Home issues on Flintshire agenda

By Brendon Williams
BBC News website

Repairing Flintshire's 7,500 council homes will cost about £126m

As Wales goes to the polls to elect new councils on 1 May, we profile some of the counties and key local issues.

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Much of its last four-year term saw Flintshire Council trying to get its house in order - or should that be houses?

In 2004 the council was ordered to pay £111,860 to a former auditor because of the way it treated him when he raised concerns over financial issues.

Later, a two-year police investigation into the conduct of senior council officials resulted in no criminal charges being brought.

As part of that investigation, police scrutinised a number of issues, including the council's handling of housing grants, although the exact details of that probe are not known and there is no suggestion it was linked to the current problems faced by the housing department.

FLINTSHIRE COUNCIL Labour: 35 Independent and Non-Aligned Alliance Group: 18 Liberal Democrat: 10 Conservative: 4 Non-aligned Plaid Cymru: 1 Non-aligned: 1 Vacancies: 1

After concerns over the housing department's deficit, the council announced it was cutting 101 jobs as part of a cost-saving plan.

Housing is still a controversial issue for the authority, which must decide whether to transfer its 7,500 homes to a housing association, or borrow money to fund the repairs.

It is a problem faced by many Welsh councils. But for Flintshire it is a particularly big problem, after they revealed in 2007 that it would cost £126m to bring its properties up to standard.

Only Flintshire's voters can decide whether this issue, or others, will affect how they act in the polling booths.

The county has been Labour-controlled since 1996, and the party currently holds half of the 70 seats.

For residents living in and around Buckley, the issue of landfill sites could be an important factor in the election.

The A494 road-widening scheme was a major issue in Flintshire

In February the council deferred a decision on an application for a new site at Parry's Quarry, near Buckley.

There has been local opposition from residents who claim there have already been too many tips in the area.

Voters in the Queensferry area will be keen to have their voices heard after local campaign groups claimed victory in the Welsh Assembly Government's recent decision to abandon plans for a seven-lane superhighway on the A494.

Road and transport issues still remain high on the agenda there.

Just like in 2004, Flintshire Council is likely to want people to judge it on the county's economic record in the last decade.

When British Steel and Cortaulds textile factory closed in the 1980s, unemployment rose to 20%.

Today, the picture is very different, with 1.9% of the population claiming jobseekers' allowance.

The county's average weekly wage for full time workers is £411.60, according to the Office of National Statistics.

Although Flintshire is geographically split into rural and urban areas, much of the workforce is employed in manufacturing.

Labour currently hold exactly half of Flintshire's 70 seats

On Deeside Industrial Park, car giant Toyota recently announced an £88m investment that it said would secure 200 jobs.

Airbus, which makes wings for the A380 superjumbo at Broughton, remains by far the largest employer. With more than 6,000 workers, it is Wales' biggest manufacturing facility.

Industry is focused on the east of the county, along the coast from Deeside to Mostyn, whereas the north of the county remains predominantly rural.

Flintshire has also attracted one of the UK's best-known price comparison websites - moneysupermarket.com - which employs about 600 people in Ewloe.

According to recently-published statistics from the Welsh Assembly Government, Flintshire's population increased by 1% from 148,600 in 2001 to 150,077 in mid 2006.

Of those, 28,935 (19%) are identified as children, 92,360 (62%) are of working age and 28,782 (19%) are pensioners.

According to the figures, Flintshire and Conwy are the only local authorities where the majority of people do not consider themselves Welsh (41.1% in Flintshire).

Figures from the 2001 Census show 71.6% of people have no knowledge of the Welsh language, compared to 16.3% who speak, read and write Welsh.