County leader and cabinet survive vote of no-confidence

* Council and Labour leader Jason McLellan.

A vote of no-confidence in the leader and cabinet of Denbighshire County Council sparked by the way they have handled the troubled introduction of a new waste recycling scheme was lost 25-17 at the full council meeting this morning (Tuesday).

The motion, put forward by the Independent group of councillors and supported by the Conservatives, was successfully defeated by the ruling Labour group backed by Plaid Cymru and Green members. There were three abstentions.

Supported by Llangollen’s two county councillors, Karen Edwards and Paul Keddie, the motion, which was debated at length, read: “We wish to propose the motion for the removal of Leader Councillor Jason McLellan and his Cabinet.

“Recent events surrounding the leadership of the council have raised serious concerns about their effectiveness.

“The disastrous and inefficient execution of the new waste recycling system, coupled with the lack of clarity and ownership highlighted in a recent briefing, has resulted in a complete loss of confidence among residents.

“Moreover, the ripple effects of this new system have placed a significant strain on other departments within Denbighshire County Council, as staff resources have been diverted to address the failures of the recycling initiative.

“This diversion has led to a noticeable increase in operational costs, which in turn has negatively impacted frontline services that are vital to the community.

“The lack of strategy and effective leadership has caused considerable challenges for residents throughout the county, and the financial implications for the authority have been immense. It is no longer sustainable to maintain this approach, and the priority must be the well-being of Denbighshire residents. Therefore, as members of the independent group, we strongly call upon the Leader and his Cabinet to resign.”

A spokesperson for the county council said: “During today’s full council meeting in County Hall, Ruthin, a motion of no confidence in the Leader and the Cabinet of Denbighshire County Council was put forward. In accordance with due process a full and open discussion was conducted in the council meeting followed by a recorded vote.  

“The result of the recorded vote was 17 for the motion, 25 against the motion and 3 abstentions, which means the motion was not carried, therefore the Leader and Cabinet will remain in situ.”

Cllr Karen Edwards said in the debate: "For the last 15 weeks chaos and confusion has reigned supreme over the new Denbighshire waste and recycling collection service. 

"We are all aware how quickly the rollout failed to deliver and by the middle of June I had already voiced my concerns with respect to the systemic issues that were causing the failures in service delivery within Llangollen and the surrounding rural villages. The leadership of the Council supported by the Cabinet dismissed these as 'teething problems'.   

"Rather than hold DCC leadership to account and demand improvement, the Cabinet backed those officers responsible, collectively offered some apologies, donned some PPE, made some videos, ridden the waste lorries on the rounds and told us, all would be well in 12 weeks.

"The situation only got worse. Collections across the county failed to materialise and rubbish piled up in residents’ bins ,driveways, pavements, and streets, meanwhile they congratulated themselves and their colleagues for the great steps forward and  DCC officers told residents how proud they were of the work done whilst the Head of Service chastised Councillors for stepping in on the ground with waste teams to help get rubbish collected from our wards. The HOS ( Head of Service ) asked me to ‘refrain from interfering with operational matters’.

"This is a Council Leadership and Cabinet in collective denial at the scale of the problem.

"Fifteen weeks on we still have a system which albeit marginally improved from the start is still failing to consistently deliver a statutory service to the residents in my ward. It has consumed over £500k of  additional costs and partial improvements have only been brought about by the addition of extra personnel and vehicles, increased rounds, overtime and DCC staff being reallocated from their normal duties.

"All throughout this period the Cabinet and Council leadership have, like Nero, simply fiddled and in some cases holidayed whilst Denbighshire's fragile budget is being burnt up on this bonfire of failure.
 
"Rather than seek to determine the real systemic failures they have offered apology after apology week in week out to anyone they can possibly give one to. These apologies are meaningless. The Cabinet leader has admitted apologies don’t collect waste, but he still offers them knowing they are hollow.

"Whilst some councillors will claim all is well in their wards, I can hand on heart say they are not well in Llangollen. As an example, over the weekend, residents who I have helped several times already have come to me again advising of no collections in the past fortnight. 

"There have also been reports of other Health and safety issues and all this taking place despite officers telling us that extensive training had been undertaken.

"New cases arise, and closed cases reopen, it’s a perpetual pattern and for the last 15 weeks, my life has been consumed by this issue. Officers never appeared to have control of this project and they are still struggling to get into a steady state. They have resorted to obfuscation, hand wringing, meaningless apologies, numerous short-lived initiatives, and constant denial of the true scales of the problems.

"The Cabinet under the current leadership is failing to demonstrate its control over DCC officers  to rectify the situation. It is weakly led and unwilling to act decisively to demand more accountability and responsibility and to accept this system was not fit for purpose. The Lead member for waste and recycling and the Leader have to accept responsibility for this failure.

"Getting back to the basics though, as we sit here now in this chamber, waste remains uncollected, the rollout of additional programmes such as AHP are stalled because the system cannot cope with any more demand, and every week more overspend is happening. Control of the scheme has failed; fresh initiatives by DCC Officers to regain control are short lived, root causes of failure remain unknown, and control of the budget has been completely lost.

"The original estimated cost saving of £500K per annum has been consumed and it continues to cost £55-60K per week more than planned which equates to approximately £3m per annum. That is the stark reality we are now facing, the evidence of failure is overwhelming, undisputable, and ultimately, no doubt  it will be the residents that will be expected to pick up the tab, for what is a complete failure in the planning and implementation of this scheme and that is totally unacceptable.

"Consequently I have no confidence that any cabinet member or any of the leadership team responsible for this disaster can provide the assurance needed today that there is an end in sight, a fit for purpose recovery plan in place, and when the additional costs which are deeply damaging to the County’s budget will cease."

* To watch the debate, go to: https://denbighshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/909417 

Celebrate the work of local charities and volunteers

The Welsh Charity Awards are back! 

The awards, organised by WCVA, recognise and celebrate the fantastic contribution charities, community groups, not-for-profits and volunteers make to Wales by highlighting and championing the positive difference we can make to each other’s lives.

This is your chance to celebrate the life changing impact of not only charities but volunteers and voluntary organisations of all shapes and sizes in Wales. Whether or not they’re an award winner or finalist, being nominated for an award shows an organisation or individual that their work is valued and makes a huge difference.

There are eight categories in this year’s Welsh Charity Awards:

• Volunteer of the Year (26 and over)
• Young Volunteer of the Year (25 and under)
• Fundraiser of the year
• Champion of diversity award
• Best use of Welsh language award
• Most influential small organisation
• Health and wellbeing award
• Organisation of the year award

Making a nomination is easy, simply visit the Welsh Charity Awards website and, read the rules and complete the online form.

Organisers say: "Please take this opportunity to shout about your favourite voluntary organisation or volunteer, and give them the chance of getting some well-earned recognition and a glitzy night to remember at the Welsh Charity Awards ceremony."

The deadline for nominations is September 13, 2024. For more information and to nominate, visit www.welshcharityawards.cymru.

The Welsh Charity Awards are made possible thanks to headline sponsor The Open University Wales and the other category sponsors.

New Dolphin makes BYD for slice of EV market

BYD Dolphin launch by Steve Rogers

The BYD story is picking up pace with two new versions of the best selling Dolphin and a new SUV later this month.

First a quick reminder about the company that is still a mystery to many. It arrived from China last year with two electric cars, ATO 3 SUV and then the Dolphin, a five door family hatchback around the size of a Vauxhall Astra that has become its best seller.

BYD - Build Your Dreams - started life as a battery maker and, believe it or not, plays a huge part in our daily lives powering one in five smartphones and half of the world’s ipads.

Its big selling point is building affordable electric cars and on the back of the success of Dolphin is expanding the range with smaller battery outputs to keep prices down.

So two new models each with a 44.9kWh battery pack, Active with a range of 211 miles and the more powerful Boost with 193 miles. Even the 95bhp Active is sprightly but you get more zing from the 173bhp Boost which also switches to multi-link rear suspension for a slightly more settled ride. A fair question is why isn’t it on the Active model as well?

If planning a long journey a top up would be needed around the 150 mile mark so look for a 100kW charging point and the car can be 80 percent full in just under half an hour although these new models are aimed at customers who do not cover many miles.

Pricing is still competitive compared to the big names but cannot claim to be the cheapest with the Renault backed Dacia setting the cat amongst the pigeons with its £15k low range electric car.

Reducing the size of the battery pack has not impacted on the level of equipment, a strong point of the Dolphin, so you still get the big rotating screen, vegan leather trim, 360 degree surround camera, powered front seats. LED auto dipping headlights, and a safety pack that includes forward collision warning with emergency braking and rear cross traffic braking. There is a trolley full of technology, cheery design with lots of thoughtful touches and several storage spaces.

This is a spacious car thanks to its wafer thin underfloor battery pack. I sat behind a six foot driver and had plenty of legroom. Boot space is not class leading but more than adequate for family motoring.

Living with the Dolphin will take a bit of getting used to. There is precious little in the way of switches so prepare to be bamboozled by the touchscreen which controls just about everything. A good voice control system helps out until you get used to operating regular functions like heating selections and tuning the radio. There is no navigation but connections for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay so routes can be displayed on the main screen.

BYD has had a good first 18 months with sales climbing steadily from 213 to 3,600. Dealerships have gone from four to 60 and that will double through next year when showrooms will open in north and south Wales.

We are going to see a lot more Chinese vehicles on our roads because joining BYD and MG is another newcomer with the strange name of Omoda. Next up for BYD is a plug-in hybrid SUV version of the Seal luxury saloon with prices ranging from £33,205 to £39,905.

That should be very interesting because the Seal was my 2023 Car of the Year.

Fast facts

Dolphin Active/Boost

£26,195/£27,195

Battery: 44.9kWh

Power: 95bhp/173bhp

Boot: 345-1310 litres

Warranty: 6 years

Battery: 8 years

New school admissions system to be implemented

From September, parents and carers will now be able to make applications for the academic year starting September in 2025, using a new Education Self-Service system. 

The new system will cover Nursery, Reception, Junior, and Year 7 school places, and will help streamline the application process, allowing parents and guardians to have a central and accessible way to easily view applications. 

To be able to use this system, users will need to setup a secure account and provide relevant details such as: 

1. Their details.
2. The details of their children.
3. The schools they wish to select. 

 

This change will make it easier for parents and carers to track their applications from start to finish, with future outcome notifications also provided in the system. 

Admission Phase	Admission forms available from	Consideration period	Closing date	Offer Date
Secondary	02/09/2024	02/09/2024   -   04/11/2024	04/11/2024	03/03/2025
Junior	23/09/2024	23/09/2024  –  18/11/2024	18/11/2024	16/04/2025
Reception	23/09/2024	23/09/2024  –  18/11/2024	18/11/2024	16/04/2025
Nursery	23/09/2024	23/09/2024  –  17/02/2025	17/02/2025	06/05/2025

 

Applications must be received before the closing dates shown above in order to be considered.  

For applications for September 2025, pupils must be of the following age:

 

	Child must be born between:
Nursery	1 September 2021 & 31 August 2022
Reception	1 September 2020 & 31 August 2021
Junior (year 3)	1 September 2017 & 31 August 2018
Secondary (year 7)	1 September 2013 & 31 August 2014

 

* Parents and guardians can set up an account through this link: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/education-self-service

Geraint Davies, Head of Service for Education at Denbighshire County Council said: “This new online facility will allow parents and carers to access and track their applications from start to finish more easily. Having the applications in one place also helps if there are a number of applications pending at one time."

Councillor Diane King, Lead Member for Education, Children and Families said: “It is great that we are making our school applications system easier to use and more accessible. I’d like to thank all involved for all of their hard work in developing and implementing this new system.”

Llangollen antique shop owner pens Gresford disaster book

In time to commemorate its 90^th anniversary later this month a man closely associated with the area’s coal mining heritage has published a book about the Gresford Colliery Disaster.

The 1934 catastrophe, which took place on September 22^nd 1934, saw a series of explosions rip through the Dennis Section of the mine to claim the lives of over 250 men in a matter of minutes.

The men blamed the pit management, the management blamed the men and the government fined the pit owner £500, or £2 per man lost. The dead are still underground.

George Roberts McGill, who lives in Ruabon and for years has run a well-known antique shop in Llangollen, was born into a mining community in Southsea, Wrexham, 75 years ago and had family members who worked down the local Plas Power pit.

He says this has given him a special empathy for the industry and the people who have worked in it and led him to write “No Moon No Stars”, a story he has woven around fictional characters with a connection to the disaster.

Although the paperback he has created runs to 140 pages he points out that it isn’t written in the style of a book at all but rather a theatrical script with over dozen characters who appear in it being guided by stage directions and speaking their lines as in the theatre.

George, who is retired but for many years has had the Passers Buy antique shop in Llangollen, said the title of his work is taken from a poem about the disaster by local writer Rhona Roberts, which appeared first in a Wrexham newspaper in the year of the disaster.

“I decided to use it as the title for the book – or play - which took me over 20 years to put together and has just been published,” he explained.

“I decided to write it as a script as I’m not a writer and couldn’t do a book. But I do know a bit about the style of plays, dialogue, scripts and stage directions as for a number of years I’ve appeared in local amateur stage productions. I’m actually rehearsing at the moment for the latest comedy, ‘Allo ‘Allo: The Camembert Caper, which Llangollen Twenty Club will be performing in November.”

George built up “No Moon No Stars” using anecdotes about Wrexham’s coal mining years he fund in books, autobiographies, biographies and old films of the period and the “cast” includes a mining family of grandfather, son and daughter, a police sergeant, a local doctor, a vicar and even a drunken Mancunian visitor to the area.

The action takes place just before, during and in the aftermath of the disaster, with even a few scenes set down a coalmine.

George said: “It is being sold on Amazon and I’m also distributing it to various venues in and around Wrexham, such as the Miners Rescue Museum in the city’s Maesgwn Road, Waterstones bookshop and the local library.

“I’m not taking any money for the ones they sell and have told them to keep the proceeds and put it towards their own upkeep.

“I wanted to do this because I have a strong feeling for the coal mining community, not just in this area but right across Britain.

“I even painted the front cover myself in the dementia-friendly art class in Wrexham that I help out with.

“It’s likely to be my one and only venture into writing but I must admit I have another subject in mind which quite interests me, so you never know.”   

* No Moon No Stars is available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Moon-Stars-George-Roberts-McGill/dp/B0DDHCVP22     

Latest dates at Pengwern Community Hub

 

Citizens Advice column for September

Latest column from Denbighshire Citizens Advice:

Q: Everywhere I look I see adverts for upcoming sales - Black Friday and Cyber Monday ‘deals’ are jumping out at me from all directions. Some of the prices seem too good to be true - how can I be sure I really am getting a good deal and not being scammed? 

A: You’re not the only one eager to bag a bargain. The busiest shopping time of the year is also a busy time for cyber criminals who use the spike in spending to disguise their scams as legitimate shopping sites. 

Fraudsters are also taking advantage of AI advances to help them produce accurate and professional-looking content to trick victims into giving away their financial details. 

It sounds like you’re aware there are risks when buying online and that scammers will try to tempt consumers with special offers, fake reviews and sought-after items at rock bottom prices. The good news is there are ways you can protect yourself and shop safely. 

Here Citizens Advice Senior Consumer Expert, Kate Hobson, shares her top five tips to make sure you don’t end up with more, or less, than you bargained for during this busy shopping season. 

1. Make sure you don’t feel rushed. Scammers will often create a sense of urgency by claiming it’s a limited offer or price which encourages you to act without taking as much time to consider the purchase. 

2. Know who you are buying from – if buying from a company you have not used before, check reviews and previous customers’ feedback. If in doubt, don’t buy. 

3. Be wary of suspicious web links. These may direct you to fake (but realistic-looking) websites. It is better to type in the website address yourself. 

4. Don’t share any one-time codes that you’re sent when shopping online. These codes are used to confirm that you’re the one making the purchase, so don’t share them with anyone. 

5. Avoid paying anyone you don’t know by bank transfer. Paying by credit card for single items costing £100 and over gives you legal protection if the goods do not arrive, are faulty, or do not match the description. Paying by credit or debit card for orders costing less than £100 also gives you protection using your card provider’s voluntary ‘Chargeback’ scheme. 

* If you’re worried that something you’ve seen online might be a scam, you can contact the Citizens Advice Consumer line by calling 0808 223 1133 or visit https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer for more information.