Madam,

It has been revealed that Ceredigion County Council has spent more on consultants than almost every other council in Wales per head of population, which is both profligate and disgraceful, and raises yet further question marks about the calibre of leadership and decision-making displayed by senior officers and councillors.

The naked truth is that, since 2011, Ceredigion spent over £6m on consultants; whereas Swansea with a four times higher population spent just one third of the Ceredigion total; Denbighshire with a 25 per cent per cent higher population spent less than a quarter of Ceredigion’s spend, and the Vale of Glamorgan, despite almost doubling Ceredigion’s population, spent just £875!

Given also the council’s dreadful performance in recent weeks, including Ellen ap Gwynn’s unprofessional performance on BBC2; news that the council is planning to act as an interest-free bank to a local businessman; and the decision to transfer the council’s only older persons’ residential care home in Aberystwyth to the private sector to be run as a specialist nursing dementia home, despite the building layout of Bodlondeb being totally unsuitable for this need, there is now clear evidence that there should be a full and independent investigation into the performance of council leaders.

It has become apparent that there is a dearth of skill-level and knowledge held within senior echelons of the council, otherwise why would these senior officers have spent over £6m on consultants to inform and guide them?

As public, we need to have confidence that the council is being properly and independently scrutinized, and therefore this means bringing in the Wales Audit Office to investigate and even a public inquiry being held.

Yours etc,

Louise Roberts, Aberystwyth.

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