I have to update this post to add the name of the person that informed Councillor Kevin Gibbs that the official line is “that it saves man hours for Democratic Services and if anyone wants to know the answer they can view the recording”.
That person (drum roll) was none other than the Senior Officer of the Council with the responsibility for ensuring that the Council complies, at all times, with the Council’s Constitution – Carys Kennedy, Monitoring Officer and Head of Legal and Governance and overall responsibility for the HR Department.
That’s a fact.
The Monitoring Officer knows full well that webcasts of Council meetings do not count as being part of the Council’s Formal Record.
It is downright rude, unprofessional, and irresponsible to suggest that anyone wishing to know the answers to questions raised at Council Meetings can look at the video stream of the Meetings.
She knows full well that the answers to the questions should be recorded in the minutes.
She knows full well why she chooses not to record them.
It’s nothing to do with the saving of ‘person hours’ in the Democratic Services Department.
It’s all to do with the control of information, obfuscation, and total avoidance of transparency, responsibility, and accountability.
The Councillors are complicit in these wrongdoings if they choose to allow such practices of bad and unconstitutional governance to continue.
The Public Service Ombudsman for Wales is also aware of this situation and chooses to do nothing to stop it.
The poor Officers of the Democratic Services Department are under so much pressure at work that they have, reportedly, said that that is the reason why they do not record, in the minutes, the answers to questions raised in meetings. They have also stated that if anyone wishes to know what the answers are then […]
If it wasn’t so serious it would be funny
Merthyr Council Cover-up 