News

New committee structures agreed

Published

9 years ago

February 29, 2016

THE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE has recommended a new structure for the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

countyhall

The committee met on Monday (Feb 8), and had a lengthy debate on a number of possible options to take forward.

Council Leader Jamie Adams suggested that the committee should recommend four options to the council labelled C, D, E & F.

The first of those (C) is to introduce a Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee to look at the roles of the Leader and Chief Executive and others.

Secondly, (D) there will be a new Service Scrutiny Committee/s, thirdly (E) a new policy scrutiny committee and finally (F) a new partnership committee.

Other councillors also said that there should be a committee to look at School performance and that was added to the recommendations.

Council Leader Jamie Adams said: “If we keep doing what we are doing would add no value to the way the council is having to move because of financial and organisational pressures.

“There are four elements that stick out for me and those are C, D, E & F but that forms the basis of a sensible way forward in the authority.

“There is currently no scrutiny holding myself, the chief executive, finance, HR, IT to account and there should be.

“D is a one committee role but I believe that we should have a standing committee for School performance and anybody who looks over that will recognise the need to maintain focus.

“E, as Cabinet we would find that enormously helpful in terms of some of the challenging situations we have to grapple with currently.

“F, more and more we are being asked to deliver things on a regional basis or in conjunction with other authorities and there is plenty of scope to improve that working within the county as well but there has to be a framework of holding that process to account.

“There is some ongoing work in scrutiny that needs to be brought to conclusion and we could begin this work in September.”

Cllr Michael Williams said that education was of such importance that it should be a stand-alone matter.

Cllr Guy Woodham said: “It is difficult to be asked to make a decision. I don’t feel there is enough information. It has got to be the right change and I wouldn’t like to see the council going down a particular route because it is too early at the moment. There needs to be much more member involvement.”

Cllr Jacob Williams suggested that councillors could be given free passes to speak at certain committees so that they could give their views on a topic that interests them.

Cllr Bob Kilmister said: “The current model doesn’t work. There is absolutely no pre-scrutiny work and that is completely wrong. All we are doing is looking at what’s already happened. We need to start this pre-scrutiny work in the new municipal year.

“The worst thing we could do now is to take the long grass option.” Cllr Keith Lewis said: “The existing system has performed very well over the last four years.

Cllr Michael Williams has continually made a valuable point that there is too much overview and not enough scrutiny within the existing set up. I think this is a very common sense approach. There is a need for radical change.

“In the last economy meeting there was a very good example of pre-decision scrutiny on Scolton Manor where Cabinet referred and out of that will come a recommendation on its future and that is the level of scrutiny that needs to be in place.”

Cllr Mike Stoddart felt that the new structure was very light on scrutiny performance and also said: “People say scrutiny is good but what I am told is that on certain committees, half of the members turn up month after month and never say a word and that is the problem.

“There is not enough robust scrutiny. Until you’ve overcome that problem I’m afraid moving the deckchairs around will not solve the problem.”

The Leader said that there was an awful lot of work that would now be done and the four options suggested and a school performance committee were approved with ten voting in favour and two abstaining.

Crime

Waste dumped at recycling centre leads police to drug factory near Cardigan

Published

3 hours ago

July 20, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Man jailed after drug discovery sparked by vigilant staff

A TIP-OFF from staff at an Aberystwyth recycling centre has led to the discovery of a large cannabis factory in a derelict property near Cardigan — and landed a 20-year-old man behind bars.

Manuel Nerguti was sentenced to six months in prison at Swansea Crown Court on Friday (July 11) after pleading guilty to producing a class B drug.

The court heard that on May 1 this year, workers at the Aberystwyth recycling centre reported a suspicious delivery: four to five bags of cannabis stalks, apparently dumped by men in a hired Ford Transit van.

Police acted quickly and intercepted the van later that afternoon on the road between Aberystwyth and Cardigan. Nerguti and two other men were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of cannabis, but were released without charge at the time, as no grow site had been located.

However, a month later, acting on new intelligence, Dyfed-Powys Police executed a warrant at a derelict house in Bridell, near Cardigan. Inside, they discovered a sophisticated cannabis cultivation operation: 260 mature plants spread across five rooms and an attic, with the electricity supply illegally bypassed.

During the raid on June 7, Nerguti attempted to flee but was found hiding behind a washing machine in the garage.

He was charged and later pleaded guilty to producing cannabis.

Detective Constable Sam Garside, who led the investigation, praised the recycling centre staff for their quick thinking.

He said: “This result is thanks to the staff at the recycling centre for recognising that criminal activity was taking place and for alerting police quickly.

“We rely on the public to inform us of anything suspicious going on in their communities and we encourage people to get in touch if they suspect anything. We were able to use our local knowledge and police intelligence to execute a successful warrant and shut down an illegal cannabis factory.

“We are committed to continuing our drug operations across Dyfed-Powys and bringing offenders like Nerguti to justice.”

Police estimate the cannabis seized had a potential street value of up to £242,000.

More information on Operation Scotney — Dyfed-Powys Police’s campaign to tackle cannabis cultivation — including how to spot signs of a drug grow, can be found on their website.

News

Pembrokeshire County Council group to review ‘climate emergency’

Published

3 hours ago

July 20, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A CALL for a group to review Pembrokeshire County Council’s decision to declare a climate emergency some six years ago has been backed by councillors.

In May 2019, the council declare a climate emergency following a notice of motion by Cllr Joshua Beynon calling on the authority to back the global consensus that climate change poses a risk to the well-being of future generations.

He had urged county councillors to back a motion to take “bold, decisive action” to fight “truly, catastrophic” climate change.

He called on the council to commit to becoming a zero-carbon local authority by 2030.

At the July meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, a notice of motion by Cllr Mike Stoddart called for the establishment of a working group to review the decision made by the council to declare a climate change emergency.

Cllr Stoddart’s motion said: “Given the turbulence on the global financial markets; the parlous state of the UK’s public finances; Pembrokeshire County Council’s projected funding gap; and the government’s softening of its policies on the switch to EV vehicles and heat pumps, this council establishes a seven person, politically balanced working group to review the authority’s decision to declare a climate emergency at its meeting on May 9, 2019.

“The working group will be asked to: (a) examine the effect of the emergency declaration on the level of council tax in Pembrokeshire and particularly the extent to which any such increases militate against the authority’s anti-poverty policies.

“(b) The cost of decarbonising the council’s housing stock and the effect this has had on the authority’s ability to finance the building of new housing.

“(c) The extent to which the council’s decarbonisation programme has contributed to a reduction of the risk of runaway global temperature increases, and (d) any other effects that the working group considers may have adversely impacted the wellbeing of the residents of Pembrokeshire.”

Cllr Stoddart’s notice of motion was previously supported at the June meeting of the council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee, with a recommendation to full council in July meeting, to reinstate the Net Zero Working Group to review the contents of the notice of motion and, subject to the outcome of this review, review the future delivery of the Net Zero Action Plan.

Cllr Stoddart’s call was backed by Cllr Steve Alderman, and Cllr Rhys Jordan, who said: “I fully support this, it couldn’t come sooner; around England and Wales councils are looking at this, there’s been a huge push for a ‘net zero’ agenda at any cost, I don’t think we’re in a position to drive that.”

Cllr Aaron Carey said: “We’ve set ourselves some lofty goals, but we haven’t got the money to back it up.”

Members overwhelmingly agreed to back the June committee recommendations.

News

Urgent appeal to save 1,000 hens in Pembrokeshire and beyond

Published

6 hours ago

July 20, 2025

Tom Sinclair

British Hen Welfare Trust seeks homes before Friday deadline

AN URGENT appeal has been launched to find homes for more than 1,000 hens due to be rehomed next weekend – including from a rescue centre in Boncath, Pembrokeshire.

The British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT) is coordinating the rehoming effort on Saturday (July 26), aiming to rescue ex-caged hens from slaughter and instead place them into loving homes. The appeal also covers rehoming centres in Locking, near Bristol, and Kineton in Warwickshire.

The charity says the hens have come to the end of their commercial egg-laying lives, but remain healthy and can thrive as pets. However, they must be rehomed by Friday (July 25) to avoid being needlessly killed.

“This is a time-sensitive and visual story that resonates locally,” said Andy Hill, Marketing & Communications Officer for the BHWT. “These hens have worked hard their whole lives and deserve a second chance.”

The organisation recently marked the rehoming of its one millionth hen – which was adopted by King Charles III – and the upcoming effort is part of its continued mission to improve hen welfare across the UK.

Local spokespeople are available for interview, and high-resolution images are available for media use.

For more information or to register interest in adopting hens, visit: www.bhwt.org.uk