Threat to councils over top jobs

23 June 2011 Last updated at 11:13 GMT Full-scale reorganisation would be too costly Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant has attacked "complacent" councils for not sharing senior officials.

He threatened to force them to work together if they did not make progress.

But he ruled out full-scale local government reorganisations, saying it would cost too much and disrupt services.

Council leaders said they were working together and protecting frontline services from cutbacks.

Mr Sargeant said he wanted to challenge "complacency, under-performance and senseless bureaucracy".

He told the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) conference in Swansea on Thursday that he expected to see more collaboration and joint appointments between authorities.

The staffing structure at the 22 councils was outdated, with too many of them independently hiring chief executives over the last year without looking at other options, he said.

"We are missing opportunities not only to make savings, but more importantly, to recruit the best quality people, from within and beyond Wales, who can help us deliver an ambitious change agenda," he said.

"I am expecting much more progress in this area. If I do not see it, I will have to consider other more directive options to force the pace."

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I am expecting much more progress in this area. If I do not see it, I will have to consider other more directive options to force the pace.”

End Quote Carl Sargeant AM Local Government Minister It is understood Mr Sargeant is considering legislation to make sure he can direct joint council appointments and dictate closer collaboration across council borders.

Councils could cut duplication and increase their buying power by working together, he added.

"I know there is already extensive collaboration between local authorities but there is clear scope to do more."

But WLGA chief executive Steve Thomas said: "I think the problem here is we've got a poor man's version of local government reorganisation happening.

"There's now a very strong current of thinking within local government that if a minister wants to reorganise local government he should perhaps come out and say so in the most clear possible terms.

"The problem is that he, like us, is caught between a rock and a hard place. It's a very costly thing to do, we've got elections next year and nobody's asked the public about this yet."

He added that the cost of chief executives across Wales was ?4m out of a total local government budget of ?5bn.

"The money is actually in services and not posts."

'Financial challenge'

Opening the conference, WLGA presiding officer Meryl Gravell said: "We can all be proud at the way in which local authorities in Wales have risen to the challenge of managing this very difficult financial challenge.

"We have all had to find ways of making savings and at the same time protecting front-line services as far as we possibly can."

Tony Travers, from the London School of Economics, believes sharing officers is a logical step but a big move.

"Many councils in Wales cover very large geographical areas because they are so rural and imagine having a single department running services for two councils over that area," he told BBC Radio Wales.

"I think the reason they are often reluctant (to share) and don't do it voluntarily is because they believe that it's more responsive locally to have their own officers and staff - that's how they were set up.

"The move from that to something where councils are sharing officers may sound obvious and logical but it's quite a big step for them to make."

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Cornish solar power under threat?

15 June 2011 Last updated at 11:04 GMT Solar panels can harness the Cornish sun Any hopes Cornwall Council or the solar power industry might have been entertaining of a reprieve in the government's review of the Feed-in Tariff have now been dashed.

The Feed-in Tariff (or FiT) is a government subsidy for solar power devised by the last Labour government and then inherited by the coalition.

To the relief of potential beneficiaries the coalition decided to run with it.

Cornwall Council apparently presides over the sunniest corner of Britain (a claim met with incredulity, I suspect, from people like me who live in the delectable - but undeniably damp - duchy).

Following the government's commitment to the FiT, it lost no time in forecasting (and beginning to facilitate) a ?1bn "solar gold rush" from Penzance to Pensilva.

Solar power enthusiasts were urged to get in quickly and make firm plans to harness the Cornish sun before the FiT deadline.

Benefit handsomely

Planning permissions were granted - and everything seemed to be ticking along splendidly - when the government decided to give itself planning permission to move the goal posts for FiT applications.

Ministers said they were alarmed by the rapid uptake of the scheme by large commercial concerns - "subsidy farmers" rather than solar farmers, according to Energy Secretary Chris Huhne.

Chris Huhne: alarmed by the rapid uptake of the scheme by "subsidy farmers"

The government insists that this was an unintended consequence - though I've yet to find a Labour politician who agrees with that - of a scheme targeting small-scale domestic generation.

It is, however, undeniable that the original rules put in place by Labour clearly allowed large commercial operators to benefit handsomely.

Hence the ambitious plans hatched by the same large commercial operators and Cornwall Council - and hence the government's haste to frustrate those plans.

Ministers proposed restricting the higher level of FiT support to solar installations generating 50kW or less - and launched a consultation on that proposal.

When I spoke to Chris Huhne earlier this year it was clear that, consultation or no consultation, large-scale solar farms would not be cashing in on the scale originally permitted (though, allegedly, not envisaged). He was adamant that he simply wasn't having it.

However, as I reported at the time, he did seem to be leaving the door open to reviewing the 50kW threshold. Critics claimed this was so low that it would exclude relatively small community ventures as well as the big commercial outfits the government obviously had in its sights.

Such critics might also have had their hopes raised by the government's track record on consultations. The coalition has form when it comes to either abandoning policies altogether (sale of public forests) or agreeing to amendments (it's indicated this will happen on coastguard reform). This week look no further than the NHS.

'Very challenging'

Very little has changed as a result of the consultation”

End Quote Cheryl Hiles Director of Sustainable Energy Delivery, Regen SW

On the Feed-in Tariff, though, it's stuck to its guns.

As Cheryl Hiles, Director of Sustainable Energy Delivery at Regen SW, ruefully observed:

"Very little has changed as a result of the consultation.

"Government remains adamant that the intended beneficiaries of the FiT should be individuals, householders, organisations, businesses and communities, but apart from preventing large scale solar developments, have done little to demonstrate this.

"The changes to the PV tariff will not affect individual consumers' installations, but larger community scale schemes are unlikely to go ahead now with the current level of support offered by the FiT.

"It is however not just the impact of the FiT review, but also the withdrawal of the EIS relief for community companies and the reduction in capital allowances that all conspire together to make community and business scale projects very challenging."

Sudden halt?

Cornwall Council is very disappointed with the decision”

End Quote Councillor Julian German Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Cornwall Council

And the brakes have clearly been put on the Cornish solar power gold rush.

Councilllor Julian German, Cabinet Member for Climate Change at Cornwall Council, said the county had the most to lose from the government's decision:

"With the fact that we have the highest levels of solar irradiation on the mainland UK there has been a huge amount of investment opportunity from solar park development.

"There are two key reasons why Cornwall Council is very disappointed with the decision.

"Firstly - in developing its own 5MW solar park the council has been nationally acknowledged as demonstrating great leadership following the government's own guidance that local authorities can generate electricity from renewables to create an income to support its community activities.

"As the result of the Fast Track Review we now have to reassess the position as to whether or not we can continue with the construction of the Kernow Solar Park which is due for construction in the autumn.

"Secondly - the Council has also been leading best practice by working with developers to ensure that communities and local businesses would receive direct economic benefits from the construction of commercial solar parks.

"Now only small amounts are being built in a rush to be operational before the 1st August deadline."

Legal challenge

There's also the question of those who had already invested in solar schemes - in the reasonable expectation of benefiting from the Feed-in Tariff - before the government decided to change the rules.

If they do manage to recoup any of their losses it's now clear it won't be with any help from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

End of story? Well, not if this group of companies in exactly that position succeed in their legal challenge to the government's entire review of the Feed-in Tariff.

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Farage threat pilot is sentenced

10 June 2011 Last updated at 10:47 GMT Mr Farage was taken to hospital after the crash on election day 2010 A pilot found guilty of threatening to kill UKIP leader Nigel Farage following a plane crash has been given a two-year supervised community order.

A jury found Justin Adams guilty of making five threats relating to Mr Farage and crash investigator Martin James after the accident in May 2010.

The court heard the recording of a phone call where Adams claimed to have a 9mm pistol.

Adams, 46, of Oxfordshire, said his threats were "a cry for help".

Mr Farage said he intends to "draw a line under this whole affair".

In a statement, he added: "Today's sentencing marks the end of a sad and tragic episode.

"As I have stated previously, it is has always been my belief that Mr Adams was in need of help and support from our mental health services, yet he never got the level of care that he needed."

Entangled banner

The crash in Northamptonshire on 6 May last year, the day of the 2010 General Election, left both self-employed pilot Adams and Mr Farage in hospital.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report found the plane crashed when a campaign banner it was towing became entangled, causing the plane's nose to drop.

Mr Farage said he wants to "draw a line" under the affair

A subsequent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) inquiry, which involved investigator Martin James and looked into whether Adams was qualified to fly with a banner, cleared the pilot.

The court heard that Adams lost work in the six months it took for the CAA investigation into the crash to take place and he was unable to have his plane repaired, as insurers would not pay out until the investigation had been completed.

As well as being angry about the length of time the investigation took, Adams also felt resentment towards Mr Farage, judge Mr Justice Saunders said.

The pilot believed he had lost out on an opportunity to sell his story, having been advised not to speak to the press.

He made threats to kill both CAA crash investigator Mr James and Mr Farage.

During the trial, jurors were played a recording of phone call by Adams to police.

'Drinking to excess'

He said: "I'm going to kill somebody or two", the court heard.

He later added: "I now have a 9mm pistol, I've got the means - I will take them out and then myself."

Adams was found guilty of five counts of making threats to kill by a jury in April.

Mr Justice Saunders said Adams was suffering from "a depressive order of moderate severity" which had been triggered by the crash.

The judge told the court: "He was also drinking to excess, which undoubtedly impaired his judgment and affected his behaviour.

"I also accept, having heard the evidence in the trial, that to an extent these offences were a cry for help as well as an expression of anger and resentment at the events that had happened."

Adams has been in custody for six months before sentencing.

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