Clive McGregor Press Release1

8/7/2019 Clive McGregor Press Release1

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Press Release.

The announcement a few days ago that 30 members of the Isle of Anglesey County Councilhad come together to create an alliance to move the Council forward should have beenwelcome news for the staff of the County Council and the residents of Anglesey. The groupmay have had their plans approved by Mr Ieuan Wyn Jones AM and Mr Albert Owen MP andin legal terms is a valid document. It did however fall short of satisfying certain key playersin this unfortunate drama. It did not meet in full with the wishes of the Minister for Local

Government, the Recovery Board set up by the Minister to oversee the interventionmeasures in Anglesey and with Mr David Bowles the Interim Managing Director. Certainmembers of the Original Independents have frustrated recovery in the past, members such

as.

To set the whole thing in context, we probably need to go back to 1996 and the formationof the present Authority. It became apparent very early on in the life of the Council that

governance was poor culminating in a very critical District Auditor’s report. It is ironic thatmany of the difficulties highlighted in the 2009 Corporate Governance report involved thesame issues. A common theme emerging was that many of the Councillors were activemembers of the Authority through both periods. For so long the “numbers” game has taken

precedent over principled leadership, patronage has been the order of the day in order tosecure working majorities, difficult decisions have been fudged in case a working majority islost. Taken together it is little wonder that the Authority is in intervention and internalturmoil.

I stood for election as a Councillor in 2008 for the first time because I was hugelyembarrassed that the Island which had been my home for 20 years was being portrayednationally as something akin to a “banana republic” I also recognised that it would requirevery many new faces in the Authority if change was to happen. I wanted to change the

political culture of the authority, this culture that had existed since 1996 (and even beforethat in the Borough Council). Upon entering the Council, it soon became apparent to methat good governance and integrity were in very short supply amongst the longer servingcouncillors, “the winner takes all culture” was endemic, a change of administration merelyrearranged the personnel with no recognition being paid to the skills of individualcouncillors to undertake posts carrying Special Responsibility Allowances.

In 2008 , a total of 11 new councillors were elected to the Authority together with 3 others

returning for a second period having been absent from the Council for some years. Formany of them it was a harsh welcome to the realities of politics Anglesey style wherepersonalities took precedent over policies. I was fortunate that I was appointed a portfolio



holder upon entering the Council so was even closer to witness the vested interests beingplayed out. Despite all the difficulties that have emerged over the last two years I considerthat I have been privileged to have been elected leader of the Authority, I have tried to

follow an “inclusive” path as leader but have been frustrated along the way by many

members.

Throughout my time as a member of the Authority, I and other like minded councillors havetried to tackle the vested interests that existed amongst some members. Trying to change aculture where members’ personal interests trump political principles has been verydemanding and often attracted unsavoury comments in the press and electronic media. Thereaction of many members to the efforts that have been made tells a very sorry tale, many

members are resistant to change, there is a reluctance to change and recalcitrance amongsta few. They continue to put the pursuit of self interest and settling old scores above that of

governance.

We have members whose sole interest is seeking revenge, by whatever means possible, onmembers of staff for instigating complaints to the Ombudsman. We have members whoseparticipation in Council activities depends on whether they receive an SRA or not, memberswho are more concerned about how much money they can make out of their positions as

Councillors on bodies that pay an attendance allowance or a fixed remuneration sum than inrepresenting their electorate.

This new coalition announced last Monday is a clear manifestation and continuation of this

agenda. Let’s be perfectly honest, many of those putting themselves forward as saviours of the authority have played prominent roles in local politics over the last 15 years. Many of the longstanding issues that we have experienced as an authority emerged when theycontrolled the authority. These members have had plenty of opportunities in the past to dosomething to improve governance. They did nothing.

I have looked at documents prepared by the Wales Audit Office from 2003 to the present

time. It was little wonder that intervention was imposed in 2009, every year reported afailure politically to deal with issues, who were the leaders and cabinet members in that

period? It will be no surprise that they included ,, , to name but a

few. These are the very same people who are now offering up a solution to “save” the

Council. They spurned the opportunities of the past yet now when their interests are underthreat they experience a damascene conversion. Suddenly things need to change. Let’s beclear however, the changes they seek is on their terms, it cannot be in the interests of thepeople of Anglesey and the hardworking staff of this Authority, otherwise it would havehappened long before 2008.

In June 2010 I was party in forming the Alliance and the terms of engagement as a means of trying to stabilise the Council. The Executive was strengthened by members from outside



the then ruling group. There was a great deal of hostility within the Independents regardingcertain aspects of the Terms of Engagement, some of the points in contention were directlyattributable to inappropriate member behaviour, it would be fair therefore to assume that

they concurred with accepting inappropriate behaviour by members towards the staff of the

Authority. Amongst the leaders who signed the June 2010 document were Councillor JohnChorlton and Councillor Hefin Thomas, by so doing they signified their and their groups’acceptance of the Terms of Engagement, one of which was to ensure a stable politicalenvironment for the Authority up until June 2012.

On 6 th January 2011, I was told by that a majority of members in the Authority including and along with

required my immediate resignation as Leader and that I would bereplaced by . I declined his suggestion. On Friday 7 th January 2011, I

had taken a personal decision to stand down as leader of the Authority at the completion of my two year appointment at the AGM in May 2011 and that I would not be seeking re-election. Later both and sought to further persuademe to resign under threat of a vote of no confidence in me as Leader of the Authority.

These two Councillors along with were party to the

drafting of the Terms of Engagement except that he having initially signed the documentdisassociated himself with it a couple of days later. How can members of the public haveconfidence in the integrity of councillors if they behave in such a fashion and quite willinglyand knowingly break agreements because they don’t meet with their aspirations at a givenmoment in time.

It is little wonder therefore that the Minister, the Recovery Board or even Mr David Bowlescan have any kind of faith in what they propose let alone the people of Anglesey and more

importantly our staff who, day in, day out provide the services for the citizens of Anglesey.This Authority handles a budget of £150 million annually, in the past it has failed to graspvital issues because the “winner takes all” philosophy prevented stable governance fromaddressing key decisions such as school rationalisation, care homes investment andrationalisation and many other issues. Officers could not be certain that their professional

views on modernising services would be acceptable to the politicians of the day. Whilstother Authorities forged ahead and modernised their services, we unfortunately are playingcatch up and doing so against a backdrop of member vested interest.

The average age of Councillors in this Authority is 62.5, in the rest of Wales it is 57, we onlyhave two women members in the Authority which is 5% of the elected members, the Welshaverage is 22%. We need to rejuvenate the democratic process by attracting youngercandidates to stand as councillors, people who will be committed to governance

improvement and not pursuing vested interests. Above all we must be honest with the

public as to who we are, what our background is and why we are seeking election or re-election.



I am reminded of a quote made by Nick Robinson of the BBC in April 2009

“For years politicians have argued about how to spend the proceeds of growth. Foryears to come they will have to argue about what should be cut”

In this current climate I would change one word only and that is in the future we have toagree about what should be cut. To do that all members have to abandon self interest andput the needs of the community ahead of any other interests and carry out their duties withintegrity and in a professional manner.

Documents

Clive McGregor Press Release1