A huge thank you to all who joined us in celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.  A truly historic event.  With an extra special thanks to the National Lottery, who sponsored the day.

After a difficult couple of years, we hope this gave you the opportunity to chat to friends and neighbours, and enjoy the musical talents of Kirsty Thomas, Jim Ramsey and Howley’s Howlers.  We certainly did – here are some photos to prove it: 

Result of Uncontested Elections

Llanbedr Ward

Llangenny & Glangrwyney Ward

Residents across Powys can now subscribe to this season’s easy, clean and simple garden waste recycling collection service, offered by the county council.

Residents are now able to subscribe to the service for the 2022 season by visiting www.powys.gov.uk/gardenwaste or by calling 01597 827465.

The annual subscription of £39 includes the hire of a 240-litre wheeled bin and fortnightly collections of your garden waste between 28 February and the 2 December. With 20 possible collections, the service works out at less than £2 for each full bin of material collected and recycled. A smaller 120-litre bin is available at a reduced rate for households with small gardens, or compostable garden waste sacks for those who have their non-recyclable rubbish collected in purple bags.

Residents who already benefited from using the service in 2021 will be contacted shortly to remind them to re-subscribe for another season. Once registered for the 2022 season, they will receive a sticker to place on their green wheeled bin to indicate to the crew that they have signed up for 2022.

New subscribers to the service will have their green wheeled bin delivered by the council within 10 working days, so make sure you sign up early to benefit from all the scheduled collections starting at the end of February.

Cllr Heulwen Hulme, Cabinet Member for Recycling and Waste, said: “It has been another tough winter for us all and we are all very much looking forward to the arrival of Spring to help lift all our spirits. Once the nights begin to draw out and the weather turns finer, many of us will be keen to get out into the garden once more.

“The collection service, which costs less than £2 per collection if people subscribe now, means that residents have an easy, clean and simple way of getting rid of their garden waste, with the knowledge that it will all be recycled and turned into compost.

“Signing up to the collection service will not only mean that residents don’t have to get the inside of their cars dirty and covered in grass cuttings and twigs, but it is also a sustainable and cost-effective way of recycling your garden waste.”

Residents not subscribing to the service will still be able to compost their garden waste at home or take it to one of the five household waste recycling centres in Powys.

Publication of audited accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021

Regulation 15(5) of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 (as amended) requires that by 30 September 2021, the Vale of Grwyney Community Council publish its accounting statements for the year ended 31 March 2021 together with any certificate, opinion, or report issued, given or made by the Auditor General.

The accounting statements in the form of an annual return have been published on the Council’s website. However, the accounts are published before the conclusion of the audit. Due to the impact of COVID-19, the Auditor General has not yet issued an audit opinion.

Cyhoeddi cyfrifon archwiliedig ar gyfer y flwyddyn a ddaeth i ben 31 Mawrth 2021

Mae rheoliad 15 (5) o Reoliadau Cyfrifon ac archwilio (Cymru) 2014 (fel y’i diwygiwyd) yn ei gwneud yn ofynnol, erbyn 30 Medi 2021, i Cyngor Cymuned fro Grwyney

gyhoeddi ei ddatganiadau cyfrifyddu ar gyfer y flwyddyn a ddaeth i ben 31 Mawrth 2021 ynghyd ag unrhyw dystysgrif, barn neu adroddiad a gyhoeddwyd, a roddwyd neu a wnaed gan yr Archwilydd Cyffredinol.

Mae’r datganiadau cyfrifyddu ar ffurf ffurflen flynyddol wedi’u cyhoeddi ar wefan y Cyngor. Fodd bynnag, cyhoeddir y cyfrifon cyn i’r archwiliad ddod i ben. Oherwydd effaith COVID-19, nid yw’r Archwilydd Cyffredinol wedi cyhoeddi barn archwilio eto.

Audit notice

Notice of appointment of the date for the exercise of electors’ rights

Vale of Grwyney Community Council

Financial year ending 31 March 2021

1. Date of announcement  13^th July 2021

• Each year the annual accounts are audited by the Auditor General for Wales. Prior to this date, any interested person has the opportunity to inspect and make copies of the accounts and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts etc relating to them for 20 working days on reasonable notice. For the year ended 31 March 2021, these documents will be available on reasonable notice on application to:

Maria James, Clerk/RFO, Vale of Grwyney Community Council
Pleasant View, Fforest Coal Pit,  NP7 7LH

Email: valeofgrwyneycc@gmail.com     Tel 01873 890777

between the hours of   9:00 and 3:00 (by appt) on Monday to Friday

commencing on 20 August 2021

and ending on 17 September 2021

• From 20 September 2021, until the audit has been completed, Local Government Electors and their representatives also have:
• the right to question the Auditor General about the accounts.
• the right to attend before the Auditor General and make objections to the accounts or any item in them. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the Auditor General. A copy of the written notice must also be given to the council.

The Auditor General can be contacted via: Community Council Audits, Audit Wales, 24 Cathedral Road Cardiff CF11 9LJ.

• The audit is being conducted under the provisions of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004, the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 and the Auditor General for Wales’ Code of Audit Practice. 

Electors’ rights under the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004

The basic position

By law, any interested person has the right to inspect the council’s accounts. If you are entitled and registered to vote in local council elections, then you (or your representative) also have the right to ask the Auditor General questions about them or challenge an item of account contained within them.

The right to inspect the accounts

When a local government body has finalised its accounts for the previous financial year, it must advertise that they are available for people to look at. Having given reasonable notice of your intentions, you then have 20 working days to look through the accounts and supporting documents. You will be able to make copies of the accounts and most of the relevant documents from the body. You will probably have to pay a copying charge.

The right to ask the auditor questions about the accounts

You can only ask the Auditor General questions about the accounts. The Auditor General does not have to answer questions about the body’s policies, finances, procedures or anything else not related to the accounts. Your question must be about the accounts that are subject to audit. The Auditor General does not have to say whether he thinks something the council has done, or an item in its accounts, is lawful or reasonable.

The right to object to the accounts

If you think that the body has spent money that they should not have, or that someone has caused a loss to the body deliberately or by behaving irresponsibly, you can object to the Auditor General by sending a formal ‘notice of objection’, which must be in writing to the address below. You must tell the Auditor General why you are objecting. The Auditor General must reach a decision on your objection. If you are not happy with that decision, you can appeal to the courts.

You may also object if you think that there is something in the accounts that the Auditor General should discuss with the council or tell the public about in a ‘public interest report’. Again, you must give your reasons in writing to the Auditor General at the address below. In this case, the Auditor General must decide whether to take any action. The Auditor General will normally, but does not have to, give reasons for their decision and you cannot appeal to the courts. You may not use this ‘right to object’ to make a personal complaint or claim against the body.

If you wish to make a personal complaint or claim, you should take these complaints to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau, local Law Centre, or your solicitor. You may also be able to complain to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales if you believe that a Member of the body has broken the Code of Conduct for Members. The Ombudsman can be contacted at: 1 Old Field Rd, Pencoed, Bridgend CF35 5LJ, (tel: (01656) 641 150).

What else you can do

Instead of objecting, you can give the Auditor General information that is relevant to their responsibilities. For example, you can simply tell the Auditor General if you think that something is wrong with the accounts or about waste and inefficiency in the way the council runs its services. You do not have to follow any set time limits or procedures. The Auditor General does not have to give you a detailed report of their investigation into the issues you have raised, but they will usually tell you the general outcome.

A final word

Local government bodies, and so local taxpayers, must meet the costs of dealing with questions and objections. When the Auditor General decides whether to take your objection further, one of a series of factors they must take into account includes the costs that will be involved. They will only continue with the objection if it is in the public interest to do so. If you appeal to the courts, you might have to pay for the action yourself.

If you wish to contact the Auditor General, please write to: Community Council Audits, Audit Wales, 24 Cathedral Road, Cardiff CF11 9LJ