Here, in Swansea, I am currently subject to two separate investigations by the Ombudsman in response to complaints made against me. Not by members of the public concerned about whether I have not declared my interests or that I am acting contrary to the public interest, but by other Councillors (LibDem and Independent - the two groups running Swansea in coalition).
Not happy with failing to beat me at the last elections, the LibDems and their fellow-travellers (including a councillor who distributed BNP-designed literature in the 2004 elections in support of his candidacy) are now resorting to grassing up every perceived wrongdoing to the authorities. Several previous complaints against me have already been dismissed or otherwise discontinued. These complaints included accusations that I was bullying (or not taking the first answer I got from highly paid officers on important issues of public expenditure) and that my aggressive style in the Council Chamber (or holding to account the lead group for being a bunch of incompetents) was upsetting other Members (awww, poor darlings!).
Of the two ongoing complaints, one concerns a Council Meeting some 18 months ago where an officer of the Council advised that the public should be excluded from a part of the meeting and Opposition Members, who voted against the meeting going into closed session, are now being accused of a breach of the Code of Conduct by not following that "advice".
The other complaint concerns whether my views that the Council is not representative of the population of Swansea (i.e. Members are just too old) or that some of the Cabinet Members of the Council are just plain inadequate (i.e. the views of my electorate) also breach the Code of Conduct in terms of "bullying", "harassment" and "discrimination".
Is this really how we want local government to go on? With petty complaints being made to a bureaucratic and unaccountable body such as the Ombudsman for Wales or Standards England? With any luck, the next Conservative Government will do away with all this wretched nonsense and put the electorate back in charge.
The Conservative Party Policy on Local Government "Control Shift" deals with this very issue in one, neat bullet point:
put the power to judge the behaviour of councillors back in the hands of their citizens by abolishing the Standards Board, and repealing rules that prevent councillors representing their constituents’ views on local issues
I hope that the Labour/Plaid Cymru coalition running the Welsh Assembly Government sits up and takes notice of this change in policy from the new Conservative Government in Westminster and takes the lead in proposing that the National Assembly for Wales abolishes the role of the Ombudsman to interfere in the democratic workings of local government here in Wales, too.
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If you think that Swansea is bad - and from what you describe it seems pretty awful – then you would really enjoy Cardiff. Rodney Berman, as leader of the ruling Lib Dem/Plaid administration, feels that every criticism of his dismal performance is actually a slur upon his personal integrity, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation and he goes running off to make a complaint.
ReplyDeleteBut what amazes me is the willingness of the Ombudsman to be taken in by this outright nonsense and spend thousands on interminable investigations. Do we need a watch-dog to check on the watch-dogs?
Your ex-Liberal Democrat buddies patently hold a grudge. You will not need me to tell you to watch your back from some of the more unscrupulous types within the nice party that can be very nasty when it suits.
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