Council shows lack of transparency

AS A resident of Islwyn and a former Member of European Parliament for Wales I am concerned about a lack of transparency at Caerphilly council and the tendency for it to try to avoid scrutiny.

Scrutiny is essential for ensuring public money is spent wisely. It is therefore concerning that council leaders effectively ignored a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from local councillor Kevin Etheridge, taking four months to respond, and only after Mr Etheridge complained to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Most areas of government place great importance on answering FOI requests for two reasons: firstly, it is a legal requirement and, secondly, because it is essential for maintaining public trust. This incident is sadly not the only example that appears to show leaders at Caerphilly council treating public scrutiny with contempt.

Councillor meetings to scrutinise council actions were halted due to lockdown, but while most other organisations have managed to hold meetings via video conference, the council has said these important meetings will not commence until September.

This means no effective scrutiny will take place across a six-month period when the council is using all sorts of new Covid-19 powers. I am told Labour council cabinet meetings are taking place via video conference, so why not scrutiny meetings?

These are serious questions that need to be answered by council leader Philippa Marsden as the reluctance of the council to embrace transparency and scrutiny begs one question: what are they trying to hide from the tax-paying public? James Wells

Former MEP and INTA Committee member