I’ve been meaning to cover this one for a while and I want to try and get as many of these “community council does silly thing” stories out of the way – because it’s not going to end here.
It concerns Llangynwyd Middle Community Council – which covers Llangynwyd village, Pont Rhyd-y-Cyff, Lletty Brongu and Cwmfelin to the south of Maesteg.
You probably recognise the name of the council. Although this is a separate set of events to those covered in the recent Audit Wales report, it’s a direct consequence of what happened.
I’m wary of individuals, parties and groups who will want to try and cover their backs following that report – including sitting town and county councillors – so I’ve decided to keep the names and parties of those involved out of this story (even if it’s something of an open secret).
Llangynwyd Middle Council as a whole is culpable for what happens on its watch and collectively responsible for cleaning up its messes. I’m not going to say anything to suggest one party or group is less or more culpable or incompetent than any other because they all need to look at themselves.
The clean-up
Following the dismissal of the previous clerk, the post of clerk was vacant and the Council found themselves in a financial hole.
Although it should only be used in an emergency, councillors are allowed to act temporarily as Clerk. Resultingly, one councillor (A) took on the role of acting clerk and verbally resigned from the Council. As a temporary clerk they couldn’t be paid, which meant a Council employee (a park warden) would keep their job despite the financial losses the Council incurred.
Once the situation had stabilised, it was agreed that a new Clerk would be appointed with a salary of £11,000 a year. (A) had decided they would apply for the Clerk role full-time and their appointment was eventually agreed by the Council.
There’s a cooling-off period of a year before a councillor can take on a paid role at their former council.
Towards the end of this 12-month cooling-off period – where (A) had worked as Clerk for free – the council agreed to reduce the salary from £11,000, to £10,000. (A) eventually accepted £9,000 to provide extra funds for outsourced work as (A) didn’t believe they were suitably trained to do it (mainly relating to website maintenance).
The Rows Begin
A senior member of the council, (B), thought this was an attempt by (A) to “bribe” the council to take them on as Clerk by accepting a lower salary than was originally agreed.
Once the 12-month cooling-off period had ended and (A) started being paid, other councillors started to question the decision they had already made to appoint them.
Legal advice was sought from BCBC’s Monitoring Officer and One Voice Wales (the national community council body). That advice pointed towards the appointment of (A) and payments being legitimate and a ratified verbal contract was contained in the Council’s minutes.
Meetings started to be derailed by (B) and others, with observers saying the behaviour towards (A) resulted in the council not being able to function properly.
After an extraordinary meeting was called at the request of (B) – without proper notice and without the approval of the Council’s Chair – (A) was uncermoniously sacked as Clerk.
The Suit and Counter Suit
Within a few months of being dismissed, (A) requested to be paid their contractual notice period, back pay and holiday entitlements. This was rejected by the Council.
On behalf of the Council, (A) was taken to the Small Claims Court for a sum of £1,000+.
However, because the proper procedure hadn’t been followed by (B) and the Council as a whole, (A) had a good case to make a counter-claim and after the Council’s case was dismissed won £500+. This is all before the Council made any moves to claim a single penny back from the previous Clerk, Natalie Morgan.
