Written - Isle of Anglesey County Council – Intervention

This statement updates Members on developments with my intervention into the Isle of Anglesey County Council.

On July 15th, the Auditor General for Wales published a highly critical report on the corporate governance of the Council, and recommended that the Welsh Assembly Government intervene to secure recovery.  I indicated that I agreed in principle with that recommendation in an oral statement to Plenary the same day.

Since then, I have considered the report in depth, and I and my officials have discussed the issues it raises in detail with the Council, the Auditor General and the WLGA.  My view remains the same.  The Council is in a grave situation and is very ill-equipped to address the concerns and interests of Anglesey's citizens and communities.   Intervention by the Welsh Assembly Government, while regrettable, remains the only defensible option.

Following my statement to Plenary, I sent to the Council a draft direction, by way of consultation, which set out the terms on which I proposed to intervene.  The Council is entitled to make representations about my proposed direction before I finalise it.  I am pleased to say that those representations have been positive.  The Council fully accepts the need for us to act and the terms on which I propose to do so. 

I have therefore today issued the Council with a formal direction which reflects my earlier proposals.  Its terms are as follows.

1. To require the Council to comply fully and sustainably with all of the Auditor General's recommendations as soon as possible.

This is self-explanatory.  The Auditor General has identified serious and enduring weaknesses which the Council must rectify. 

2. To prevent the Council exercising its functions as to the appointing of a head of paid service / managing director for a period of two years.

Anglesey has been without a permanent managing director for several months.  The post is currently filled on an acting basis by the Director of Education and Leisure, who understandably wishes to return full-time to those duties. 
The Council now needs a managing director with proven experience in remedial change management and corporate governance rebuilding.   There are very few such individuals available and I do not believe the Council would be able to recruit such a person itself.  Its current problems and its seriously damaged reputation would deter many candidates and the open recruitment process it would have to follow would take far too long.  The Council fully accepts this position.  
Instead, I have exercised the Council's power to designate a head of paid service under section of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, effectively taking the decision on behalf of the Council.  After careful consideration I am very pleased to designate Mr David Bowles to the position of interim head of paid service (managing director).  David has a very strong reputation in exactly the areas we seek, including a highly successful recent appointment as interim chief executive in Bridgend.  He will start work in the autumn.

In designating David I have been very conscious of the importance of the Welsh language within the Council and on the island generally.  David does not speak Welsh.  If there had been an available Welsh-speaking candidate with equal or greater skills and experience, I would have appointed him or her to this temporary post.  But exhaustive inquiries have failed to identify such a person.  Instead, I am directing the Council to make suitable arrangements to support David in dealing with members, officers and citizens who prefer to use Welsh by the provision of appropriate translation and interpreter facilities.

David's appointment will be for a maximum of one year in the first instance.  We and he hope that by the end of that period the Council will be in a position to appoint its own permanent managing director who will work to embed the recovery before I formally end our intervention.

3. To prohibit the Council from amending its scheme of delegations (which sets out the functions to be discharged by Members, committees and officers) unless directed to do so by me.

This is a less significant but, in my view, necessary requirement.  Conflict between groups of members, and between members and officers, is central to Anglesey's problems.  There may very well be a case for revisiting their respective roles as part of the recovery, but now is not the time to do so.  The existing scheme of delegations must therefore remain in place for the time being.

4. To require the Council to co-operate with a Recovery Board, which I will appoint to monitor progress and to advise me and the Council on it.

Intervention is not a step that any Minister should take lightly.  But having done so, I need to be sure of the progress Anglesey is making and of the need for any further action from here.  I will therefore be appointing a Recovery Board to provide me with authoritative and independent advice on these matters.  The Board may also advise the Council on possible courses of action. 

Discussions with possible Board members are continuing and I will make a further announcement in due course.  Again, the Board will start work in the autumn.

My direction lasts for two years, although I reserve the right to curtail, extend or amend it at any time.  Before considering whether to withdraw the direction, I will need clear and incontrovertible evidence that the Council has fully addressed all of the problems that the Auditor General has identified.  But I am not interested in cosmetic change or in compliance for its own sake.  I will wish to be satisfied that the new arrangements the Council puts in place are robust and sustainable, and allow the Council effectively to address the serious challenges that the island will face in the longer term.   For that to happen, all within the Council must accept the need for change and work with the new arrangements to secure a rapid and sustainable recovery.  I trust that they will do so.

I would be happy to make an oral statement if Assembly Members wish me to do so, at the first opportunity in the new session