North Wales Police Authority demonstrates why it needs to be abolished

Last week I wrote about how the North Wales Police Authority had pleaded in Wednesday's Holyhead & Anglesey Mail for everyone to take part in an online survey on elected Police Commissioners. By Thursday - the very next day - this self same survey was 'closed'.

In yesterday's Daily Post, North Wales Police Authority's vice chair, Douglas Wynne reappeared -- this time to tell us the 'interim' results of the survey. Yes, the 'interim' results of the survey we had one day to take part in. Anyway, here is the Daily Post headline:

And just incase you had still failed to get the impression that the survey results found against the idea of an elected Police Commissioner, the Daily Post even helpfully included a sub-headline:

The article itself then begins like this:

"OPPOSITION is growing to the idea of having an elected commissioner in charge of police in North Wales. The interim results of a survey show a majority of people are against the proposal which is part of a package of reforms being put forward by the Government"

It goes on to give the results of the survey:

"Of those who responded, 41% were opposed to a commissioner while less than 30% were in favour."

Happily, the NWPA have published (pdf) the full results of the survey on their website so I went to have a look. Here are the actual results to the crucial question, "Overall, are you in favour of a directly elected Police and Crime Commissioner?":

So, yes, just 29% of respondents declared themselves to be in 'favour' and 41% of respondents did indeed oppose the proposal. But hold on a moment: whats that big pink wedge in the top left? Oh, thats the percentage of respondents who said they were 'somewhat in favour' of an elected police commissioner... which by my reckoning means that actually 45% (29% + 16%) of respondents are either 'in favour' or 'somewhat in favour' of elected police commissioners. In other words, in direct contradiction to the spin put on the results by both NWPA Vice Chair Douglas Wynne and the apocalyptic Daily Post headlines, those favouring elected police chiefs outnumber those opposed by four percentage points.

So, what about that dire warning at the beginning of the Daily Post article which told us ominously that "OPPOSITION is growing to the idea of having an elected commissioner in charge of police in North Wales"? Just how many people from North Wales actually took part in the survey? According to the published results just 82 respondents were from North Wales... To call this shoddy reporting doesn't even begin to do it justice. Outright lies is a more apposite. 

Elsewhere in the article, NWPA's Douglas Wynne goes on to say that in addition to the (fake) public opposition, "we are also worried we could end up with a police commissioner from an extremist party or single issue pressure group".  Well, let me put his mind at rest -- below is the Druid voting intention poll aggregator for North Wales:

As you can see, "others" which includes UKIP, Greens, BNP, Communist, Socialist and Christian parties rarely polls above five per cent in North Wales -- within that, the BNP (because they are surely the 'extremists' Wynne is talking about), have never polled above two percent. The very idea that a representative of any of those parties would be elected as Police Commissioner in North Wales is pure fantasy. In fact, I would say it is a slur on North Wales residents to even raise this as a concern.

So, to conclude, the non-elected NWPA vice chair has basically (a) wilfully distorted and misrepresented the actual results of a survey which anyway had a minuscule number of respondents from North Wales; and (b) stated that he doesn't trust North Wales residents not to elect a BNP police commissioner. In so doing he has given me the clearest reason yet why the NWPA should be abolished and replaced by a directly elected Police Commissioner.

Incidentally, I note that the survey is now up and running again and I therefore urge you to take part and let the NWPA know what you really think. You can take the survey here.

The full 'interim' results are below:
Police Reform Consultation Report

At last some radical economic thinking from an Assembly Member..!

The Druid has long argued (most recently here) that the most effective way of promoting economic growth in Anglesey and in Wales as a whole would be to strategically reduce the rate of corporation tax levied here. I am delighted therefore to read an interview in today's Western Mail with the Welsh Conservative AM, David Melding, where he advocates exactly the same policy:

“What I would suggest is that if Wales really wants to be enterprising and attract investors who want to stay here ... the best thing we could do is lower the level of corporation tax, the tax that companies have to pay, but perhaps look at something quite radical like the top rate of income tax and lowering that, so that people who are higher earners – and there aren’t many in Wales – come to Wales and start up businesses, and because they do that they are able to retain more of the wealth they are generating.

“I really think that is the only way to tackle the long-term economic poverty that we have in Wales, compared to many other regions in Britain. We’ve really got to have a tax policy in Wales that’s a bit different to that in the south east of England or London.”

For too long successive governments have tried to counterbalance the concentration of private businesses in the South East of England (where they have access to the largest market, complementary service companies, and easy international links, etc) through the apparatus of the state. Regional Development Agencies, staffed by hundreds of bureaucrats, have sought to tempt businesses to set up in their localities through the blunt instruments of offering non-repayable grants or tax holidays. This strategy has been flawed from the outset for two reasons:

1. The Agencies have attempted to "pick winners", i.e. select which firms they believe should succeed and then showered them with grants. First of all, as any honest stockbroker will tell you, picking winners is a very, very difficult game. Secondly, this process has been 'self selecting' insomuch that only those companies which are aware of the opportunities have applied for assistance -- in many cases multiple times once they have figured out how to play the system.
2. These regional agencies have not been able to bring about any meaningful change in the business environment in their regions, meaning that when the grants run out or the tax holiday ends, the original reason why those companies set up in that region in the first place is removed. Then, like the experience with many multinationals in South Wales, they then shift their manufacturing to lower cost countries. 

My point is that in order to generate sustainable economic growth in Wales, it is necessary to create a business environment which has an in-built competitive advantage over other regions, and were that advantage is available to all companies -- not just the ones favoured by a few bureaucrats. A reduced rate of Corporation Tax in Wales would deliver this and I am delighted to see that David Melding AM seems to get it. However, that said, so far the Welsh Assembly has completely failed to create a competitive advantage for Welsh businesses. The only economic lever which the Assembly has full control over is the setting of Business Rates (a devolved matter) and yet as I pointed out the other day, Business Rates in Wales are the highest in the United Kingdom.

We need more radical thinking in the Welsh Assembly along the lines which David Melding is suggesting.

Is a 5-day strike at Vion Llangefni the right way to go?

I have to admit to a feeling of deep unease over the announcement that 200 staff at the Vion ("Chuckies") chicken processing plant in Llangefni will start a five day strike from next Monday. The strike is in protest at Vion's offer of a 2% wage rise -- the Unite union argued that this is unacceptable considering that inflation is currently running at 3.1%.

The Llangefni plant is operated by the Dutch owned Vion Food Group, which produces and processes beef, lamb, pork bacon and chicken, as well as products such as sausages and cooked meats. The company employs 350 workers in its Llangefni chicken plant and a further 240 at the Welsh Country Foods abattoir in Gaerwen -- as such Vion is one of Anglesey's largest employers. Over the past year, Vion has already shed 140 jobs in the Llangefni plant when it moved to just one shift, and a further 200 jobs were lost at Welsh Country Foods in Gaerwen when the company shifted its retail packaging operation to Winsford in Cheshire.

The newspaper report in today's Holyhead & Anglesey Mail makes no reference to a vote having been held or the margin by which such a vote was won. As the plant employs 350 people, yet only 200 are striking, it suggests that the decision to strike is by no means unanimous amongst all workers at the plant.

Although I recognise that the pay rise is below inflation, one would hope that opting to strike would be very much the last resort -- especially as a five day strike seems to be extraordinarily prolonged in this day and age. This is particularly so when you consider that currently only 15% of private sector workers are unionised, and if we knock out those ex-public sector areas such as utilities, the railways and British Airways, the private sector rate falls to well below 10%. Also with Vion's profit margin running at just 0.7% of turnover according to their 2009 Annual Report (Dutch), it doesn't seem that Vion is currently making vast profits either.

My fear is that industrial action on this scale in a private business, possibly promoted by the Unite union not only for the merits of this particular case, could have damaging implications on Vion's future presence on Anglesey. This fear is compounded by the quote in the H&A Mail by a Vion spokesman, who said ominously, "the business will continue to focus on providing uninterrupted supply to its customers". How difficult would it be for Vion to shift production to another plant -- without a unionised workforce? What knock-on effects will a strike by the Llangefni plant have on the prospects of the Gaerwen plant? I hope that all of these questions have been considered soberly and carefully by both Unite and the workers involved before opting to strike.

Thumbs up for Lein Amlwch, thumbs down for Cllr Fflur Hughes

In an update to my earlier post, I'm happy to report that the Full Council today voted to support the opening of the Anglesey Central Railway a.k.a. Lein Amlwch.

Only one councillor voted against the decision: Plaid Cymru's Fflur Mai Hughes, who ironically represents the Cefni ward in Llangefni -- one of the places most likely to benefit from the possible construction jobs and improved transport links which the reopened Amlwch Line could bring. One has to wonder whether she bothered to canvass anybody in her ward before voting "no"?

Anyway, I'm sure she will now explain to the residents and businesses in Llangefni why she thinks Llangefni doesn't need the economic boost which the reopening of the Central Anglesey Line would bring. Cllr Hughes was elected by a margin of just 2 votes in the last council elections -- she may find that Cefni residents will decide to dispense with her services in 2012.

Anglesey Council to debate reopening of Anglesey Central Railway (Lein Amlwch) today

Lein Amlwch crossing the Cefni

The Anglesey Central Railway (Lein Amlwch in Welsh) which connects the port of Amlwch via Llangefni to the North Wales Coast Line at Gaerwen has been defunct as a passenger service since 1964 -- though freight services continued up until 1993 to serve Octel.

Supporters have been campaigning for years for the line to be restored and, with the possibility of Wylfa B on the horizon, these calls have recently carried an additional impetus. Consequently Anglesey County Council will be debating issues relating to the possible reopening of the line this afternoon at 2pm. All supporters of Anglesey Central Railway are asked to attend the Council Chamber in Llangefni to show support.

Is David Bowles in breach of his contract?

According to Ynysmon.com Anglesey Council Interim MD, David Bowles, may be in breach of his contract as he is reportedly refusing to meet with members of the public -- instead referring them directly to various corporate heads within the Council instead.

Meeting with concerned members of the public is an important role of any council chief -- and considering Mr Bowles is costing £270,000 per annum, it seems that we could be getting shortchanged.

More info here.

Understanding Planning Decisions on Anglesey

Since setting up The Druid perhaps one topic more than any other has regularly generated substantial controversy and comment: planning decisions. Many a commenter has levelled complaints against Anglesey County Council and its Planning & Orders Committee for perceived bad decisions, alleged injustices, and sometimes even more serious transgressions.

But just how justified are these comments and allegations? Is it a case of lay people not understanding how the system works, with its complex laws, policies and procedures, and jumping to the wrong conclusions?

Perhaps, or perhaps not.

Much conjecture, and much speculation is posted, but not often anything which could be actioned in law. Most (but not all) commenters admit to not knowing much about planning law and many seem to need advice and a guiding hand through its maze of procedure.

Such advice is available of course in the market -- but at a cost. The objector to a planning application can range from a single person, say an affected neighbour, to a number of people, say a community group. The issues are often the same.

The Druid has discrete access to specialist legal advice on planning practice, planning law, policy and procedure and propose that it may be helpful to set up a dedicated page on this blog where questions may be posted, matters may be explored and many complex issues may be explained discreetly, without divulging names or addresses. Lets call them hypothetical scenarios?

So my question to you all is this: do you think there is any merit in the Druid setting up some kind of Q&A page dedicated to planning matters where my specialist will try and answer questions? If so, we could keep it open for as long as it is needed, or until the subject exhausts itself.

And to to kick off the discussion here is a second question for you all: are we all NIMBYs? Are we all obsessed with preserving our immediate orbit and environment?

Note on comments: All normal rules apply - please don't post any specific allegations against named organisations or persons.