Madam,

Ceredigion County Council’s £6m spend on private consultants since 2011 is a total disgrace.

Ellen ap Gwynn became leader in May 2012 and, upon assuming leadership, made the statement: “I intend to be an inclusive leader, and will work hard to ensure that Ceredigion people feel involved in council decisions.” Her actions have not lived up to her promises to us.

By endorsing highly costly contracts with private consultants and then hiding behind “commercial sensitivities” as justification for failure to give full explanation, the council is effectively confirming that it is unable to think laterally in order to evaluate and monitor itself. This has resulted in short-term, shambolic, and extortionately expen-sive panic measures. To add insult to injury we learn, through the Cam-brian News, that the council has justified awarding a £500,000 interest-free loan to a private businessman, to carry out works that he had committed to undertake himself. An enforcement notice did not galvanise him into action, so the council want to lend him our money!

PwC receive a percentage of the ‘savings’ that they propose, regardless of if they are suitable or approved by the general council.

The announcement that the council has paid £380,000 to PwC for a written technical services report advising privatisation of the council’s refuse collection service, which thankfully has not been implemented, would be laughable if it wasn’t so obscene. At £380,000 this document is a scandalous and indefensible waste of our public money.

We are told that there has been a 50 per cent cut in senior staff employed by the council, and council leaders have used this to justify guidance being outsourced. If the council has not sought to retain or recruit staff of sufficient calibre and with the necessary acumen to regulate itself, how can we trust that the council can deliver the diverse services it is responsible for? And this is especially so with social services where the immensely unpopular transfer of Bodlondeb to the private sector is a particular example. We need to ensure that it is not the most vulnerable members of our community that bear the greatest impact. Nursing dementia care does need to be addressed within the county. However we need to provide a facility of excellence, with a building that is specific to need and is able to provide the envi-ronment that promotes best practice and has established benefits for the individuals for whom we all have responsibility.

As the leader, Cllr ap Gwynn does have to be accountable for the imprudent procurement of PwC and other consultants, and decision-making on social care provision within the council.

Her actions and justification certainly don’t live up to her promises in 2012 to involve and engage with the people of Ceredigion; she should therefore, based purely on performance and breaking her promise, do the honourable thing and resign.

Yours etc

S Jones (Ms)

Furnace.