Anglesey council pays 16 to send parcel 300 yards

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Cash-strapped Anglesey council sent a parcel just 300 yards up the road and ended up with a £16 postage bill.

Anglesey Bro Aberffraw councillor Peter Rogers, says it recently came to his attention that a parcel which was sent from the authority’s legal department to Llangefni Police station cost the authority £15.85.

The amount, while small, is equivalent to the cost of two hours care for someone.

But according to Anglesey council, hand delivering parcels is not common practice and to send somebody up the road with it would have cost more money.

Cllr Rogers said: “At a time when we should be looking at cutting back wherever we can, I was shocked when this parcel was brought to my attention.

“The Police Station is no more than 350 yards from the council headquarters, this is surely a waste of money?

“I can’t see why it wouldn’t have been possible for a member of staff to take it there themselves, which would also have been quicker to arrive.

“£16 may not sound that much, but how often does this happen is the question? £16 could also help pay for the care of an elderly person for two hours.”

An Anglesey council spokesman said the authority does not operate its own delivery service for local addresses.

He added: “Because the Council sends out so much post, a personal delivery service would be both time consuming and, quite probably, more expensive than using the Royal Mail.

“This substantial package was sent to the Police at their request and contained sensitive and confidential documents wanted by them in connection with their enquiries.

“The Legal Section is a very small solicitor’s office with, at best, a limited number of staff. Recruitment difficulties meant that the admin team was inundated with work.

“To hand deliver the package at that time would have cost more in wasted time and disruption than paying for its postage. “In the circumstances entrusting the matter to the secure and private system offered by Royal Mail does not seem an unreasonable choice and provides the benefit of protecting the personal data and confidentiality of the documents sent as is required by law.”

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A councillor is refusing to attend council meetings because he claims he is being sent Welsh only correspondence.

Peter Rogers a former, AM and one of two members covering Bro Aberffraw on Anglesey Council felt he had “no choice” but to introduce a self-imposed ban.

He accused council officials and “certain councillors” of excluding him from internal correspondence by “deliberately” sending monolingual information in the medium of Welsh, in which he is unable to read.

However, Anglesey Council strongly refute these claims, adding that the council operates a bilingual policy which is overseen by the language commissioner.

But Cllr Rogers said he has no intention of going back in the forseeable future: “After living on Ynys Môn for 40 years it should be obvious that I have no problem whatsoever with the Welsh language.

“But the council has a bilingual policy and officers are contravening their own policy by not providing English translation. This is something I’ve tried to rectify for some time but nothing is changing.”

Cllr Rogers, a member of the Revolutionist Group, added that he had no problem with the council’s translation equipment at official meetings and his dispute was with internal communication with officers.

But despite his self-imposed withdrawal, he reiterated his intent to work hard on behalf of constituents in the ward.

Backing his stance, group colleague Cllr Jeff Evans said: “Peter is someone who tirelessly works on behalf of his constituents, and I am aware that his decision to withdraw from all council committees has not been taken lightly.

“Peter is honest, open, forthright and vociferous in challenging issues he believes to be wrong and not in the interests of the community. Alas he feels that issues he raises are not appropriately responded to, both in time and content, and is unprepared to accept or condone, standards that are, in his opinion, below that which should be expected.”

In response to Cllr Rogers’s claims, chief executive Richard Parry Jones explained: “There have been a few recent instances where Cllr Rogers was copied into Welsh e-mail correspondence, not directly relating to him, but these were translated for him when brought to my attention.

“I would totally refute Cllr Rogers’ accusations that officers are using the Welsh language against him. We operate a bilingual language policy, which we adhere to and is monitored by the Welsh Language Commissioner.”