down regionally when we correct for relative populations:

Total business grants per region per head of population

Whereas North- and Mid-Wales has received on average around £10 per person, South Wales has received much more - in the case of South West Wales two and a half times more. Here is how it breaks down by each local authority:

Total business grants received by each local authority per head of population
Click to enlarge.

Anglesey received just £7.05 per head -- less than half the average of £16 per head across Wales. Indeed had Ynys Môn received just the average amount of funding, we should have received another £630,000 pounds over this period -- money businesses on this Island desperately need. And I'm sure our friends at Plaid Wrecsam will have something to say about their home town having only received WAG support equivalent to 68p per head, compared to £70 per head in Newport, South Wales.

Ieuan Wyn Jones is the WAG Minister for the Economy -- the man with his hands on the levers -- why isn't he ensuring that his own constituency is getting a fair share of this vital WAG business support money? As for the Welsh Labour party: they should amend their conference slogan from "Standing up for Wales" to "Standing up for (South) Wales".

You can see the actual FoI request replies here and here, and the spend table released as part of the second FoI request is below.
FoI Response

++ WAG makes urgent statement on Anglesey Council ++ (updated)

2011-02-17T14:14:00.003Z

110217angleseyen

UPDATE: David Bowles' press release concerning Carl Sargeant's statement is below:

MINISTER CONSIDERS MORE STRINGENT INTERVENTION

The Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, Carl Sargeant, in
a written statement issued today, whilst praising staff, says that
Anglesey County Council’s political problems have not gone away.

He has now instructed the Auditor General to conduct an urgent
re-inspection of the Authority to help him consider ‘a new and more
stringent form of intervention’.

Anglesey’s Interim Managing Director, David Bowles, said “I agree
entirely with the Minister’s assessment of the County Council’s
current political predicament. This is fundamentally an issue about the
personal values, conduct and behaviours of individual members entrusted
with £150m of public money. Unfortunately in spite of very extensive
development, support and very blunt advice the majority continue to let
the people of Anglesey down.”

“The Minister has himself pointed to hollow assurances given by some
members to the Recovery Board. Unfortunately, this has been my
experience of how some councillors operate in Anglesey with no less than
five reneging on their own signatures on written undertakings and
agreement. I was appalled at the latest so called new alliances in order
to allegedly take this Authority ‘forward’. This formation has
completely ignored advice that I have given and goes against the
principles of good governance, as demanded by the Minister. It is no
more than a desperate attempt to try to prevent something more dramatic
happening rather than face up to and solve the Council’s long standing
political problems. Shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic is no
solution.”

Mr Bowles continued, “How can inward investors, other Councils or
partners have any confidence in dealing with a Council dominated by a
number of unprincipled politicians who have a reputation for hollow
promises. There are some members here who have had the moral courage to
make a difference. One hopes that there is a silent majority who at
some time will stand up to be counted and join them but I fear time has
run out.

“The population of Anglesey and its 3,000 strong workforce are
entitled to expect better of their elected representatives, who cost the
taxpayer in excess of £800,000 a year. Staff here genuinely feel that
they are the ones who will pay the price for political turmoil and
political failure by loss of jobs as a result of a possible merger with
Gwynedd and that clearly is not acceptable. It is the councillors who
should seriously consider their positions.”

“I’m very mindful, however, that in spite of everything they
endure Anglesey’s staff continue to provide good services. This was
recognised in a recent Wales Audit Office report, which praised the
commitment and dedication of a workforce which has been let down by its
elected representatives. I hope the public recognise and praise our
staff who deliver good services day in and day out.”

David Bowles concluded, “Members have lost the trust of our staff;
they clearly have a long way to go to regain the confidence of the
Minister.”

Five months of inaction.

2011-02-17T10:08:00.001Z

Amid much fanfare last July the WAG Minister for the Economy and our AM, Ieuan Wyn Jones launched his flagship "Economic Renewal Programme" (ERP), a fundamental rethink of WAG's economic development policies which, according to the bumf, aimed to make Wales "one of the best places to in the world to live and work".

The ERP is predicated upon moving away from a system of grants to one of repayable loans - something which I approve of. To do this the ERP superseded the Single Investment Fund (WAG's then central funding 'pot' for business support grants) which was then closed to new applicants on the same day that the ERP was announced.

Recently I made a Freedom of Information request to discover how many repayable loans had been made via the Economic Renewal Programme since its launch in July 2010.

Would anyone care to make a guess?

The answer is zero. Not a single repayable loan has been offered to a Welsh company in the seven months since the introduction of the ERP. Companies which were at an 'advanced stage' of their Single Investment Fund application were allowed further time to submit their applications by 31 August 2010 -- but since that date there has been no new business support funds available from WAG to any Welsh companies.

In other words despite the precariousness of the economic recovery, the Department for the Economy and Transport has effectively been a 'closed shop' for five months whilst it rearranges the deck chairs in setting up the sector panels which will eventually begin awarding repayable loans.

Remember that next time a Welsh company is in trouble and the Labour-Plaid coalition in Cardiff Bay points its finger at the Westminster government.

Too-little-too-late?

2011-02-15T11:18:00.000Z

I am glad to see that a 30 strong group, comprising of Plaid Cymru, Labour, the Original Independents and Menai Group have finally agreed to form a new coalition following Clive McGregor's stepping down at the AGM in May. As previously reported here it will be headed by Plaid's Cllr Bob Parry with Labour's Cllr John Chorlton as his Deputy. The 30 have agreed to support the budget and reduce the special responsibility allowance for councillors (i.e. the extra cash received by portfolio holders) by at least 10 percent. I hope that this new and large grouping will provide the necessary stability to prove to WAG that Ynys Môn's councillors are mature enough to work together in the best interests of the Island.

However I also hope that it is not a case of too-little-too-late. The amendments to the WAG Local Government which will allow for the forced merger of Welsh councils has now been passed in committee by the Labour-Plaid coalition in Cardiff Bay despite opposition from Conservative and Lib-Dem AMs. It will be debated again in the Senedd sometime in March before coming law. This measure will allow WAG to merge up to three local authorities without the need for consultation with local residents, and is widely believed to be designed with a merger of Ynys Môn and Gwynedd in mind. There is no doubt in my mind that any forced merger with Gwynedd would certainly not be in the interests of Ynys Môn's residents (see why here).

Welcome back Wales!

2011-02-12T19:31:00.000Z

Shane Williams en route to try number 53.
Photo source: BBC

Great to see Wales finally get back into winning ways after an eight game drought against New Zealand (three games), South Africa (two games), Australia, Fiji (draw) and England. Equally good to see Shane Williams cross the tryline twice -- bringing his tally to a whopping 53 tries in the Wales jersey.

‘At what point are you going to recognise that what you do in terms of delivering business support is bad? It doesn’t work’

2011-02-11T10:28:00.001Z

Open warfare has broken out between Labour and Plaid Cymru in Cardiff regarding Ieuan Wyn Jones's "mismanagement" of his Economy portfolio. In yesterday's Western Mail, various unnamed "senior Labour figures" are quoted as having said:

“Ieuan Wyn Jones is the One Wales weak link. This is not a party political attack – his handling of the economic brief during tough times has been absolutely shambolic.

“He has lost the confidence and respect of Wales’ business community. Every businessperson I meet wants [former Labour Economy Minister] Andrew Davies brought back. Andrew understood the business community. Ieuan is out of his depth.

“We hope his incompetence doesn’t reflect badly on Labour in May. There’s no reason why it should but we are very aware of the problem. Labour will have a strong offer for Welsh businesses at the time of the election.”

A senior Welsh Labour MP said: “I’ve been very disappointed with the performance of Ieuan Wyn Jones. Even arranging a meeting with businesses in my constituency has proved impossible because he is not in control of his diary and is run by his officials. I hope he’s not in the job after May.”

Another Labour AM said: “The gist of the criticism, which is widespread, is not about policy, so it is not a political attack in that sense.

“The issue is with the management of the department: a total lack of engagement and understanding of the business community; a failure to respond to AMs and MPs in good time; a dismissive attitude towards local businesses experiencing problems.”

And its not just unnamed Labour sources who have been criticising Ieuan Wyn Jones' record as Minister for the Economy. South Wales businessman Paul Ragan, who sold his insurance business for £20m in 2008, is also quoted in the same article as saying:

“I’ve had an immense amount of feedback from businesses in Wales. The widespread view is that it’s a shame Ieuan Wyn Jones does not see that fundamentally what is wrong in Wales is the environment in which we provide our business support. The reality is that a majority of businesses do not get the support and are really frustrated. They struggle to understand where and how to access support.

“We need a mix of large and small investors if the economy is to succeed. Economic renewal plans that reorganise the deck chairs are not what we want in Welsh business – we need action.”

“I met Ieuan Wyn Jones and asked him, ‘At what point are you going to recognise that what you do in terms of delivering business support is bad? It doesn’t work’.

“I asked him if he was concerned about the power that might be created – whether he was concerned it might become too dynamic.

“Wales needs to lead and losing the likes of Bosch, Hoover, Visteon and TRW in the last 12 months must be seen as failing as they feed into small businesses and are the fabric of our economy. It is not about small versus big. Other countries have maintained momentum – consider the success in Scotland. It is like losing your star players and going down the leagues and saying ‘we can’t do much about it’ when we can.”

This morning, Plaid Cymru's Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones (herself the author of the heavily criticised agri-environmental 'Glastir' policy) has come to Ieuan Wyn Jones' defence by attacking his predecessor as Minister for the Economy, Andrew Davies:

“The attempt over the past few months to re-invent Andrew Davies as a competent Minister has been a shock to people across political parties. Since leaving office he has sought to blame his civil servants for lack of progress in his past Ministerial portfolios.

“In my experience, a Minister who blames his civil servants has failed to get his civil servants to deliver on priorities. A Minister has to take charge of his civil servants and that is what Ieuan Wyn Jones has done since taking over the Economy and Transport portfolio.

“The one major action of the Labour Assembly Government between 2003-07 was to merge the WDA and Wales Tourist Board into government. They managed to re-arrange the deckchairs but they did not change the Titanic’s course – they carried on in the same disastrous direction.

“It took Ieuan Wyn Jones taking charge to get the civil service to work to political priorities, to adapt a well-received Economic Renewal Programme and to sort out a horrendous lack of financial control on transport budgets. He did all of this in the midst of a global economic crisis. A crisis that Ieuan is also recognised as have handled well."

So while both Labour and Plaid Cymru blame each other for their poor handling of the Welsh economy, I will leave you with the following chart, which shows how each region's economy has performed compared to the UK average over the past 10 years:

GVA per head indices. 100 = UK in 1989. Source: ONS

As you can see, in direct contrast to the remarkable gains made by Scotland in particular (who's pragmatic attitude to economic development we have previously discussed), the Welsh economy has suffered considerable comparative decline.

The truth behind the current mudslinging is that both Labour and Plaid Cymru have failed -- and failed badly.

What next for RAF Valley's Sea Kings?

2011-02-09T10:49:00.000Z

RAF Sea Kings: around for a little longer
Image Source: RAF Valley website

The decision by the Coalition to shelve plans begun by the previous Labour government to privatise the Search and Rescue function due to irregularities in the bidding process have been greeted by many with a combination of delight and relief.

This is only to be expected as over the past 20 plus years we have long grown accustomed to the reassuring sight of the iconic yellow Sea Kings flying overhead piloted and manned by brave RAF servicemen and women. We also know that the search and rescue work they perform, on land and sea, is often a matter of life and death -- and therefore it is entirely right than any changes to these arrangements are subject to the very highest levels of scrutiny. For this reason I completely agree with Albert Owen MP when he said yesterday, "lets put safety as the basis, lets put expertise as the basis" for determining any future changes to the service.

However now that the privatisation of the service has been stopped the question remains as to how the current fleet of ageing Sea King choppers -- many of which are approaching the end of their service lives -- will be replaced. The previous Labour government sought to privatise the whole function through a 25 year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal in order to avoid the capital expense of having to buy a whole new fleet of Search and Rescue helicopters. Whether this would have been more cost effective or not is open to debate as many Government PFI deals have been so ineptly handled that the they have ended up costing far, far more over the long term. However, whatever your view on PFI deals it would at least have provided for the full replacement of all old Sea Kings with brand new, faster Sikorsky helicopters of a type currently used by the already privatised Coast Guard Search and Rescue service.

I understand that the potential procurement options to meet future SAR requirements are now being considered. My personal hope is that the Government will now find a way, despite the financial pressures, to fund the new helicopters which will become necessary in the long run to preserve the standard of this life saving service. Furthermore I will continue to argue for the preservation and further development of RAF Valley as the key Search and Rescue base in North Wales and beyond.

Wikileaks on Wylfa

2011-02-06T19:29:00.000Z

Wikileaks has just published via The Telegraph the below confidential cable from the United States' London Embassy about the UK's new nuclear programme. Dated June 2009 it provides a complete summary of the Government's plans at that time and also the likely problems.

Of interest to us on Ynys Môn is the commercial information it provides regarding US reactor company, Westinghouse's negotiations with E.On and RWE's regarding their Wylfa and Oldbury sites (Section 5). It notes how Westinghouse is trying to get the German energy companies to select its Westinghouse AP1000 reactor over the French Areva system, saying that the final decision will not be made until December 2009 (its now February 2011 and I understand this decision has still not been finalised). If Westinghouse is selected it says they will use US largest engineering company Fluor Corp together with a UK company to provide engineering, procurement, and construction services at both Wylfa and Oldbury.

Lots of other interesting stuff, particularly regarding the three workforce challenges facing the UK: an aging workforce where most workers are between 45-54 years old; a skills gap; and the difficulty in attracting enough workers as demand ramps up (see sections 9 & 10).

Read the whole thing below.

Ref ID: 09LONDON1514

Date: 6/30/2009 11:42

Origin: Embassy London

Classification: CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN

Destination: 09LONDON3199

Header: VZCZCXRO2320RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSRDE RUEHLO #1514/01 1811142ZNY CCCCC ZZHR 301142Z JUN 09FM AMEMBASSY LONDONTO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2735INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVERHEHNSC/NSC WASHDCRHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DCRUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

Tags: ENRG,TRGY,SENV,KNNP,UK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LONDON 001514 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2019 TAGS: ENRG, TRGY, SENV, KNNP, UK SUBJECT: UK RAMPING UP ON NUCLEAR POWER, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN REF: LONDON 3199 Classified By: Economic Counselor Kathleen Doherty for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1.(C/NF) Summary.

HMG is making steady progress in launching its ambitious plan to build eleven new nuclear power plants between 2018-2025. The UK will need to address several challenges, including workforce issues, nuclear waste, planning procedures, reactor design, and site assessment procedures for this effort to be successful. A diverse industry with a mix of corporate players and different nuclear reactor technologies is emerging. Nuclear energy enjoys support from both the Labour and Conservative Parties as a way to reach a targeted 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. HMG and industry, however, will need to collaborate closely for this nuclear new build plan to work. End Summary.

UK TIMELINE FOR NUCLEAR NEW BUILD --------------------------------- Nuclear power currently accounts for only 15 percent of the UK's electricity and HMG wants to double this amount. HMG wants to have the first nuclear site up and running by 2018, with all eleven plants fully operational by 2025. Plans established by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are currently on schedule. DECC's Office of Nuclear Development (OND) received nominations from industry players for eleven recommended nuclear power sites on March 31, 2009. OND published these sites in a month-long public comment on April 14. OND is now developing a National Policy Statement (NPS) on Nuclear Energy, expected to be completed by autumn 2009. The NPS on Nuclear Energy will then undergo public comment before it is sent for "Parliamentary scrutiny" around March 2010. The final step is for the Nuclear NPS to be passed to the newly created UK Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) in March/April 2010. The IPC will then use it as a policy framework as it reviews planning applications for new nuclear power plants. It is still too early to have a 'calendar' for when construction might start on individual power plants. THE BUSINESS PLAYING FIELD --------------------------

3.(C/NF) DECC officials tell us HMG wants a variety of industry players involved in new nuclear build. French-owned company EDF Energy became a major player when it bought out British Energy (BE) in January 2009 for 12.5 billion GBP ($20.5 billion). EDF Energy uses French-owned company Areva's EPR nuclear reactors. Areva is the main competitor of U.S. company Westinghouse, which produces the AP1000 reactor. EDF Energy submitted nominations for five sites, which include Hartlepool, Heysham, Dungeness, Hinkley Point, and Sizewell B. EDF also bought land owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in April at the Bradwell site.

4.(C/NF) Plans currently call for all nuclear new build to be funded completely by the private sector. However, EDF criticized HMG publicly in May for not providing subsidies. MP Jamie Reed (Labour Party) commented to ESTHOff shortly after this public announcement, "EDF should not expect any subsidies from HMG." The new Energy Minister at DECC, Lord Hunt, reinforced this view in a public statement in mid-June. EDF Energy is now retreating from its comments on subsidies and is asking for a "level playing field" of financial incentives comparable to the renewable energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) sectors.

5. (C/NF) German-owned utilities E.On and RWE formed a joint venture and bought land in April owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) at Oldbury and Wylfa. David Powell with Westinghouse told us RWE also owns land at Kirksanton and Braystones, two other nominated sites. While RWE does not have specific plans yet for the land, said Powell, he speculates RWE may partner with E.On to develop these sites. Westinghouse is bidding to partner with RWE and E.On on the Oldbury and Wylfa sites in the near-term to provide the AP1000 reactor, but will not know the outcome until December 2009. Powell added Westinghouse will probably pick U.S. company Fluor and a U.K. company to provide related engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services as part of the overall contract with E.On and RWE at these two sites. NDA also has unused land at Sellafield, noted Powell, and he suspects the consortium of Iberdola (Spain), GDF Suez (Belgium) and Scottish Energy may buy this property.

6.(C/NF) Westinghouse also operates the Springfield fuel LONDON 00001514 002 OF 003 processing plant in Preston, and supplies the majority of nuclear fuel to nuclear plants in the UK. David Powell told ESTHOff that Westinghouse is negotiating with NDA, DECC, and others to lease additional land owned by NDA to expand its capacity for processing enriched uranium. Westinghouse said there is a deadline of March 31, 2010 to determine whether this new arrangement will work, since the current agreement expires at that time. The Springfield fuel plant currently employs approximately 1500 workers and ships approximately 200 tons of fuel a year to nuclear plants in the UK. The UK Nuclear National Lab (NNL) conducts research and development on uranium fuel on this site. NEW PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT PROCESSES MAY CAUSE DELAYS --------------------------------------------- ---------

7.(C/NF) The timeline for nuclear new build may begin to slip. One key issue is a General Design Assessment (GDA) conducted by the historically understaffed Health and Safety Executive's (HSE's) Nuclear Installation Inspectorate (NII). While David Powell with Westinghouse expressed concern to us in the past about NII devoting disproportionate resources to reviewing Areva's nuclear reactor design, he told us on June 26 the situation has improved since NII recently increased its staff (and salaries) to meek workload demands. NII is also responsible for issuing nuclear site licenses. Both the GDA and nuclear site licenses are expected to be completed in mid-2011. Given the overlap on the deadline for both procedures, Powell said there is concern NII will not be able to keep up with the dual workload.

8. (C/NF) A major unknown is the new UK Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), which was created by the 2008 Planning Act. Planning applications for nuclear new build will need to be submitted to the UK IPC under this new system. IPC is in the process of hiring staff, appointing CEOs and senior commissioners, and will not begin reviewing or advising on planning applications until sometime in March/April 2010. One NDA official and other industry players have confided to ESTHOff this process could be delayed. HMG will provide national policy statements (NPSs) to be used as the policy framework for the Commission's decisions. FUTURE DEMANDS ON THE NUCLEAR WORKFORCE ---------------------------------------

9.(SBU) The nuclear energy sector in the UK faces three workforce challenges: an aging workforce where most workers are between 45-54 years old; a skills gap; and the difficulty in attracting enough workers as demand ramps up. According to the UK Nuclear Industry Association (NIA), 40,000 jobs in the UK are directly attributable to the nuclear energy sector (ref A). The largest employer is the Sellafield site in Cumbria, with 11,000 workers. Demand is strong in the UK for "new blood" in the nuclear work force. Dr. Andrew Sherry of the Dalton Nuclear Institute at the University of Manchester speculated to ESTHOff the number of workers in the nuclear sector in the UK will need to increase by 18,000 over the next 20 years.

10.(SBU) The Nuclear National Skills Academy, established in 2007 as a membership-based organization, has the lead on training efforts in close coordination with UK universities, industry, and government agencies. Secretary of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Ed Miliband recently unveiled a new 20 million GBP ($32.8 million) facility on June 19 -- the Energus Center -- in West Cumbria to provide training near the Sellafield nuclear site. Dr. Sherry also told ESTHOff there is a network of UK educational institutions developing a masters program for nuclear engineering. A collaborative effort between the Dalton Nuclear Institute, Nuclear National Skills Academy, and the UK National Nuclear Lab (NNL) includes providing apprenticeships to university students. DEALING WITH NUCLEAR WASTE --------------------------

11.(C/NF) Safe disposal of nuclear waste is a big challenge. Even NDA officials say publicly this is one of the biggest challenges for the UK. Chief Scientist at the UK National Nuclear Lab (NNL) Graham Fairhill told ESTHOff that HMG is assessing geographic areas in the UK for "deep disposal" of used plutonium and spent fuel. Waste management research is one of the UK NNL's highest priorities. Fairhill told ESTHOff the Copeland/Cumbria region -- where Sellafield is located -- "volunteered" to be one of the UK depositories LONDON 00001514 003 OF 003 for nuclear waste. MP Reed (Labour Party) had a different view, however, when asked by ESTHOff and said his constituency in Copeland/Cumbria is interested in helping HMG "work through" the process of dealing with nuclear waste, but "will not just do it for them." Even Fairhill speculated local government officials in the Copeland/Cumbria region will demand some "financial incentives" from HMG in return for serving as a disposal site for nuclear waste. THE WHITE ELEPHANT: MOX PLANT -----------------------------

12.(C/NF) The Mox Plant, established to process and recycle mixed oxide (mox) fuel at Sellafield, continues to be a "white elephant" for HMG. The Mox Plant is considered one of HMG's most embarrassing failures in British industrial history, costing taxpayers 90 million GBP ($147 million) a year. The plant's complex fuel recycling procedure, coupled with management and equipment problems, have plagued it for years. NDA is under public and parliamentary pressure to make a decision on whether to keep the plant open or close it down. The fact that Areva was brought in to fulfill the commercial contracts that the Mox plant could not fulfill also adds to its political unpopularity. NDA officials told ESTHOff any of the options -- investing in the plant or closing it down -- will be expensive. There are no clear answers for HMG, but in the meantime the plant continues to drain resources and is a black mark for the entire industry at a time when HMG is trying to ramp up its nuclear new build efforts. OTHER SUPPORT FOR NUCLEAR NEW BUILD EFFORTS -------------------------------------------

13.(C/NF) HMG is developing a "center for excellence" in nuclear research to support new build and decommissioning efforts. In late March 2009, then Minister of Energy Mike O'Brien announced Serco, Battelle, and the University of Manchester had been chosen to run the UK National Nuclear Lab (NNL). Chief Scientist Graham Fairhill said there are areas for U.S.-UK collaboration, given that U.S.-based Battelle is a partner in this effort. NNL's activities range from researching strategies to deal with nuclear waste, to providing reactor analysis and fuel services, among others. One of NNL's new labs was established to deal with handling plutonium fuel. This facility will be operational in a year. Fairhill added that he envisions partnership opportunities between the UK, U.S., EU, and Japan in using the facility once it is up and running.

Comment -------

14.(C/NF) Nuclear new build enjoys good political support at DECC and more broadly, within HMG, and industry players are satisfied with the support they get from DECC Secretary Miliband and recently appointed Minister of Energy Lord Hunt. However, the ambitious timeline established by DECC does not allow much room for delays. There will need to be a concerted effort within HMG and private industry to make even one nuclear plant operational by 2018. There will also need to be a strong public relations campaign throughout the process to build support in communities where new nuclear plants will be located. Visit London's Classified Website: XXXXXXXXXXXX LeBaron

IWJ: third meeting at Anglesey Council in a week

2011-02-04T18:41:00.001Z

As I write Ieuan Wyn Jones is at Anglesey County Council's offices in Llangefni again trying to push through his preferred solution of a Plaid Cymru and Labour-led coalition to replace the current faltering Alliance (which also contains Plaid Cymru and Labour...). Anyway as he was there last Friday, this Monday, and now today too, this is his third set of meetings at the Council in a week -- and clearly demonstrates either (a) how earnestly he is trying to resolve the council's problems; or (b) just how embarrassing he feels it would be to him personally should WAG be forced to send in the commissioners to Anglesey just before the Assembly elections.

I'll leave it to you to decide which...

Carl Sargeant to Anglesey Council: you're in the "definitely the last chance and this time I'm serious" Saloon

2011-02-03T10:58:00.000Z

Yesterday David Bowles circulated the below letter from WAG Local Government Minister, Carl Sargeant, to all councillors. Writing about the recent sackings of John Chorlton and Hefin Thomas, Sargeant notes that this could "easily destabilise the Council's recovery" and "indicates that the issues [the] Council has had in the past in relation to internal disputes and personal rivalries have still not gone away".

In response Sargeant has asked the Recovery Board to give "an urgent and frank evaluation of the actual progress of [the] Council over the past 18 months and the possibility of [it] achieving a sustainable recovery" -- which is what presumably the Recovery Board's meeting with David Bowles on Monday in Treaddur Bay was all about. If the Board feels that a recovery is unlikely Sargeant warns he will take "further decisive action" which will have "grave implications for the Council as currently constituted". As this letter was written on 27th January -- the day after he forced through last minute amendments to the WAG Local Government Measure allowing for the amalgamation of "two or three" Local Authorities -- this clearly means that WAG will pursue the forced merger of Anglesey and Gwynedd councils if recovery cannot be achieved.

So what do we have to show for 18 well-paid, expensive months of David Bowles and the Recovery Board? Clive McGregor started off with a coalition of 27 councillors as head of a coalition of Original Independents and Plaid Cymru. That was reduced down to a coalition of 20 following the "coup" in June when the Original Independents were split and a new coalition was formed between Llais i Fôn, Plaid Cymru, Labour and the Menai Group. Those numbers have eroded gradually over time as Keith Evans left the Menai Group and, lets be honest, some Plaid Cymru members never really had their heart in it anyway as they refused to sign the Terms of Engagement. Clive's recent sacking of John Chorlton and Hefin Thomas from the executive (but not from the Alliance) means that their actual number of supporters is now well below a majority level -- which almost guarantees the kind of conflict we are now seeing. In response Ieuan Wyn Jones and Albert Owen, having belatedly woken up to the problems at the Council, have tried to engineer an Alliance between Labour and Plaid Cymru with either Bob Parry or John Chorlton as Leader -- they then seemed surprised that the Independents, who between them have a majority, do not see why they should have a Leader and Deputy forced on them from a Labour and Plaid alliance that anyway only has 13 members... It appears we have mostly been going backwards not forwards on the political front over the last 18 months.

Anyway, one thing is clear: if Councillors do not wish to see their numbers dramatically reduced as part of a forced merger with Gwynedd Council -- which will also have severe consequences for both Anglesey County Council employees and Anglesey residents -- then now is the time for them to put the greater good of Ynys Môn ahead of all other considerations. Past grievances must be put aside and all councillors must find a way to work together and show that Ynys Môn as a unitary authority is worth saving.
Carl Sargeant Letter

Quote of the Day

2011-02-02T22:56:00.000Z

A senior councillor's reply today when I asked whether the conclusions of Monday's Recovery Board away day meeting with David Bowles at Treaddur Bay were known yet:

"What do I know? I'm just a county councillor..."

So we're all still in the dark then. One thing does seem clear though: with each day that passes the likelihood of the commissioners being sent in seems to be diminishing (touch wood). So much for Carl Sargeant's stern warning eleven months ago that Anglesey County Council was in the "Last Chance Saloon"...

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic...

2011-02-01T12:02:00.001Z

As I write this the Leader of Anglesey County Council is still Clive McGregor -- but possibly not for much longer. It appears that over the past four days just about every possible combination of groups forming a new Alliance have been discussed and rejected, together with equally indecisive talks about who should be the new Leader and Deputy.

Possibly realising that the siop siafins at Anglesey County Council is not a good advertisement for their own leadership, both Ieuan Wyn Jones and Albert Owen have belatedly gotten involved (something both should have done openly months ago) but so far a solution to which a majority can agree on has proven elusive. The following is by no means an exhaustive list, but this is how the discussions regarding Leader and Deputy have been progressing (if that's the word) day-by-day:

Friday: Bob Parry (Plaid) and John Chorlton (Labour) as joint Leaders
Saturday: Bob Parry as Leader, John Chorlton as Deputy Leader
Sunday: An Independent as Leader, with Bob Parry as Deputy Leader
Monday: Back to Bob Parry as Leader with John Chorlton as Deputy Leader

Who knows who will be in the frame by the end of play today... Meanwhile yesterday the Recovery Board and Interim MD, David Bowles, held a separate meeting together in Treaddur Bay to no doubt discuss whether to call in the commissioners or not. No news on what was resolved there yet.

And while all this plotting goes on endlessly, who is working on the already much delayed and critically important 2011/12 budget?

Of nuts and sledgehammers.

2011-01-31T11:03:00.000Z

Expensive.

I hadn't realised this previously but in 2003 the Welsh Assembly narrowly approved a measure which would allow local authorities to pay existing councillors up to £20,000 to step down and not seek re-election. The idea at the time was to encourage older councillors to retire thus making way for new and younger people with fresh ways of thinking. Councillors would be eligible for a payout of £1000 per year of service up to a maximum of £20,000.

I'm not for a moment suggesting that this is what Anglesey Country Council should do, but it does occur to me that, as distasteful as it seems, financially inducing a small number councillors to step down might have been a faster and ultimately more cost-effective way of solving Anglesey's problems. Instead the Welsh Assembly Government, through appointing a £160K a year MD and a recovery board stuffed with quangocrats (cost unknown), have taken a very expensive sledge hammer to crack a nut -- yet a year and a half later the 'nut' appears to be very much still intact!

The nuts and bolts of a merger with Gwynedd

2011-01-28T15:37:00.001Z

In order to throw a little light on what exactly is behind the rumours that the Welsh Assembly Government is looking to merge Ynys Môn with Gwynedd, lets take a look at the actual last minute WAG amendments to the Local Government Measure which have sparked these stories. They have now been published (and are attached in full below this post) but this is the key passage:

"Welsh Ministers may, if they are satisfied that it is necessary to achieve effective local government, make an order ("an amalgamation order") for the constitution of a new local government area by amalgamating two or three local government areas."

The amendment goes on to stipulate that, before using the amalgamation powers, Welsh Ministers must be satisfied that local authorities have not achieved sufficient collaborative arrangements. However, although these powers are intended to be a last resort measure, it does look as though WAG Ministers will be able to amalgamate two or three local authorities where they feel it is necessary -- without, it seems, the need for any consultation.

There had been some questions about whether these amendments were legal as they were seen to significantly change the purpose of the Measure as it was originally tabled. However the legislation office and the Presiding Officer have ruled that they are within "the general principles" of the Measure and therefore it appears that WAG's intention is that they should be voted on next Wednesday (2 February) in Legislation Committee No. 3's meeting.

It is worth noticing that WAG has a majority in both the Committee and Plenary, so unless Plaid Cymru were to rebel, there is little chance of these amendments being blocked.

With regards to a timescale when these Measures would be implemented, it would not be for some time. The Local Government Measure still has to go through a third stage of having amendments tabled and voted on in Plenary, a fourth stage of the Measure being passed by the National Assembly, and a final stage of receiving Royal approval -- which will take several months. Even after that, the Minister would (should his amendments be approved in their current form) have to produce an amalgamation order which again could take some time.

Given the limited legislative time left in the Assembly (it will be dissolved in April prior to the election), it is unlikely that the Minister will be able to use any of these powers before May -- even if the Local Government Measure receives Royal Approval before then. Therefore, although these amendments will be voted on next week, there will be no immediate changes, and it is by no means certain that they will become law before the elections in May.

Who knows what will happen after May though...

UPDATE: The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) leader, John Davies, has slammed WAG's handling of these amendments:

WLGA leader John Davies said publishing amendments "at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour does fundamentally call into question the effective scrutiny of such an important piece of legislation both within the assembly and by stakeholders".

He welcomed [WAG Local Government Minster Carl Sargeant's] assurance that the amendment does not pave the way towards a wholesale reorganisation of local government.

Mr Davies added: "While this provides reassurance, it does bring into question why this did not form part of the extensive 18-month policy debate and evidence gathering sessions on the [Local Government] measure that have been undertaken within the assembly on which the WLGA were asked to give evidence.

"Clearly this is not only a matter for the WLGA but for assembly members who from recent headlines have also expressed a significant measure of dissatisfaction in this process.

"It is concerning that legislation as fundamental as the future structure of authorities can be done without scrutiny and wider engagement or consultation."

Ammendments Local Government Measure

Quote of the Day: Ynys Môn's last chance

2011-01-28T00:17:00.001Z

BBC Wales's Welsh Affairs editor, Vaughan Roderick, reports:

"Dydw i ddim wedi llwyddo i ganfod un aelod cynulliad nad yw'n credu bod Cynghorwyr Môn wedi bratu eu cyfle olaf am achubiaeth."

Which translates as:

"I haven't been able to find one Assembly Member who doesn't believe that Anglesey's councillors have blown their last chance for salvation."

WAG reaches for powers to forcibly merge Ynys Môn and Gwynedd

2011-01-27T11:05:00.002Z

According to the BBC, the Welsh Assembly Government DID table several last minute amendments last night to the Local Government Measure which would allow WAG Ministers to forcibly merge councils, notably Ynys Môn and Gwynedd:

"The future of the troubled Anglesey Council is in doubt following new legal steps in the assembly.

Late amendments to the Local Government Measure would allow ministers to force councils to merge.

It is thought the island council - already with its management under special measures - faces a merger with nearby Gwynedd

Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant told AMs on Wednesday he had ruled out wide-scale mergers.

But he said it was his duty to 'step up to the mark' in the case of failing authorities to 'do something about them'.

His comments will strengthen speculation that an announcement about the future of Anglesey council will be made in the near future."

More to follow.

UPDATE: The Anglesey Telegraph has a great story about our councillors falling out live on BBC Radio Cymru this afternoon. Read it here.

Carl Sargeant: conspicuously not coming to Ynys Môn

2011-01-26T22:28:00.002Z

Despite the WAG Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant visiting Gwynedd tomorrow he will be conspicuously NOT crossing the straits. Not to worry, I hear that a number of Anglesey councillors will be crossing the bridge to see him instead. One of them apparently will have a list of 22 names in his pocket -- all of whom are willing to take over from the currently daily diminishing minority alliance and form a new administration. Will this make any difference -- or has the Minister already made up his mind to send in the Commissioners? The fact that he attempted and failed today to include last minute amendments to the Local Government Measure currently going through the Assembly which would allow him to order the merger of councils by diktat suggests that his mind is already made.

My personal view is that any merger with Gwynedd (and now I am hearing that Conwy may also be in the mix too) would be disastrous financially for Ynys Môn for the following reasons:

Gwynedd Council currently has to find savings over the next few years of approx. £28.8 million, compared to 'just' £10 million at Ynys Môn (Conwy must find £21.9 million). A fully merged council would see these cuts shared between both councils. We have already seen something similar with the amalgamation of Local Health Boards across North Wales to create the Betsi Cadwalladr University Health Board. This led to the red ink at Glanclwyd and Maelor hospitals being shared throughout the region thus causing cuts at previously fiscally well managed Ysbyty Gwynedd.
Average Council Tax is much higher in Gwynedd than Ynys Môn and a harmonisation of rates would undoubtedly result in a large rise in Anglesey (Average Band D council rates in Ynys Môn are £825.30 compared to £960.79 in Gwynedd -- a difference of £135).
Anglesey County Council has the second largest estate of small holdings in Wales. These are valuable assets which a cash strapped Gwynedd would seek to disperse in order to reduce their own financial problems.
Gwynedd Council has 75 councillors compared to just 40 in Ynys Môn. This imbalance would ensure that the merged council would operate in the best interests of Gwynedd not Ynys Môn.
Gwynedd Council is dominated by Plaid Cymru (36 Plaid Cymru members out of 75 councillors) meaning a merger would lead to Plaid Cymru dominating both councils (in Ynys Ynys Môn there are currently only 8 Plaid Cymru members out of 40). As Plaid Cymru are completely opposed to nuclear energy a potential merger would not be a helpful development at this crucial stage in Horizon's decision making process regarding Wylfa B.