Frank Little

Councillor for East Central ward on Coedffranc Town Council Learn more

Archive for the ‘Welsh Assembly Government’ Category

Park homes

by franklittle on 29 February, 2012

Peter Black AM has been given permission by the National Assembly for Wales to introduce a Bill that will improve the process by which mobile homes (park homes) are regulated and sold. Currently, there are many cases throughout Wales’ eighty park home sites of unfair practice. Problems faced by residents range from a lack of […]

Read more    Leave a comment

Welsh election

by franklittle on 16 May, 2011

First of all, thank you to all the people who voted for Mathew McCarthy in Neath, and especially if they also voted Liberal Democrat in the regional list ballot, so that Peter Black was returned to Cardiff. Peter got in by just 54 votes, and LibDem workers all over South Wales West – myself among […]

Read more    Leave a comment

A critical vote tomorrow

by franklittle on 4 May, 2011

The next Welsh Assembly Government will last five years, not the normal four. The change in the law was made in order to avoid a clash with the UK general election in 2015. This extra year of power puts even more responsibility on WAG to get it right over a period when we should be […]

Read more    Leave a comment

The Labour-Plaid government has allowed the spending gap per pupil to rise to a record level of £604. Jenny Randerson AM, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Minister said: “This is yet more evidence that the Labour-Plaid government is failing our children. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have warned for years that the spending gap of £500 […]

Read more    Leave a comment

Ward boundary re-organisation

by franklittle on 11 December, 2010

The changes to ward boundaries in Neath Port Talbot, as proposed last year and revised in the summer, will not come into effect at the next council elections in 2012, as originally intended. As I understand the statement by Carl Sargeant, the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, the difficulty is not with the […]

Read more    Leave a comment

WAG grants an inefficient use of money

by franklittle on 25 November, 2010

Veronica German, AM, draws attention to the predilection of the Welsh Assembly Government for doling out time-limited grants for specific activities. Neath Port Talbot is very effective at attracting such grant money, but, in addition to the administrative overhead Veronica draws attention to, there is also the drawback that these schemes do not provide lasting […]

Read more    Leave a comment

Council budget cuts

by franklittle on 3 November, 2010

The latest news is that the Welsh Assembly Government will reveal its draft budget on 24th November, at least a month later than last year. This is going to mean a very tight timetable for setting the county borough’s budget. It will be even worse if WAG actually cuts in cash terms its settlement on […]

Read more    Leave a comment

Communities First underachieves

by franklittle on 31 October, 2010

A number of us have felt for some time that the scheme generates little employment except for Communities First administrators. Now comes confirmation, courtesy of a Joseph Rowntree Foundation report, quoted by Eleanor Burnham MEP here.

Read more    Leave a comment

Educational strait-jacket to be eased

by franklittle on 16 June, 2010

Praise to Leighton Andrews, who has swiftly followed the lead of the coalition government in Westminster, to reduce the grip of central government on educational policy. As reported on BBC News, “in future, Leighton Andrews says local authorities in Wales should have more freedom to make decisions without being overruled by ministers. He claims the […]

Read more    Leave a comment

Local Government LCO

by franklittle on 21 September, 2009

The Welsh Assembly seems to have consulted local councils on a Legislative Competence Order, relating to community councils, as an afterthought. Certainly, they did not allow for the fact that many community councils do not meet in the month of August. As it was, the request for comments came before us on Blaenhonddan Community Council […]

Read more    Leave a comment