As we follow the daily twists and turns in the crisis enveloping Carmarthenshire County Council, it is easy to forget that things are not much better next door in Pembrokeshire, where the council leadership and the chief executive, Bryn Parry Jones, are under fire for what the Wales Audit Office considers to be unlawful pension arrangements for a couple of its senior officers.
Pembrokeshire is not exactly famous for being a shining example of an open, democratically accountable local authority. When the auditor's damning report on the pension arrangements was published the council leader, Jamie Adams, was away on holiday in South Africa. Now he's back, and the the council has moved quickly to arrange an extraordinary meeting of the full council to discuss the report next week. According to the BBC, the meeting will be held on St Valentine's Day.
Both councils were given 30 days by the WAO to set up meetings to discuss the reports. Pembrokeshire will get to discuss the scandal two weeks earlier than Carmarthenshire, which will hold its meeting on the last possible date allowed by the WAO.
Like Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire also has a lively council blogging cottage industry, and it is with some disappointment that this blog has to note the complete lack of gratitude on the part of our neighbours for the generous assistance Carmarthenshire has provided to help the junta in Haverfordwest combat the outrageous accusations made by the WAO.
It is not too late for Cllr Jacob Williams and Old Grumpy to recognise that it was Carmarthenshire that introduced Pembrokeshire to Mr Timothy "Genius" Kerr QC.
What a pity that neither council has so far seen fit to share Mr Kerr's advice on the pensions arrangements with elected councillors, the public or even the Wales Audit Office.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
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