Carmarthenshire County Council
Carmarthenshire County Council (Welsh: Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin) is the administrative unitary authority for the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales, providing a range of services under the control of elected county councillors that include education, planning, transport and streetscene, social services and public safety since 01.04.96, in light of the Local Government Act Wales (1996) introduced by the Conservative government of John Major.
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Geography | |
Area - Total - % Water |
Ranked 3rd 2,395 km² ? % |
---|---|
County Town | Carmarthen |
Largest Town | Llanelli |
ISO 3166-2 | GB-CMN |
ONS code | 00NU |
Demographics | |
Population: - Total () - Density |
Ranked Ranked / km² |
Ethnicity | 99.4% White |
Welsh language - Any skills |
Ranked 3rd 63.6% |
Politics | |
Arma of carmarthenshire County Council Carmarthenshire County Council http://www.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/ | |
Control | |
MPs | |
AMs |
|
MEPs | Wales |
The Leader of the Council is Cllr. Meryl Gravelle, and the Chief Executive is Mark James. The council is based in County Hall in Carmarthen, the former Carmarthen Prison. The council administers areas of the former county of Dyfed that were formerly done by Carmarthen District, Dinefwr Borough and Llanelli Borough councils and functions from Dyfed County Council were also transferred to the new body.
Political makeup
Elections take place every four years. The last election was 1 May 2008.[2]
Current composition
Group affiliation[1] | Members | |
---|---|---|
style="background-color:Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color"| | Independent |
30 |
style="width: 4px" bgcolor=Template:Plaid Cymru/meta/color| | [[Plaid Cymru|Template:Plaid Cymru/meta/shortname]] | 29 |
style="width: 4px" bgcolor=Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color| | [[Labour Party (UK)|Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/shortname]] | 11 |
style="background-color:Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color"| | People First |
2 |
Liberal Democrats | 1 | |
Unaffiliated |
1 | |
Total |
74 |
Historic results
Year | Plaid Cymru | Labour | Liberal Democrats | Others |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | 31 | 12 | 1 | 30 |
2004 | 16 | 25 | 1 | 32 |
1999 | 16 | 27 | 0 | 31 |
Electoral divisions
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c1/Numbered-carmarthenshire-ward-map2.png/500px-Numbered-carmarthenshire-ward-map2.png)
The county is divided into 68 electoral wards returning 74 councillors. Most of these wards are coterminous with communities. Most communities in Carmarthenshire have a community council. For each ward, councillors are elected to sit on Carmarthenshire County Council. The following table lists council wards, community councils and associated geographical areas. Communities with their own community council are marked with a *.
Public confidence
Over the past few years the Council has had some bad press. Allegations of corruption within the planning department and the Housing department's inefficiency to house local people have been well reported by the Carmarthen Journal and Llanelli Star.
Bribery trial
In November 2006, local property developer Kevin Green of Burry Port was brought to trial regarding allegations that he tried to bribe Chief Executive Mark James with £5,000 cash.
In summer 2005, Mr Green wrote to Mr James requesting a meeting to discuss ideas for affordable housing at land near a former cattle breeding centre at Travellers Rest. On 2 September, five days before the proposed meeting, Mr Green came to Mr James' office to talk through the arrangements for the meeting with the chief executive's personal assistant Liz Thomas. Geraint Walters QC, prosecuting then alleges: "Just as the defendant came to leave he handed Mrs Thomas a padded envelope which was addressed to Mark James. He said it was important Mark James received the envelope before the meeting - he said the envelope contained papers for Mr James' eyes only." [2]
On opening the envelope, Mrs James found £5,000 in £20 notes, and nothing else. On Mr James's return to the office, the Police were called. Mr Green was arrested that same day.
Secession of Llanelli
There have recently been many decisions made by the Carmarthenshire authorities, including the Council that have been very unpopular and arguably damaging to the communities of Llanelli. In reaction, there have been calls to reinstate the local government borough of Llanelli either as a county borough or as an area with city status, making the entire area independent of Carmarthenshire. These calls have so far been avoided or denied by politicians as it would essentially half the population administered by the unitary authority, causing an imbalance in the local government structure of Wales[3].