Labour councillors demand apology after online post

Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

Labour town councillors have demanded an opposition councillor apologise for a post on an online platform which, they claim, inferred that they were “putting money into their own pockets”.

The Labour group which runs Llanelli Town Council asked Plaid councillor Terry Davies to withdraw the allegation, saying it damaged the council’s reputation and could be defamatory.

Cllr Terry Davies said he apologised if his choice of wording had caused any offence and that, after speaking to the town council, had put matters right and submitted an apology.

The Labour group was angry at the post on the WhatsApp version of an online platform called Nextdoor.

The post referred to a video about the Labour Party on a website called Double Down News. Cllr Davies’s post repeated claims made in the video.

Bungs

The Labour councillors gave the Local Democracy Reporting Service permission to publish Cllr Davies’s post, which included the sentences: “Bungs coming down the line and putting their benefactors before the Wales and the UK. The same policy is disseminated in the respect to putting money into their own pockets down all the way to our Lllanelli Labour led town council.”

In a statement Labour councillors said: “The Llanelli Labour group has firmly denied these allegations, labelling them as baseless and potentially causing a loss of faith in the town council and individual councillors within their own personal careers.”

The statement said any assertion of councillors accepting bungs was false and called on Cllr Davies, who represents the ward of Tyisha as a town and county councillor, to apologise. It added that legal avenues were being explored. “The residents of Tyisha rightfully expect their representative to demonstrate exemplary conduct and effectiveness in their duties,” it said.

Expenses

Cllr Davies said he had not been accusing the town council of any bungs but was questioning the rationale of its acceptance of councillor expenses which had been recommended in 2023 by an independent body called the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales (IRPW). The post didn’t refer to any councillor expenses. The IRPW recommendations were a mixture of mandatory and optional payments to reflect the work put in by elected members and referred to town councils everywhere.

An optional payment that was agreed by Llanelli Town Council in May, 2023, included a £30 attendance allowance for meetings, but it said different meetings were held more frequently on the same evening than previously and that when this happened councillors received one £30 allowance.

Arrangements were also put in place for an annual payment for the town mayor of up to a maximum of £1,500, an annual deputy mayor payment of £500, an annual payment of £500 to the town council leader, an annual payment of £500 for a maximum of seven other members in recognition of specific responsibilities, £156 per councillor per year towards extra household expenses such as broadband and heating, and £52 per year towards office and stationery costs. Independent councillors voted against the proposals.

Cllr Davies wasn’t at the meeting, but said he had been declining the £30 attendance allowance and that in his view the payments agreed couldn’t be justified.

Apology

Referring to his post, Cllr Davies said: “I apologise if my choice of wording caused offence. After speaking to the clerk, I have now redressed the article in the app Nextdoor and submitted an apology on any misunderstanding.” Asked what he meant by “redressed”, he said he’d “put matters right”.

Last year Cllr Davies was suspended as a town councillor for a month by Carmarthenshire Council’s standards committee for swearing at a Labour councillor and for using discriminatory language.

It followed an investigation by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales. The standards committee decided that Cllr Davies’s use of “eff off” or “f*** off” at a Labour councillor and his comment of, “Wales are [sic] for Welsh people and we have a Welsh community here,” had breached the councillors’ code of conduct.