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Harding bungles on constitution

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Got it wrong: Monitoring Officer Laurence Harding pictured centre

Got it wrong: Monitoring Officer Laurence Harding pictured centre

IN AN EMBARRASSING incident at a Corporate Governance Committee meeting on Monday( Nov 17), Council Monitoring Officer Laurence Harding was forced to withdraw an objection he had raised to a proposal for the annual election of the Council Leader. In a deathly hush, in which a pin could have been heard to drop, Mr Harding flicked desperately through the pages of the folder in front of him after being repeatedly asked to justify the advice he had tendered to councillors to reject a proposal for an annual leadership ballot presented by East Williamston’s Jacob Williams.

The quiet was a welcome respite from lengthy and sometimes testy exchanges between councillors on the opposition and IPPG sides of the committee. The meeting started badly with recriminations about the lack of trust between the opposition leaders and Council Leader Jamie Adams, with the matter being batted back to a meeting of the leaders’ group to try and move on. The level of nit-picking debate scarcely improved over the following two hours. The last item of business, on the annual election of a council leader, divided members sharply.

Jacob Williams’, whose proposal it was, first addressed the issue of the objection to his proposal by council officers. He told the meeting that having spoken with Acting Head of Paid Service Ian Westley, he was happy to clear any misapprehension about his motion and was happy to agree a minor amendment to its wording to progress the matter. Bizarrely, there then followed a protracted discussion about the existing constitutional provision which Cllr Williams wanted to replace.

After long and tortuous discussion which resembled a debate about how many angels danced on the head of a pin, Cllr Williams fixed Monitoring Officer Harding with a direct challenge to advice he had given that the present rules already encompassed the substance of Cllr Williams’ proposal.

Cue a very, very long silence. At the end of his reverie, Laurence Harding was – to his evident mortification – compelled to concede Cllr Williams’ point that the current constitution did not permit the leader to be subject to annual election on a normal notice of motion. With that fox shot, the IPPG representatives finally got the crux of their objections to Cllr Williams’ plan.

They were unanimously concerned that such an arrangement would prevent the strong leadership upon which they felt the Council depended. The self-interest of their group to divvy up allowances and positions was more important than a Leader having the confidence of Council members. Cllr Jamie Adams said that he could not imagine anyone willing to take up the leadership on the “temporary and short-term” basis proposed by the motion.

Bob Kilmister pointed out that the IPPG’s stance was the same as prevented the Council following its working together agenda, from which he and others had withdrawn due to a lack of trust between the opposition leaders and IPPG leader Adams. Keith Lewis from the IPPG, while admitting he had lost track of the debate, argued that the Council needed consistency and continuity.

Responding that Cllr Lewis appeared to envisage a position in the cause of continuity where a leader was a lame duck without backing from the Council’s membership, Jacob Williams pointed out that Jamie Adams was quite prepared to go along with Laurence Harding’s position, which if it had been correct would have amounted to the same, if not a less secure position. Paul Miller pointed out that Councillor Adams’ only mandate as leader came from arrangements within the ruling group, without any manifesto or input from the people of Pembrokeshire.

The Committee’s arguments on the point were brought to an unsatisfactory close by the expedient of calling a vote which proceeded to divide on party lines. The “Independent” group carrying the day by acting together to defeat the proposal 7-6.

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Business

Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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Welsh Water has increased sewage discharges into waterways ‘by 40%’

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NEW figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into our nation’s rivers and waterways without consequence.

“It’s beggars’ belief that both the UK Conservative Government and the Welsh Labour government are allowing water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism.

“We as a party are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local waterways. We have also called for a halt on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”

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