Council behaviour 'must improve'

A recovery board was introduced in July to oversee improvements in the council

The local government minister has warned he could intervene again in the running of a crisis-hit council.

Dr Brian Gibbons said some members of Anglesey council continue to show some of the behaviour criticised in an auditor general's report in the summer.

He said he could step in unless there was a "rapid improvement" and the council took a shared responsibility.

Meanwhile, a member of the council has been removed from the ruling executive over a "difference of opinion".

Dr Gibbons made his warning about fresh intervention while giving assembly members a progress report into the initial work of the independent recovery board, appointed to oversee improvements.

In July, he set up the board and last month appointed a managing director for the council, giving the authority a two-year deadline to improve.

If matters do not improve, I will not hesitate to use my powers again in order to strengthen the terms of direction Local Government Minister Dr Brian Gibbons

The board's initial work involves issues of political behaviour, discipline and relationships between members and officers.

It followed an auditor general's report which said the council suffered from "serious persistent problems" deriving from "personality politics".

Dr Gibbons told AMs, the board had found a few members "continued to exhibit some of the sorts of behaviour" which the auditor general had criticised.

"This is a matter of considerable concern as Anglesey's recovery will fail unless all members and officers of the council accept a shared responsibility for the current problems and contribute fully to action required in resolving them."

"At the same time, there is still a tendency for some to ascribe the council's problems to the actions and behaviour of a few named councillors.

"However unacceptable such behaviours may be, blaming individuals for what is undoubtedly a deep-rooted corporate failure is not only misguided, it is also no recipe for sustainable recovery.

'Valuable contribution'

"In the coming weeks, I expect to see rapid improvement in members' behaviour and in the contribution of all members and officers to the recovery.

"If matters do not improve, I will not hesitate to use my powers again in order to strengthen the terms of direction. "

In a separate development, long serving Councillor Elwyn Schofield has been removed from the council executive, where he held the property and smallholdings portfolio.

Council leader Clive McGregor said: "I can confirm that a difference of opinion between Councillor Schofield and the rest of the executive has led to a parting of the ways.

"He still, however, remains a valued member of the original independent group and I would like to thank him for the valuable contribution he made to the executive."

It is understood that the disagreement between Mr Schofield and his executive colleagues occurred over the wording of a prepared statement which dealt with a letter of complaint prepared by the then executive in December 2008, about some of the authority's most senior officers.

The statement says that the executive "individually and collectively now apologize for the letter and its contents and retract the allegations contained therein".