Mik Smith: The paedophile was nearly allowed to become a foster carer

ANOTHER vote on whether or not a confidential report into how the council dealt with convicted paedophile Mik Smith was defeated by the casting vote of the chairman at a meeting today (Mar 10).

The matter will now be sent to Cabinet for their final decision on the matter.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered the matter after it was defeated on the chairman’s vote after a tied vote in the council chamber the previous Thursday (Mar 2).

The report has already been leaked to the press and the committee considered whether or not it should be published to the wider public.

Chief Executive, Mr Ian Westley stated that it was his ‘personal preference’ that the report shouldn’t be published due to an agreement he had with the report’s author.

Other councillors argued that the report contained information which could lead to certain adults and children involved in criminal proceedings to be named.

Cllr Ken Rowlands said it could open up ‘huge wounds’ for the families concerned if the council were to publish the report.

The notice of motion came from Cllr Mike Stoddart who said that Mr Smith had only been prevented from becoming a foster parent by ‘pure luck’.

He went on to say that he was happy for the report to be redacted to protect certain individuals and other councillors supported that statement.

Chief Executive Ian Westley said: “My preference for not releasing this report is nothing whatsoever to do with the content of it and it is nothing whatsoever to do with a cover-up which is terminology I’ve recently seen in the press because I believe that it contains very little, if any, new information that members haven’t already had access to.

“There are a dozen or so officers and others who are referred to by title, my concern there is that some of those titles are individual and not generic and it is quite clear to tell who we are talking about even though they are not named by names.

“The author wrote the report on a confidential basis and has clearly recorded that the report contains sensitive personal information which in accordance with the Data Protection Act, should not be published without the consent of the person concerned.

“The author is identifiable and has expressed opinion within the report that they did not expect would be put into the public domain. From my point of view and my professional dealings with the author, it is my view that the arrangement should be honoured.”

Cllr Stoddart stated that the document was commissioned by a public body and therefore it should be published.

Cllr David Pugh said he had spoken to someone who was closely involved who had told him that people could be identified in the report but when asked if he had read the report, Cllr Pugh said he hadn’t.

Cllr Michael Williams said he was amazed that Cllr Pugh hadn’t read the report before going to the meeting.

Cllr Paul Miller added: “Confidence of the public is critical and I don’t believe it’s ever fully returned following these issues being brought to a head at the start of this council term. We clearly have a responsibility to the children and parents involved in this appalling episode but as we’ve already heard, I don’t feel any children can possibly be identified by reading this report, individual officers, potentially, but I for one don’t feel that we owe anything to individual professionals who failed in their duty to protect the children of this county.”

The matter was put to a recorded vote with Cllrs Mike Stoddart, Paul Miller, Jacob Williams, Michael Williams, Peter Stock and David Howlett voting for it to be published.

Cllrs Owen James, Rob Summons, David Pugh, David Rees, Tom Richards and Ken Rowlands voted against it being published.

With six voting in favour and six against it was left to the chairman, Cllr Tom Richards, who voted against the report being published.