Carmarthenshire Council - A Law Unto Themselves

I have always suspected that certain senior executive officers of Carmarthenshire County Council were able and willing to manipulate the Freedom of Information department. Now it seem that this possibly extends to the Wales Audit Office too, who have been trying unsuccessfully for four months to get a straight answer from them. It is very worrying that there does not appear to be an independent body with enough clout to keep tabs on this council and question their very questionable actions. Obviously a law unto themselves.

Basically it now seems that the council have lied through the Freedom of Information and withheld information from the Audit office.

I will put our recent correspondence in simple terms;

1. We asked the council through the Freedom of Information Act to detail legal costs that were incurred and any documents held, relating to the libel amendments to the county's Constitution; they replied that they did not incur any costs therefore no documents were held. An internal appeal drew the same answer.

2. As I felt that this was highly unlikely, I wrote to the Audit Office, and much to my surprise the council admitted that er...they did indeed incur legal costs!
So much for the High Court Judge's opinion that senior council officers wouldn't lie! perhaps he should think again.

3. I had also asked for the name of advising barrister and the amount of money spent on this legal advice. This is the council's response through the Audit office;

"On your behalf we have asked the Council to provide details of the Counsel which provided the advice and the cost. The Council does not wish to disclose this information."

Why on earth not? Have they something to hide? Public money was used and the amendments pose a threat not only to the public purse but also the local newspapers and the public themselves in Carmarthenshire.
This advice was sought during the libel case brought by the Head of Planning, so there could be one very good reason for them not wanting to say who it was and how much it cost; perhaps this is because the same legal chambers as the Head of Planning were used? and the legal costs that were paid (taxpayers money remember) masked the possible unlawful funding of his claim?

Quite clearly, to reveal the information could, along with the evidence of the unexplained stamped document, prove to be very damaging for certain senior executives of Carmarthenshire County Council.
We will now take this matter further and that will include writing to the Auditor General and the Information Commissioner.

Earlier post on this is here.