CHANGES are being made to the number and names of council scrutiny committees and cabinet roles in Merthyr Tydfil despite concerns raised about the lack of consultation.
The changes approved by full council on Wednesday, April 2, involve reducing the number of scrutiny committees from six to five and adding a new cabinet role.
An exercise was carried out looking at the remits of scrutiny committees across Welsh authorities and comparing the number and percentage of scrutiny committees to elected members.
It found Merthyr Tydfil had the highest percentage of scrutiny committees in relation to elected members ie 17% as opposed to an average of 8%.
These changes will see the current scrutiny committees renamed to:
- Aspirational Merthyr Tydfil covering things like education and cultural services like libraries and museums
- Healthier Merthyr Tydfil covering things like social care
- Thriving Merthyr Tydfil covering things like economic development, housing, leisure services, waste management, highways and climate change
- Sustainable Merthyr Tydfil covering things like finance and asset management
- Joint scrutiny committee
Councillor Lisa Mytton of the Independent group called for the changes to be deferred, raising concerns about the lack of consultation with scrutiny chairs, co-opted members and the public, saying it was “democracy at its worst”.
But council voted against the deferment and voted in favour of the changes.
Cllr Mytton referred to a section of the report which talked about the demands on the officers, as well as growing demands on councillors with the increased number of joint committees and outside bodies but said she could not see that that body of work had been done.
She said the names of the committees are misnomers and there are two committees which are looking after climate change and decarbonisation and said the “Thriving” committee would be looking after bereavement services.
She said: “I just wonder whether enough thought has been given to these scrutiny committees.”
She said current committee titles and the new cabinet roles “say what they are on the tin” but the new ones do not.
Cllr Mytton said: “They are at the very least dubious, they are non-descriptive, they are misnomers and they give a false impression of what this council should be scrutinising.”
She said it won’t help the public understand what scrutiny actually does and she said co-opted members had not been consulted.
But council leader Brent Carter said he thought the new names had “far more meaning” than what they have at the moment.
He asked what LAESCYP or neighbourhood services mean to the people out there, saying “it doesn’t meaning anything”.
Cllr Carter said the name which is there is what everything sits underneath.
He said: “For me the choice is simple. As an organisation we must change, adapt and grow to ensure we are fit for purpose and remain sustainable in the future.
“We are acutely aware of the challenges that scrutiny presents not only in terms of member involvement but also regarding staffing resources.
“Adjusting the numbers will make scrutiny a more efficient and effective process allowing for true challenge in a way that aligns more closely with a critical friend approach.”
He said they considered the new committee titles carefully and aimed to create a cohesive theme across them all.
Councillor Geraint Thomas said there had been no discussion or scrutiny on the plans whatsoever and surely they had to have more time to discuss this as it was a major change in how the local authority works.
Council also agreed to change the names of the cabinet roles which now include:
- Cabinet member for climate change and communities
- Cabinet member for education, culture and Welsh language
- Cabinet member for social care, health and youth participation
- Cabinet member for financial sustainability, assets and commercial
- Cabinet member for economy, regeneration, leisure and tourism
- A new cabinet role covering transformation, governance and social partnership
The removal of one of the scrutiny chairs would offset the additional cabinet portfolio, so the number of senior salaries would not change, the report said.
But it said a cabinet portfolio receives a higher salary than a scrutiny chair, so there would be an increase in the senior salary payments.
To counteract some of that additional cost, the intention would be to nominate a person to the post of deputy mayor who is already getting a senior salary, and who is not a member of cabinet.
The agreed changes will lead to an estimated increased cost for 2025-26 of £4,200.
