Letter to the Western Mail.

I don't normally publish letters on the blog, only the ones I think will be censored. This is such a letter:

Dear Editor,

Permit me to respond to yesterday’s headline report in the Western Mail where Carl Sargeant accuses Welsh Council’s of ‘complacency, under-performance and senseless bureaucracy;’ and of course they exist in ALL public services in Wales including Mr Sargeant’s own Civil Service within the Welsh Government and the National Assembly; but it is of course easier to blame others rather than clear out one’s own backyard especially as most that work in that backyard have ‘bomb proof’ conditions of service which ensures that they will never be touched by the cold winds of recession, unlike Local Government employees.

Welsh Government Ministers should ‘put their money where their mouth is’ and do their bit to reduce ‘senseless bureaucracy’ by implementing a system of audit and inspection that is fit for purpose and not the current burdensome inspection regimes that take staff away from the front line to satisfy the whims of the Welsh Audit Office, CSSIW, Estyn and so on.

Yours faithfully,

Councillor Arfon Jones,
Lead Member for Children and Young People,
Wrecsam County Borough Council.