Councillor Mike Richards (Labour) and I attended the consultation workshop organised on behalf of the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales held in Carmarthen yesterday.

This sort of outreach exercise is a departure for the Commission. It is very much a brain-child of the outgoing chair, Susan Smith. She had felt that the AGM of the Commission had become too stuffy and unproductive, so organised a less formal discussion in conjunction with this year’s. This had been successful, but was necessarily limited to those who were motivated enough to journey to Llandudno. Therefore, two further consultations for South & East Wales, and for Mid & West Wales, had been arranged. The Carmarthen event represented the latter.

It was gratifying that the “top table” seemed to take on board the general feeling of those present: that, in terms of boundaries and ratio of representation, one size did not fit all. There seemed to be general agreement that the Welsh ratio of councillors to electors, of 1:1750, was about right. Hovever, such factors as geography (affecting communications), the nature of population (rural, urban or mixed) and local economics affected decisions about communtiy council representation.

The outgoing chair and her successor were also quick to defend their independence against the suspicion voiced by a number of councillors that the drawing of boundaries favoured the ruling party. The new man, Paul Woods, declared that if he felt that pressure was put on him by government to come to a particular decision then he would resign.

The sessions were so arranged that people from different disciplines met in groups. I was with representatives from small community councils, one large one with the biggest private housing estate in Wales, a full-time officer (NPT’s own Rhys George) and a town clerk. The interchange of experiences and views - not restricted to boundary concerns - was as valuable as being able to put forward ones views about the Commission.

There may be more after we have a chance to compare notes at the next Blaenhonddan meeting.

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).