Carmarthenshire County Council

Carmarthenshire County Council Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	1 April 1996
Preceded by	Carmarthen District Dinefwr Borough Llanelli Borough Dyfed County Council
Leadership
Chair of the Council	Cllr Eirwyn Williams, Plaid Cymru since 19 May 2021
Leader of Council	Cllr Emlyn Dole, Plaid Cymru
Deputy Leader	Cllr Mair Stephens, Independent
Leader of the Opposition	Cllr Robert James, Labour
Chief executive	Wendy Walters
Structure
Seats	74 councillors
Political groups	Administration (51)   Plaid Cymru (38)   Independent Group (13) Other parties (23)   Labour (17)   New Independent Group (5)   Non-aligned (1)
Length of term	5 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
First election	4 May 1995
Last election	4 May 2017
Next election
Meeting place
County Hall, Carmarthen

Carmarthenshire County Council (Welsh: Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin) is the local council for the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales, providing a range of services under the control of elected county councillors that include education, planning, transport, social services and public safety. The council is one of twenty-two unitary authorities that came into existence on 1 April 1996 under the provisions of the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994. It took over local government functions previously provided by Carmarthen District, Dinefwr Borough, Llanelli Borough councils and the Carmarthenshire area of what was Dyfed County Council.

Carmarthenshire

Sir Gaerfyrddin

Geography
Area - Total - % Water	Ranked 3rd 2,395 km² ? %
County Town	Carmarthen
Largest Town	Llanelli
ISO 3166-2	GB-CMN
ONS code	00NU (ONS) W06000010 (GSS)
Demographics
Population: - Total (2017) - Density	Ranked 4th 188,771 Ranked 18th 79 / km²
Ethnicity	99.4% White
Welsh language - Any skills	Ranked 3rd 63.6%
Politics
Carmarthenshire County Council http://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales/
Control	TBA (council NOC)
MPs	Simon Hart (Conservative) (Carmarthen W. & S. Pembrokeshire) Nia Griffith (Labour) (Llanelli) Jonathan Edwards (Independent) (Carmarthen East & Dinefwr)
MSs	Samuel Kurtz (Conservative) (Carmarthen W. & S. Pembrokeshire) Lee Waters (Labour) (Llanelli) Adam Price (Plaid Cymru) (Carmarthen East & Dinefwr)

The council is based in County Hall in Carmarthen.

Antecedents[]

It is the second body of this name; the previous Carmarthenshire County Council was formed on 1 April 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888 and was abolished on 31 March 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972.

The first election to the original council were held in January 1889 and the majority of the seats were won by the Liberals.^[1] This pattern continued until the 1920s from which time most rural seats were held by Independents while the Labour Party dominated the industrial part of the county.

Organisation[]

The authority has adopted the Cabinet system of running the county, and between 2004 and 2015 it was ran by Independent and Labour groups. Currently there are 37 Plaid Cymru councillors, 19 Independents and 18 Labour. The Leader of the Council is Cllr Emlyn Dole (Plaid Cyrmu).^[2] The Chief executive, Mark Vincent James, was awarded the CBE for services to Local Government in Wales in the 2012 New Year Honours. James was forced to step aside temporarily in 2014 after a criminal investigation was launched into his affairs.^[3][4]

Mark James[]

In 2013 Chief executive Mark James was sued for libel by Jacqui Thompson, a local blogger and trenchant critic of the council. He brought a counterclaim against Mrs Thompson; his legal action was funded by the council.^[5] Although he won his action,^[6] this indemnity was ruled unlawful by the Auditor General for Wales, on the grounds that councils cannot sue for libel nor indemnify others in private defamation actions. It also found that the payment of his pension contributions to him in cash was unlawful.^[7][8] In July 2013 Thompson initiated the process of appealing the ruling on a point of law.^[9] Local AM Peter Black commented that 'The way that the Council has handled this whole affair has been a public relations disaster from start to finish. These latest claims do not help.'^[10]

In February 2014, a criminal investigation was launched into these payments by Gloucestershire Constabulary: Mark James stepped aside for the duration of the investigation. The episode led to criticism of senior councillors, including the council leader, Kevin Madge, who had agreed these financial arrangements and supported James in his actions.^[3][11] Local politicians Rhodri Glyn Thomas and Jonathan Edwards both called for Mark James' full and final resignation, along with that of Kevin Madge.^[12] Madge survived a vote of no confidence by 41 votes to 28. However, the council accepted the findings of the Wales Audit Office on the illegality of the payments, and Madge admitted that the council's reputation had been damaged by the episode.^[4]

In 2019, Mark James announced his intention to retire as the Council's Chief Executive after 17 years in the post.^[13] Wendy Walters took over as Chief Executive in June 2019.^[14]

Change of leadership[]

Kevin Madge resigned as leader of the Council in May 2015 having lost the leadership of the Labour group. Two days later it was announced that Plaid Cymru would form a new coalition with the Independents.^[15]

Political makeup[]

Elections take place every four years. The last election was held on 4 May 2017.

Current composition[]

Historic results[]

• Includes candidates elected as Independent Labour and/or Ratepayers Association.

Electoral divisions[]

Electoral ward map of Carmarthenshire

The county is divided into 58 electoral wards returning 74 councillors. Most of these wards are coterminous with communities. Most communities in Carmarthenshire have a community council. For each ward, councillors are elected to sit on Carmarthenshire County Council. The following table lists council wards, community councils and associated geographical areas. Communities with their own community council are marked with a *.

Arms[]

Coat of arms of Carmarthenshire County Council hide

Notes Granted on 28th August 1935. Crest On a wreath of the colours a dragon passant Gules gorged with a collar flory counterflory and resting the dexter foreclaw on a harp Or. Escutcheon Quarterly indented Or and Gules in the first and fourth quarters a dragon rampant and in the second and third quarters a lion rampant all counterchanged. Supporters On the dexter side a dragon Gules gorged with a collar flory counterflory attached thereto a chain reflexed over the back Or and on the sinister side a sea horse Argent the piscine parts Proper gorged with a collar flory counterflory attached thereto a chain reflexed over the back Or. Granted 1997. Motto Rhyddid Gwerin Ffyniant Gwlad (The Freedom Of The People Is The Prosperity Of The Country)[18]

See also[]

• 2012 Carmarthenshire County Council election
• 2017 Carmarthenshire County Council election

References[]

External links[]

• Carmarthenshire County Council