Incompetence: CCBC (and other Public Bodies and Statutory Undertakers...)

[Hugo]

Thanks Meleri for clarifying the 9.9% across the Council Tax banding.      I will now be paying nearly as much in Council Tax each year as the cost of my first property
That referendum that only applies to England seems to be more trouble than it's worth and the Councils could even ignore any result

I remember the village of Glan Conwy having a referendum on a building application for a large number of houses at the southern end of Glan Conwy.       I believe that the villagers voted against building those houses but their opinions were ignored and CCBC granted permission for the development

[Hugo]

How much you can expect to pay as council tax rises confirmed for every North Wales county
The percentage increase is different depending on where you live

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/how-much-you-can-expect-26369546

[SteveH]

A link from Hugos post above..........it includes a poll.

How Conwy councillors voted in Wales' 'biggest council tax increase'
A full breakdown on who supported and who opposed the hike which amounts to ?142.38 extra a year for residents in a band D household

Read breakdown  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/how-conwy-councillors-voted-wales-26375389

[Helig]

It would be interesting to know how much the chief executive and other senior council officers are being paid. I wonder what sort of pay rise they will get from April 2023? In some cases the amounts the CEs and senior council officers get massive salaries, plus benefits. These exceed the amounts paid to the Prime Minister and MPs. I don't know how they can justify such large salaries and in these cost of living crisis days especially.

[Cambrian]

The last published figure for the CE was ?129k in 21/22.  May have changed slightly now as a new incumbent and the scale will have seen %age increase in any event. Info is tucked away in the annual accounts but no sign of what other chief officers get.

[SteveH]

Road freeze minister claimed for nearly 12,000 miles of car journeys but only three train trips
Last month saw Welsh Government scrap plans for a third Menai crossing and Flintshire's 'red route'

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/road-freeze-minister-claimed-nearly-26388239

[SteveH]

Mismanagement of public accounts cost Wales ?155.5m at the height of Covid, according to a Senedd committee.

The Welsh government failed to spend the extra cash by March 2021 and had to give it back to the UK government.

It is part of a damning report which raised concerns about Welsh government spending and senior staff management.

The Welsh government said a decision by the Treasury not to let the cash stay in Wales was "unacceptable", but the UK government defended its decision.

The Treasury said funding arrangements had been applied in the "usual way".

Meanwhile, Welsh government estimates put the amount of fraud and error in a Covid business grant scheme between ?700,000 and ?37m in 2020-21.

The report said not enough was being done to identify the problem.

There were concerns about the record-keeping of an ?80,000 exit payment to Wales' former top civil servant, ex-Permanent Secretary Dame Shan Morgan.

It also said that her successor's salary is higher than the advertised amount.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-65064256

[Hugo]

Conwy Council could look to sell HQ as 'there's hardly anyone in' its new ?58m offices
Recent figures showed poor occupancy rates at both the authority's Coed Pella and Bodlondeb buildings in Colwyn Bay and Conwy

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/conwy-council-could-look-sell-26622113

[SteveH]

Furious response to underuse of 58m Conwy Council offices and potential sale of main HQ
It comes after a survey showed that only 176 desks of the 520 available at the 58m building are used on average

In terms of occupancy, the statistics for the council's ?58m Coed Pella building in Colwyn Bay aren't much better, with only 176 desks of the 520 available occupied by council staff. The highest number of staff present at the site at any given time was 215 ? way below the figure required for the building to be considered half full.

This is largely a result of the council's 'hybrid' approach to working from home which it introduced in the wake of the Covid pandemic. Coed Pella opened in 2018, before Conwy's 'Workwise' policy was tweaked. At the time, staff at Colwyn Bay?s Civic Centre and the offices at Rhos-on-Sea?s Dinarth Road and Mochdre were moved into the new building.
cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/furious-response-underuse-58m-conwy-26629916?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[SteveH]

Second story today of tax payers money unwisely ..................

The Welsh government is very unlikely to get back 7.35m it spent on an ill-fated racetrack project, it has said.

Officials say there is "little chance" of recovering the money from the insolvent company behind Circuit of Wales.

The project fell apart in 2017 when the Welsh government rejected a request to guarantee almost half its funding.

The Welsh government said it had "taken action to secure" the cash.

The cash was provided to cover a loan guarantee, which ministers wrote off the value of in 2020.

Officials made the comments in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, first reported by the Nation.Cymru website.

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies called on Labour ministers to take further legal action to get the money back.

A Senedd report in 2018 said government officials made "inexplicable decisions" about the spending of public money on the project.

Backers of the 433m project had claimed the Ebbw Vale racetrack would create thousands of jobs.

But the former Economy Minister Ken Skates said job claims had been overstated when he took the decision not to back the project further.       This is what should have been checked at the beginning

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-65181038

[SteveH]

New plans for Bangor's 'ghost' Bryn Cegin industrial estate approved
The Llandygai site had previously failed to attract investment despite millions of pounds poured into it

When first mooted in 2000 it was hoped the 35 acre Llandygai site would attract industry and jobs. Despite millions raised in investment but with the banking crisis of 2005 and recession, the site failed to attract any businesses and laid empty for more than 20 years.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/new-plans-bangors-ghost-bryn-26734295?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

[Nemesis]

My husband has had a blue badge for the last 12 years due to the fact that he cannot walk more than a few yards. It is/was due for renewal in May so he filled in all the forms Originally he did it on line,( twice)but the system was 'down' so he asked for paper copy. One was duly sent. He filled it in, probably about 15 pages, supplied the photo and 2 letters from 2 hospital consultants. It is now 10 weeks since and despite numerous phone calls it still hasn't been issued. They are 'busy'. Doing what? If it doesn't arrive before the old one expires he will be fined they say. OMG let them try !!!  A driving licence application came within 2 days . CCBC strikes again.

[SteveH]

Clwyd West MS Darren Millar and North Wales MS Sam Rowlands have slammed the Welsh Government for spending almost ?230,000 on temporary traffic lights on the Sea Road and Primrose Hill bridges over the A55 in Abergele and St George.

The lights ?were installed as a permanent installation in 2010 in order to keep the bridge open until the completion of the bridge structural repairs and drainage issues on the A55 below the bridge?, and revealed that the total cost for their installation was ?59,265.80, with the ongoing maintenance and hire costs associated with the safety barriers across the bridge amounting to ?107,036.83.

Sam said:
?These closures were supposed to be temporary, but the Welsh Government seems to be in no hurry to get the work done. In the meantime, huge sums of money are being spent on maintaining the traffic lights.

?Together the two projects to date have cost ?227,571, a phenomenal amount which could have been used far more productively. The Welsh Government needs to urgently look at this and get the work done so that no more money is wasted.?

[Hugo]

Controversial one-way promenade scheme 'already decided before people objected'
Conwy Council's cabinet has agreed to press ahead with the scheme in Rhos-on-Sea

Is anyone surprised?             The West Shore and North Shore in Llandudno come to mind and yet we are stiched up again by the CCBC



https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/controversial-one-way-promenade-scheme-27121531

[norman08]

Oh yes Hugo. The talk is it was done and dusted by the last councillor in charge of ERF.   Another tick box by the shower on CCBC.