Councillor’s membership of health board under scrutiny
A COUNCILLOR was appointed to sit on a health board even though the company he co-founded was under investigation for its involvement in a major home insulation scandal.
Now the Welsh Government has been called on to explain why Councillor Phil White was seen as an appropriate person to be a member of Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.
The call comes from a former Bridgend council leader after it was revealed the authority will have to pay £855,000 towards the cost of refurbishing homes at Caerau, near Maesteg, that were damaged by Mr White’s company, Green Renewable Wales (GRW).
An internal audit report published by Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) confirmed that it was unclear how the contract was awarded to Mr White’s company and what inspections of the work were undertaken by council staff.
The inquiry took place after residents reported multiple examples of shoddy workmanship when their houses were insulated by GRW.
Some of the homes later had to be repaired at a cost of more than £20,000 each.
GRW was paid £316,192.20 excluding VAT by BCBC between February and May 2013.
Mr White died last October before an inquiry report into his conduct was published by the Ombudsman.
Last month, Climate Change Minister Julie James said £2.65m had been set aside to compensate affected homeowners, conditional on a business case being put forward by BCBC.
A report to the next council cabinet meeting on February 8 states: “The work required is likely to mean stripping off the existing cladding and installing new.
“The Welsh Government offer of funding is … on the basis that this council will also make a financial contribution towards the overall scheme.
“It is very difficult at this stage to accurately estimate the total cost of the full programme as there are various unknowns. ...
“However, it is also clear that, for a number of reasons, the cost of most capital schemes has increased significantly since ‘Nuvision’ provided an original estimate of £16,000-£20,000 per home to strip off and replace the existing cladding. It is prudent therefore to work on the basis of a cost of up to £30,000 per home.
“The total cost therefore of carrying out the necessary work on all 104 homes, together with project management costs, quality assurance checks and contingency is likely to mean the total costs of a full programme are estimated to be £3.5m.
“On that basis the council will be asked to contribute funding of £855,000.”
Mr White served as an independent board member of Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board from November 2019 until his death in October 2021. He was paid between £10,000 and £15,000 per year.
Prior to that he was an unpaid associate board member from December 2018.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Phil White was appointed to the role following a fair, open and transparent recruitment process.”
A spokesman for BCBC said: “The appointment of Cllr White to the role of independent member representing local authorities on Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board was handled in its entirety by the public appointments branch of the Welsh Government.
“As such, BCBC didn’t have a role in his appointment.
“There would have been open competition and he would have been one of several candidates as essential criteria for the role included being a sitting member of a local authority within the Cwm Taf region.”