There were heated scenes in Anglesey County Council yesterday when the Council Leader, Cllr Clive McGregor, with the backing of Interim MD, David Bowles, broke apart the current ruling coalition and formed a new 'Grand Alliance" with opposition parties:
- Council Leader, Cllr Clive McGregor, has essentially disbanded the 'Original Independents' grouping (one half of the current ruling coalition) and formed a new group called Llais i Fôn ("Voice for Anglesey").
- Cllr McGregor has further called for an Alliance with the other Parties/Groups (i.e. Plaid Cymru, Labour, Môn Ymlaen, and the Menai Group) to be composed of councillors who will agree to the 'key principles' of: (a) working in cooperation with those who have demonstrated a commitment to moving forward to address the challenges facing Anglesey; and (b) leaving behind those who remain motivated by past grievances and personal animosity
- A new 'Informal Board' will be established to replace the current Executive. Portfolio Holders on this board will be selected from all Groups/Parties and agreed amongst Group/Party Leaders in accordance with an agreed numerical distribution. - In the case that this Informal Board cannot reach agreement on certain matters the Council Leader (Mc Gregor) will make the final decision.
- The Informal Board will prioritise budgetary and efficiency issues, schools rationalisation, the future provision of leisure services, residential care for the elderly, Social Services, and matters relating to the economy of the Island.
- The Leaders of each Group represented on the Board will give a personal, public and written undertaking to:
- 1. Make no reference, verbally or in writing, in public or in private, to any issues relating to past conduct, allegations or grievances in relation to other Alliance members.
- 2. Commit unequivocal support to the Recovery Programme to include ongoing governance improvements to develop structures and processes which will avoid any return to the "winner takes all' culture
- 3. Create a unified and unifying vision for the Island of Anglesey, through establishment of a sub-group with input from external stakeholders.
- 4. Agree that a major objective of the Alliance will be to isolate those who have consistently blocked progress and, by their actions, have refused to embrace new ways of working. This will include publicly identifying those individuals. Any member of the Groups within the Alliance who does not publicly support this stance, and refuses to "sign up" to the principle described in the paragraph above, or whom their Group Leader considers has failed to demonstrate sufficient ongoing commitment to the recovery, shall be ejected from their Group.
- 5. Agree not to admit to their Group, or work with, or support in any way those individuals identified by paragraph 4 above.
- 6. Collectively take steps to robustly "name and shame" anyone who obstructs the recovery.
- 7. Reform and modernise the agreement reached among the Groups with regard to Group Leaders' meetings and to the allocation of chairs, vice-chairs, and allowances in relation to those identified by the actions described in paragraphs 4 and 6 above.
- 8. Publicly and robustly condemn Cllr Schofiend and Cllr Durkin in a clear statement supporting the Council's position in reporting these individuals to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales for breaches of the Members' Code of Conduct.
- 9. Take any and all opportunities to expose and marginalise those identified by paragraphs 4 and 6 above and to highlight the damage which their actions and conduct have caused, and continue to cause, to the Council.
- 10. To support every appropriate effort to ensure that only members of the Alliance, and those unaffiliated members who have demonstrated their commitment to the recovery, shall be nominated to the role of chair or vice-chair of any committee, or to serve on any outside body, or receive any special responsibility allowance.
- 11. If those Members identified by paragraphs 4 and 6 above seek to disrupt the business of the Council, for example by call-in, or calling extraordinary meetings of the Council then, wherever possible, the rules will be changed to limit such disruptive conduct.
- 12. Any member of those Groups comprising the Alliance who fails to publicly support these undertakings, or undermines the Leader of their Group in discharging these undertakings, shall be disciplined collectively by the Group Leaders of the Alliance.
- 13. It shall be an aspiration of those Alliance Groups composed of independent members, to develop sufficient common ground and positive working relationships that, in due course, they shall be in a position to consider the merits of merging into a single, unified, independent group.
A document entitled 'Terms of Engagement for a Political Alliance to secure the future of Anglesey County Council' has been prepared listing all the above terms (attached below). It has apparently been signed by:
- Cllr Clive McGregor on behalf of 'Llais i Fôn
- Cllr Bob Parry on behalf of Plaid Cymru
- Cllr John Charlton on behalf of the Labour Party
- Cllr Winston Roberts on behalf of Môn Ymlaen (Anglesey Forward)
- Cllr Hefin Wyn Thomas on behalf of The Menai Group
It was witnessed by both Interim MD, David Bowles, and Monitoring Officer, Lynn Ball.
++ Developing - more to follow ++
Terms of Engagement
48 comments:
lets hope it can just move Anglesey on
May be the energy can be focused into economic and social development
McGregor and Bowles have really lost the plot on this one.
I can see the Legal Boys having a hay day.
It could cost the authority and the rate payers of Anglesey, millions.
A Legal Boys
There will always be discord, too many familiar names, and we all know that some of them are seriously tainted, where will the taxpayer stand, on the sidelines, while the beggar who made a fool of us with Graigwen will be with his own portfolio and his checkered past erased? I don't think so, if McGregor and Bowles think that the people of Anglesey want Roberts in there, when he should be out on his arse, then we will get rid of Roberts for the sake of the Island.
We owe ourselves a duty, to prevent bad practice and the past behaviour being forgotten and the rewarding them with a get out of jail card? No chance, sorry Bowles, we have just declared an open season on your Council and the fuckwits we have there...
If Mr Bowels, Cllr McGregor and that dishonest Lyn Ball think they can get away with suppressing the Fraud and Corruption that's gone on over the years, they've got another thing coming.
How does it go?
Sign up to the new Alliance, with all it's fascist conditions and will will ensure no one will look in to your Fraud and Corruption or Dishonesty and Wrong doings issues.
The very first thing that needs to happen to ensure recovery is for Bowles and McGregor to go, and go now
before we see the residents of Anglesey rioting on the streets.
9. Take any and all opportunities to expose and marginalise those identified by paragraphs 4 and 6 above and to highlight the damage which their actions and conduct have caused, and continue to cause, to the Council.
How about naming, shaming and exposing all the Councillors and Officers who have brought IOACC into such disripute from 1996 to 2010 Clive. Or are you one of them ?
You have taken desperate measures to shut Councillor Durkin up. Is it really to aid recovery ?
Recovery could be achieved as well as investigating anomalies. I would have thought both would go hand in hand to aid recovery.
We believe that MCGREGOR and Bowles are IGNORING the people of Anglesey, for years, we have had the piss taken out of us, the Shell Money is just one, there are countless, yet the same names are there, I'm not going to name them, their not worth it, but I will give McGreor and Bowles some words of advice, start behaving, start treating us like decent people, and stop treating the people of Anglesey like idiots.
If IOACC, and it's cronies, wish to continue with this ploy, then we will have no alternative but to commence a ploy against them.
Druid
You wrote about an Agenda or Manifesto for change, how can we have change, when too many complaints, grievances have been ignored, leaving the people with a dirty nasty taste in their mouths, if you won't help, then we will direct our own action against IOACC. It's obvious that IOACC don't care, so why should WE!
If any Councillor raises his head and critices the above comment then he ISN'T for the people, he is for HIMSELF!
Where's that useless Assembly Member of ours in all this? After all, it was the Assembly that sent that muckraking Bowles here.
Don't for get Jones'y Boy It's the Welsh Assemble Election next year, so think on.
1. Make no reference, verbally or in writing, in public or in private, to any issues relating to past conduct, allegations or grievances in relation to other Alliance members.
My guess is that the few who do not sign will be 100% honest and always have been.
Those that do sign, whether honest or not - will be tarred with the same brush as those who have issues relating to past conduct.
This is no more than a get out of jail free card.
Shocking
Ieuan Wyn Jones is too busy doing nothing, do you think he cares? he doesn't give a shit, as long as he gets his ugly face in the paper, the biggest traitor is that ugly man, he has got complaints hidden away in his office in Llangefni, and has done nothing except pass them on to Llangefni and fore warned them what was happening!
The word is out, the writing on the wall. Legal action is already taking place.Clive McGregor will be gone very soon, Durkin's seeing to that. Bowles will take a little longer,
This is "perverting the course of justice" surely.
I think your right 23:04.
More than that.It's a blatant attack on the Human Rights Act and a stab in the heart of our democratic way of life.
Those involved want hanging as traitors to all our fore fathers and mothers who gave their lives so we could live free of such tyranny.
If the Terms of Engagement need to include such a get out of Jail card, we can only conclude that there is a lot of Jail time to get out of.
Ever likely their crapping themselves. Lynn Ball has already dropped The Director of Planning in it.
Several comments deleted for breaking 'Godwin's Law'. No need for that, Folks - we can do better.
The only way to get rid of them is not to vote for them, but we still do
All very interesting, Superhero McGregor, but the sad and inescapable fact is that, in the long run, this grandstanding won't change the behaviour of the council, or its rubbish behaviour at the expense of the taxpaying public.
It all rather smacks of desperation.
And where is any mention of concern for the people of Anglesey, eh?
Same old self-interest.
Do I understand this - we will have a 'good' group and a 'bad' group; the people in the 'good' group better not say anything bad about the good people in the 'good' group, or they will find themselves in the 'bad' group with the bad people.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Where is the democracy if hypothetically, a Councillor, in the need to fight for a cause in his/her ward, has to stick his head above the parapet only to get it shot off by these draconian "rules of engagement"?
Interesting, but not entirely unexpected development...this desperate initiative is worth a try surely ?
But, typical of our elected reps... its emerging already in this blog that those OBSTRUCTIVES are still defiant and refuse to support this possibly last attempt by DB at establishing proper discipline and authority in our governance.
The writing is on the wall for IACC.
Throw us in with GCC, or send a WAG emergency team in till the local election...when we can vote the known culprits OUT.
20.59
FACT - LB is NOT dishonest; she is an extremely competent, committed, honest and conscientious lady with much to offer IACC in our service.
Stop discrediting her, please ?
I think this move by Mr McGregor to create a coalition of the willing should be welcomed. It is in the spirit of what the Prime Minister, Mr Cameron has being saying recently about working together to fix the problems.
It has been commented previously that one problem has been the lack of party discipline, and of to many independents with no published vision to be judged by. We cant really complain therefore when an attempt is made to impose discipline on the ruling coalition.
Whether it will work, time will tell, I hope it does, I for one am willing to give it a fair chance to do so.
"FACT - LB is NOT dishonest; she is an extremely competent, committed, honest and conscientious lady with much to offer IACC in our service."
I'm sure that's right. It's just that, in her position, only whiter than white will do, and that wasn't the case with her pear-shaped planning matters. Nolan principle: no enough to merely avoid wrongdoing but also must avoid the appearance of wrongdoing.
11.08
FACT - There was no intention of wrongdoing...there was ignorance of a minor matter, only.
Not enough to condemn and discredit an honest person ?
11:08
Who do you think your trying to kid, Bud.
To all those who are showing Lynn Ball to be a Paragon of Virtue.
If you new all the facts you would not now be writing such rubbish.
Please do not post or imply any unproven allegations against any councillors or officer in comments please...
11:08
Quite right on the Nolan principle.
But Lynn Ball new she was doing wrong, she refused point blank to accept she was wrong and refused to do anything about it for over two half years, and only then under the threat of an enforcement order.
It was nothing less than a try to get away with her legal requirements.She should have been sacked. In fact it might just come to that yet.
Sirs, your facts against LB are so wrong, believe me !
Well 11:36.
Tell us what you think they are.
Several comments about LB are getting very close to the line. No more please or they will be deleted.
11.40 With respect, I do not think anything, I just KNOW, factually.
Stats Man at 10.28
I agree that it is a good thing to form a new coalition.
But to set a rule by which you cannot report or discuss a case of dishonesty from the past is against any principle of mine.
Well, someone had to make a stand, spmeone had to put their name to something and now they have done it. The island must get working properly, be seen to be woring properly and be felt to be working properly. Sitting back seeing and listening to all the dross gets us nowehere. So the M.D, the Leader and other counciilors have put down their names in black and white.
It is time those councillors who have constantly used these blog pages should now havethe guts to put their names to what they are saying. I think a good example is the 1st June 20.55 blog on the JAJ Biodigestor page, there is only one person on the island who could know the persons ridiculed, the people referred to are / were on the Crewe Nantwich Councils.
So, either everything has to be dealt with and we all know that can not and never will happen OR a line must be drawn and we all work and live above that line. Why not give it a try?
Anglesey Islander
The only trouble makers I have come across at the Council is Bowles and McGregor.
All this talk about Councillor Durkin is pure rubbish, only a diversion to hide the truth.
Just you see, Councillor Durkin will come out of all this laughing his socks off and more likely a lot richer than he already is. Mark my words.
14.32 Councillor is either peddling propoganda, or is just delusional....or both ?
This is the kind of blind defiance, blame throwing and bloody-mindedness that is the cause of IACC`s woes.
If you can`t see that, you should be on the list of OBSTRUCTIVES !
15:46
Your clearly talking out of pure ignorance. You haven got a clue what's going on
Well done to the MD for cooking up another unworkable pile of dung. As a labour comrade, he really knows how to muddle things up and control democracy!
I can see a judicial challenge to the way the MD is operating which is clearly ultra vires.
So much clap trap!
We have all been treated to the U Tube clip of disgustingly edited
WTW for which permission had NOT be given by ITV Wales. Throughout the WTW nglesey series mant councillors were said to be corrupt by a man who is himself now a County Councillor and yet, I guess he must either be frightened stiff of one of those people because he never utters one word about him OR because he knows that man is totally innocent in which case he should have the (guts and) decency to publically apologise.
How about sir?
Unbeliever
19.41
If we the public don`t know what`s going on...as a so called Councillor, YOU ENLIGHTEN US please...you clearly follow and post comments on this blog, anonomously...so you spell it out, for public benefit.
The Council and its administration are supposed to be TRANSPARENT...so Councillor, where is your transparency....?
Can anyone confirm whether Barrie lodged a complaint against a senior officer in recent weeks ?
The new Terms of Engagement would stop a very Senior Officer being investigated. Is this true ?
G
21.01
Is there someone called Barrie who lodges (formal) complaints, if he does why do we not see them in print here with his name on them?
Get a grip lads.The Council is now in the hands of a bunch of Commies, don't be fooled by the subversives using this site, they will say anything to divide and rule.
Can anyone really imagine any Councillor in his right mind actually standing by such outrageous "Terms" in their present form? It would be tantamount to turning our form of government in which sovereign power resides in the people as a whole either directly by them or by their representatives, into a Dictatorship run by dishonest bully boy Tyrants.
23.18 Ordinarily I would agree old boy...but a desperate situation calls for a desperate (temporary !)measure ?
Until the local election, or until WAG takes action, that is !
i been pointed to this by a friend
Cat amongst the pigeons eh!
Points 1 and 4 seem to be a little contradictory
and who ever called Mr Bowles a muckraker - well the manure heap of IOACC needed turning over most stagnant decomposing piles benefit from a little airation
why so many anonymous posts
"and who ever called Mr Bowles a muckraker - well the manure heap of IOACC needed turning over most stagnant decomposing piles benefit from a little airation"
I agree. Let's hope he has plenty of puff!
"why so many anonymous posts"
Tells you something about the area, I think. Try asking some probing questions of the Council, see how quickly you'll be victimised.
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