You need an upgraded security pass to get through the glass door and walk the corridor of power at Penmorfa.

Up to a couple of years ago, access was open to the majority of Ceredigion County Council staff working at the Aberaeron headquarters. Not anymore. But then again, most staff now are home-based.

Only the chosen few – certainly not most elected county councillors – get to enter. The councillors on the Cabinet, yes; Cllr Elizabeth Evans, the leader of the Lib Dems, too. For the rest, it’s a strict case of Peidiwch â mynd i mewn heb ganiatâd – Do not enter without permission.

Up there, it’s the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum, the capo di tutti capi as it were. Some make it through the glass ceiling; few get to walk through the glass door.

The biggest office – the one with the best view overlooking the harbour – is occupied by the council’s Chief Executive Officer, Eifion Evans. When the sea defence works are eventually done – they’re over budget, behind schedule and Ceredigion went £20 million more in debt last year to borrow for them – his view will be unimpeded and imperious. Just like the way he runs the council.

If there was piped music on this executive, elite floor, The Police might provide the soundtrack: “Every move you make, every step you take, I’ll be watching you…”

Because he is.

Every county councillor has been warned. Their emails are monitored, their words parsed, actions scrutinised. Any misspeak, misstep, misdemeanour, Ms Prysor is pressed into action.

She now occupies the office immediately adjacent to Mr Evans.

She is the woman next door.

“It’s a blatant attempt to control democracy,” said one councillor of many to speak to Cambrian News about the contents of this article. “We’re warned not to speak to the press, particularly [the Cambrian News],” said another. “Any word out of line and we will face the Monitoring Office. It’s like the Star Chamber.”

According to Welsh Statutory Instruments laid down in 2001, the responsibility of Monitoring Officers include conducting investigations into matters referred to them under the Local Government Act 2000; reporting findings to the Standards Committee of the relevant authority; making recommendations based on their investigations; assisting in the conduct of investigations and obtaining expert advice when necessary; advising on legality, maladministration, and impropriety within the local authority, and acting as consultants to the authority's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

They’re also responsible for maintaining a council’s Constitution and responding to complaints from the ombudsman. That alone ought to keep Ms Prysor busy. Complaints from Ceredigion Council to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales rose from 32 in 2023-24 to 47 last year. Cases pass through her office.

But Ms Prysor has, multiple Cambrian News sources say, taken to monitoring the social media accounts of councillors and has warned your elected representatives that they are being watched closely.

“It’s not Big Brother,” one quipped. “It’s Big Mother”.

The net effect, councillors say, is an attempt to stifle debate or opposition, based on tenuous claims of vested interests, within the Evans-dominated and Plaid Cymru-controlled council. The warnings are that they will be reported to the Public Services Ombudsman for the slightest perceived breach of Ceredigion’s Code of Conduct.

Those warnings apply to all. The councillors all asked Cambrian News for anonymity because they would likely face the wrath of Mr Evans and questions from the woman next door. Yes, it’s that bad.

One Plaid Cymru councillor, whose mother is in the Hafan y Waun care home in Aberystwyth, was told not to address the issue of care in Ceredigion or its closing of the Tregerddan care home in Bow Street.

Another, whose cousin owns a shop in Aberystwyth, was warned against speaking on new parking charges on the prom.

“It’s excessive and, speaking to councillors in other local authority areas, is extreme and out of the ordinary,” Cambrian News was told by one councillor.

That excessive control reached the stage where Cllr Hugh Hughes, from Borth, took the highly unusual step of reporting himself to the ombudsman.

At a heated, closed-doors meeting over the then proposed closure of four primary schools in the Aberystwyth area, Cllr Hughes used the common expression that “people want blood”, directly quoting from a constituent.

Cllr Hughes was taken to task by Mr Evans and the Monitoring Officer for saying: “The issue is not going to go away, we need a full independent investigation about it; people are angry and furious about the whole process, people want blood.”

He was interviewed four times by the Monitoring Office. He had enough of the questions and what he judged to be an oppressive atmosphere and instead referred himself to the ombudsman. The ombudsman concluded that while the language might be offensive to some, the councillor had every right to use the words spoken by his constituents.

Even when Cllr Hughes, a retired senior police officer with decades of policing and investigation work under his belt, made a public statement and released the ombudsman’s report, he was brought in for another round of questions.

“Hugh’s case is tantamount to bullying,” another councillor said. “It shows how the process is being used to keep councillors in line. It’s almost a badge of honour now, particularly for opposition councillors, if they’re hauled before Elin [Prysor].”

“I only wish other councillors grew a set of gonads to speak out,” another told Cambrian News.

The newspaper posed a series of question to Ceredigion County Council about the role and scope of the Monitoring Office. The council declined to answer those questions at the end of August, instead advising the publication to submit Freedom of Information questions. It did, however, reply to the FoI request last week.

We asked, for example: How many Ceredigion councillors have had hearings before the Monitoring Office since January 1, 2024?

“None,” the council says. Not one. Dim.

Cambrian News put that response to Cllr Hughes.

“My perception is that the Monitoring Officer should act as the independent moral and legal conscience of the council as a whole to ensure that members and staff behave correctly and the council acts lawfully,” he told us. “This also upholds the reputation of the council. Members regularly seek advice from the Monitoring Officer for various reasons, for example on issues of disclosures of interest. This can be done by a formal request for advice during meeting or informal discussions.

“The Monitoring Officer may decide to bring a matter to the attention of a member if it is thought that rules pertaining to disclosures of interest or specific issues concerning the Code of Conduct need to be considered., he said.

“Whilst it is vital to have the advice of the Monitoring Officer, I feel it is equally important that members are fully conversant with the Code of Conduct that should underpin everything that they do whilst undertaking their public office.”

Cambrian News asked him if the current situation is rather like when a Mafioso walks into a bar and tells the business owner what a nice bar it is, and it would be a pity of something happened?

The Borth councillor laughed. “No, not at all like that,” he told the Cambrian News, adding that he was nevertheless concerned about the direction the discussions with the Monitoring Officer that he felt compelled to report himself to the Welsh Local Government ombudsman.