First up the Ministry of Spin.
STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Firstly, as stated yesterday, and published on our website, the Leader and Executive Board have called an extraordinary meeting which the Chair has agreed will take place on Thursday, February 27.
It is a matter for Plaid Cymru if they wish to present notices of motion prior to that meeting.
However, given that the opportunity for full debate of the Wales Audit Office reports will take place on February 27 it seems reasonable for any decisions to wait until such time as all the facts are known.
Votes of no confidence in officers or members should not, in our view, be taken without the full evidence against allegations being made known.
As members know, we are currently circulating evidence regarding these two issues to all councillors.
As Plaid Cymru knows, we were unable to do this previously, or to discuss these issues as they were under investigation by the Wales Audit Office.
Can Plaid Cymru not wait to be in possession of all the facts before they make their minds up, or have they already done so?
If that is the case, sadly it will not make a difference what the evidence says as headline grabbing and power is what they are after, not truth and justice.
Cllr Hughes Griffiths asks us to unconditionally accept the Wales Audit Office reports. It would seem he would have us hang officers and members out to dry on evidence we strongly dispute.
Whilst we have every respect for the Wales Audit Office we cannot blindly accept what our information contradicts.
We accept the recommendations regarding the pension pay policy, this decision was reversed at a meeting last year.*
It is the intention of the Executive Board to accept the Wales Audit Office findings regarding this.
However, in the matter of the indemnity we dispute some of the findings. This is what the meeting on February 27 will debate – evidence and information from both ourselves and the Wales Audit Office.
Councillors can then make their own minds up and make their own decisions based on their findings. Until such time it is premature and extremely unfair to be calling for votes of no confidence or suspensions of any kind. [END]
* The policy was indeed reversed, but the Council did so while insisting that it still believed that its actions were legal. Ed.
Next up Plaid's rather less verbose response.
Carmarthenshire County Council’s latest statement is further evidence that it is failing or refusing to grasp the gravity of the situation, says Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths, leader of the 28-strong Plaid Cymru opposition group in County Hall. " The Executive Board says it accepts the Wales Audit Office findings regarding the pension pay policy, which was deemed unlawful. The public expects people who are responsible for unlawful action to be called to account. Yet nothing had been done – which is why Plaid Cymru is persistently pursuing this matter."
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