Editor

The Liberal Democrat opposition group has called for a resumption to full democratic control by Ceredigion council’s cabinet, which will effectively see Gold Command in its current setup disbanded.

In a recent councillor briefing, opposition group leader Cllr Ceredig Davies asked how long Gold Command would be in existence, and the answer was categorically given ‘as long as there is a pandemic’.

That clearly cannot be allowed to happen.

When the remit of Gold Command as a decision making body encompasses everything Covid related, this impacts on every service across the authority.

The Liberal Democrats are seeking to reinstate the democratic right of the people of Ceredigion via the representatives they elect, to make decisions on their behalf.

We are the only council in Wales with this non-democratic structure in place to deal with the pandemic, and decisions are being made which should be in the political arena, not subject to briefings once they have already been made.

The cabinet itself is denying themselves their own democratic powers of leadership, and it is the role of the opposition to hold them to account.

The irony is not lost, that it is the opposition group who are calling for the ruling coalition to take back the powers they transferred to Gold Command.

Going forward however, it is clear that this situation should not be allowed to happen again, because the democratic role of councillors has been severely undermined and most importantly, undermined in the eyes of our residents, who expect their voices to be represented according to the democratic process set out for local government.

Cllr Elizabeth Evans, Aberaeron Ward.

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