tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-791817892794754996.post6527751039240121091..comments2023-11-18T08:59:54.598+00:00Comments on Carmarthenshire Planning Problems and more: The Constitution and siege mentalitycaebrwynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233902574832152764noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-791817892794754996.post-3381405628717779622015-09-06T21:36:28.795+01:002015-09-06T21:36:28.795+01:00As you say, the public's right to ask question...As you say, the public's right to ask questions has always been there, albeit hidden away and wrapped up in complicated rules and procedures, with meetings held at times which are inconvenient to most working people.<br /><br />And yet public questions have the potential to bring about a real change in culture. Most of the 74 councillors remain silent in the monthly meetings which the constitution describes as a "forum for the debate of matters of concern to the local community". Only a minority asks questions, and there are even councillors who have never uttered a word since being elected.<br /><br />With cuts looming to a whole range of services, and a council still obsessed with PR and spin to the point where cuts are often presented as improvements, I hope that more and more ordinary people, clubs, societies, unions and other community bodies make use of public questions to query, challenge and hold this council to account.<br /><br />Nothing is more likely to send shivers down the spines of all those who think they sit in County Hall by right than the sight of well-informed and angry voters demanding truthful answers.Cneifiwrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08767078276794410524noreply@blogger.com