Jacob Williams https://jacobwilliams.com

The author of that other website, Cllr. Mike Stoddart, revealed last week the incongruity within the formula for determining the Local Authority allocations for the new panel being set up to support and scrutinise the soon-to-be-elected Police and Crime Commissioner. Within the political balance formula, Pembrokeshire’s thirteen unaffiliated councillors contribute towards the numbers of “independent” councillors which result in Cllr. Adams being able to appoint both of the “independent” allocations to his IPG members, whilst the council’s third and final allocation goes to the second largest party, Labour.

I’ve noticed that Cllr. Tessa Hodgson has picked up the baton, by submitting a question (#22) to Thursday’s meeting of full council, asking the leader, Jamie Adams, what criteria he used in selecting the ‘independent’ members he’s chosen to appoint to the Police and Crime Panel.

Old Grumpy guessed in his column that these new jobs would come with a Special Responsibility Allowance, and I can’t say I blame him for jumping to that conclusion. However I now have it on good authority that these three positions for Pembrokeshire councillors, going to Cllrs. Peter Stock and Lyn Jenkins of the IPG, and Cllr. Guy Woodham of Labour, will not come with an SRA – or at least, not an SRA as you know them.

The new panel of 14 members, comprises 12 assorted councillors from the local authorities within the Dyfed-Powys police force area, and 2 external “co-opted” members of the public. They have assembled for the first time, and at the meeting, they were told that the two co-opted members of the panel would be paid to attend meetings at a rate of £198 for a full day, or £98 for a half day’s work, plus travel allowances. However, they were also told that this entitlement did not extend to the councillor panel members, who were to be reimbursed for travelling expenses only.

To learn that their time was deemed to have been less valuable (in cash terms) than two ‘ordinary’ members of the public must have come as a shock and I imagine was taken as an insult by the 12 councillors from Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. As it is, I have to make do with a third-hand account, so my information on the process is sketchy, but on the outcome, it isn’t. I don’t know who said what or how it came about, but as I understand, the council-appointed members left the meeting with the same terms of remuneration (the £98/£198 top up fees) as the co-opted members.

The closing deadline for applications for the two co-opted positions closed a week ago today. The role description and application guidance advertising the posts is only a google search away, and states that the appointments are four year terms, lasting until 31st October 2016.

As the SRAs, as we shall call them, are linked to the meetings of the panel, the amount of remuneration is going to be influenced by: how many meetings the panel members are expected to attend, how long those meetings will last, and how far the panel members have to travel. The role description states:

“The Police and Crime Panel will meet as and when required. As the Panel is a new public body, it is difficult to say how many meetings will be necessary but it is expected that it could meet up to 6 times a year. Travel expenses will be payable.”

If all six of those anticipated meetings take up a whole day’s hard graft, that works out at £1188 per year, plus untold mileage claims. Sounds like a bargain to me!

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Quid pro quo

I’m almost ashamed to admit that I’ve been shanghaied into making a contribution towards Plaid Cymru’s campaign funds, albeit the small sum of £1.

As a few of us were waiting in the tea room ahead of a “corporate management speak”-laden update from the Pembrokeshire Ministerial Board yesterday afternoon, Cllr. Michael Williams (Tenby North) shamelessly seized the opportunity to exploit a captive flock of councillors, offering each a book of raffle tickets for a pound. He wasn’t accepting no for an answer, either.

For a second or two, it looked like my ploy (that I didn’t have any cash on me) was going to succeed, but unfortunately, Cllr. Mike Stoddart made an unwelcome intervention, by stumping up the quid on my behalf. So not only have I ended up contributing to Plaid Cymru involuntarily, but I now find myself in debt to the competition, and I haven’t a clue what he’ll want in return!