At the last community council meeting, it was agreed that the pilot web-site was (party political links aside!) had been a success, and that a permanent World-Wide Web presence should be established. The pages will be non-party-political and under the control of our clerk, Mavis Hewitt, with the discretion to call in technical expertise as required. Councillors have already been asked to provide personal details for inclusion on the site.

Council news report is here.

At the Welsh Liberal Democrat autumn conference held in Clydach last weekend, the following emergency motion was carried:

Local Authorities and the Icelandic Financial Crisis  

Conference Notes

1. The Global Financial Downturn, dramatic fall in stock exchanges and the collapse of the Icelandic financial system.  

2. That nine local authorities and three police authorities in Wales have over £60m in frozenIcelandic bank accounts.   

3. That under the FSC scheme the first £50k of savings is protected per person, per institution.   

4. That the UK Government and WAG have stopped short of announcing protection for thoseLocal Authorities whose money is currently in frozen Icelandic Bank accounts  

5. That responsibility for local government is devolved to WAG.   

Conference believes  

1. That WAG will need to work with the UK treasury to find a joint resolution to the situation as quickly as possible.   
2. That Council tax payers should not pay the financial price for Icelandic banks freezing accounts.
3. That guarantees from WAG need to be given that frontline services will not be cut as a result of assets in Iceland being frozen.  

Conference calls for

1. WAG [the Welsh Assembly Government]  to provide appropriate transitional relief to local authorities who have lost money or interest payments in Iceland.

In view of the news that the county borough has £8m on deposit with Icelandic banks which have ceased trading, and £12m with UK subsidiaries which have been seized by the UK government, I have asked the director of finance for a statement. I have also suggested that the council put news of the financial situation on its web site.

This is a tough ask, as the situation is changing hour by hour, but council tax-payers need to be reassured. In particular, we need to know what assistance the UK government can give.

Update: the council has responded with a statement. It is clear that this is not the final word, and I and my councillor colleagues will continue to monitor the situation.

Ignore the jargon “delayed transfer of care”; ignore the artificial distinction between “social care” and “nursing care”; if you need health care, no matter how old you are, the National Health Service should pay. You do not have to sell your home to pay for it, and any elderly patient who has been persuaded to do so, illegally, will almost certainly be able to reclaim the money. That was the message of Bleddyn Hancock, speaking at a meeting organised by the “Elderly Care Who Pays?” Consultative Group in Cilffriw School tonight.

I didn’t recognise any faces from Cadoxton there, even though I was assured the ward had been comprehensively leafleted. However, if you do know of a family which has been affected and would like free advice, Bleddyn Hancock will be available in the Owain Glyndwr centre (that’s the new community centre in Waunceirch) between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. next Saturday, 4th October.

It should be stressed that the consultative group is non-party-political. It is putting together an advice paper, and publicity for it (including, hopefully, a web-site).

For more details of categories and entry forms, ring  01639 763346. Closing date for receipt of entries is Wednesday 24th September.

The Neath Guardian report was somewhat sensationalist but basically accurate. It should be said, however, that a decision on the Marie Curie donation was deferred rather than rejected outright.

It is regrettable that a debate over One Voice Wales should split on political lines. (See previous post) It is not as if heat had been generated by differences of party philosophy. Another community council, on which Labour has the largest party representation, has been affiliated to One Voice Wales from the outset. It recently decided, after a reasoned debate, to send just one representative to attend a number of OVW’s training modules.

Other resolutions were passed, notably on a proposition from Cllr Linda Ware, “that in all future meetings of there will be a regular item - ‘Report from County Borough Councillors & Reports from all Outside Bodies”. Cllr E Jones objected that it was illegal for the community council to call borough councillors to account. This is certainly something which the Clerk is going to have to look into.

It is clearly right that members of the community council nominated by the council to represent our interests on outside bodies should give an account of relevant developments on those outside bodies. However, the CC as a whole has a direct relationship with the county borough council; county borough councillors have a direct relationship with the voters in their wards, and not with the people in the other wards which make up Blaenhonddan; and there is a direct relationship between the county borough councillor and the county borough. The possibilities of conflict of interest, and of prejudice, are obvious. I attempted therefore to remove the reference to ‘County Borough Councillors’, but was unsuccessful.

One correction to my previous report: Mike Richards, it seems, will not continue on the Open Spaces Committee which is therefore one member light, as I understand it.