CEREDIGION council’s leader has been pilloried by one of her predecessors over paying millions of pounds to consultants and then swearing on national television.

Dai Lloyd Evans, the leader of the council between 1998 and 2008, has said that the council’s decision to pay Pricewaterhouse Coopers (Pwc) nearly £2m to suggest savings that were “blindingly obvious” to anyone was a “disgrace”, and that current leader Cllr Ellen ap Gwynn’s appearance on nationally televised documentary was an “embarrassment”.

Cllr ap Gwynn was being interviewed about the controversial contract with consultants by respected investigative journalist Jacques Peretti for a BBC2 programme called Who’s Spending Britain’s Billions? which was screened all over the UK.

She ended it by losing her temper, swearing, and throwing the TV crew out of her office.

Cllr ap Gwynn has since apologised to councillors, and herself, for her reaction, but Mr Lloyd Evans said that her appearance had “created a bad impression of Ceredigion”.

“Throughout the country people would have seen that,” Mr Lloyd Evans, now retired, said.

“It creates a really bad impression of Ceredigion and the council.

“I was under a lot of pressure in my time as leader for various things, but I never lost my temper, and you simply can’t respond like that.

“It is her duty to give the right impression of Ceredigion and to give people the answers on why this contract was awarded."

“I have followed closely the Cambrian News stories over the months on this, and I have to say it gets me very hot under the collar,” Mr Lloyd Evans added.

“The council has extremely well-paid officers who should be making these decisions - not wasting £2m of people’s money on consultants who know nothing about Ceredigion."

Cllr ap Gwynn has defended the PwC contract, saying that while it cost taxpayers £2m, it achieved savings of £12m to £14m.

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