Carmarthenshire councillors' individual Annual Reports are beginning to trickle out of County Hall. It's not compulsory but the council is now required by the Local Government Measure (Wales) 2011 to publish them if any exist.
So far there's no more than a handful for this year but council officers have produced a handy template for Members to follow. Apparently the 'guidance' to local authorities recommends that they must tell members how they should prepare their reports, and;
"It should also be noted that Annual Reports should only include factual information regarding activities undertaken and events attended" (My underlining)
Unfortunately, as part of the template, Carmarthenshire council officers have recommended that this distinctly non-factual opinion (underlined) should be included;
"Dear Resident, The purpose of this report is to keep you informed of some of the issues I have dealt with on your behalf during 2012/13. Real progress has been made in respect of these and I hope that you will find this information of interest"
So far I have seen four reports which have used this exact introduction, across all parties incidentally. Cllr Palmer's is used below for illustration purposes.
So far there's no more than a handful for this year but council officers have produced a handy template for Members to follow. Apparently the 'guidance' to local authorities recommends that they must tell members how they should prepare their reports, and;
"It should also be noted that Annual Reports should only include factual information regarding activities undertaken and events attended" (My underlining)
Unfortunately, as part of the template, Carmarthenshire council officers have recommended that this distinctly non-factual opinion (underlined) should be included;
"Dear Resident, The purpose of this report is to keep you informed of some of the issues I have dealt with on your behalf during 2012/13. Real progress has been made in respect of these and I hope that you will find this information of interest"
So far I have seen four reports which have used this exact introduction, across all parties incidentally. Cllr Palmer's is used below for illustration purposes.
Can I just suggest, to future authors of these reports that the electorate will be the judge of whether 'real progress' has been made?
1 comment:
Self praise is no recommendation!
Post a Comment