The Community Council has welcomed the news that County Councillor Adrian Hobson is seeking a high level meeting with the Wales Audit Office (WAO) to establish the facts behind the recent WAO report. He claims he will also be contacting the Police, Ombudsman and the Standards watchdog in respect of these matters and again we welcome this news.

 

All that we ask is that he publishes, in full, the responses he receives and not just his politically motivated opinion designed to spread innuendo on the integrity of the Members of the Community Council. 

 

For the record, there are NO outstanding audits that have not been sent to the Audit Office and there has never been any suggestion, by the WAO or any other body, that there has been any misappropriation of monies or misconduct by anyone on the Council.

 

 If Councillor Hobson has any facts to substantiate his wildly exaggerated statements then he should publish them and immediately report any wrongdoing to the police.

 

Whilst Councillor Hobson is talking about financial issues and integrity perhaps he could explain exactly why he has claimed £11,081 for childcare costs for someone to look after his teenage child when he was engaged on Council business.   His claim for childcare costs alone is more than 50% of the Community Council’s annual budget.

 

Whilst supporting the need for “dependent care allowances” this claim raises a number of questions that maybe Councillor Hobson would like to answer.

 

Additionally, on a number of occasions Councillor Hobson has been asked about his claim, on his website, to have been a Member of the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a record of him ever being a member and despite numerous requests for details of his involvement he has refused to provide any evidence.

 

If he has been a Member of the Rescue team then we will be the first to acknowledge his role in these vital activities and the contribution he has made to the wider community. It is possible that there has been some administrative error in respect of this matter and we look forward to Councillor Hobson producing a letter from the Central Beacons Mountain rescue Team or his MLC log book confirming that he was an active Member. In this way he will be able to prove that, at least some of his claims are genuine and not just another product of an over active imagination.