Madam,

I am compelled to write in response to inaccuracies in the letter from Ms S Jones (Leader should stand down after £6m spend on consultants).

The figure of £6m does seem high compared to other authorities but this represents the total spend on all consultants since 2011, so £1.6m of this was historical and prior to this administration being formed.

Also included in the £6m figure is some £2.2m associated with capital projects such as the Borth Flood Defence Scheme which will have been funded through project funding and grants, and therefore not funded from Ceredigion County Council budgets.

It is well documented that Ceredigion County Council has paid PwC £1.98m and this was done in full knowledge of all 42 elected members of Ceredigion County Council, so why ask for the resignation of one member when all councillors are accountable to the electorate of Ceredigion?

That leaves us with £220,000 spend which is a far more realistic figure, bearing in mind that PwC is a one-off occurrence.

There is no justification to call for the leader of Ceredigion County Council to resign.

The electorate of Ceredigion will have the opportunity of electing new members to the council on 4 May 2017, and perhaps those that are ready to criticise elected members should put themselves forward at the next election.

It is also factually inaccurate to state that Ceredigion County 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”. The £500,000 monies mentioned is grant money from the Welsh Government.

With regard to the Bodlondeb issue, no final decision has yet been made regarding its future. Perhaps Ms Jones does not consider nursing dementia care to be important enough to be addressed within the county, but very many relatives of dementia sufferers would not agree.

I have had personal experience of having to travel over 100 miles in a round trip to visit an elderly mother suffering from Alzheimer’s and I can assure her that it is not a pleasant experience. Some relatives have no private transport and rely on public services (if they exists at all).

Everything needs to be put in perspective and perhaps, instead of constant criticism of staff, officers and elected members of Ceredigion County Council, an understanding of the difficult decisions that have had to be taken and will continue to have to be taken in the future will be more beneficial, in order to cope with £34m of cuts, 26 per cent of the Ceredigion budget over the period of this administration, with another £12m cuts to be faced by the next administration over the next three years.

Yours etc,

Cllr Gareth Davies, Padarn Ward, Llanbadarn Fawr, Ceredigion County Council.

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