I am not a liar

Another repost.

The allegation that children were kept in motorway services because there was nowhere else for them to go is a serious one, and one which has prompted a great deal of huffing and puffing – lots of smoke and very little light.

However, the allegation that this was manufactured by Edwina Hart and myself for political advantage is a gross calumny. Mrs. Hart's statement was based entirely on what the staff in the Children's homes specifically told us. I had and (so far) have no reason to doubt them.

If the Cabinet Member is so confident that this has never happened why is he so reluctant to agree to an enquiry as I asked him. And why is there a dislocation between his categoric denials and the Service Director's more muted responses.

This the statement that I read out in the Council meeting last week.

"This is clearly an important matter. However, I am not a liar and neither is Mrs Hart AM or her representative. This was not invented to gain political advantage – we had no need to do so and frankly would not have done so. We were at the facility at the staff's invitation.

I know what I & my colleague heard and I stand by what we heard and what I wrote down. Indeed my colleague had previously been told the same thing in another forum. We did not misunderstand.

What we were told was very explicit, was repeated more than once and spoken back to the staff. It was not the views of one disgruntled individual but many. It was never qualified or amended. The terms and scope of the press release were agreed. We had and have no reason to doubt the accuracy what we were told.

The Leader of Council has already, and very inappropriately, called on me to report to the Director of Social Service, the name of the member of staff who made the allegation. Disciplinary action has already been threatened. So I won't be naming anybody.

Given that, however, I can understand why staff members might now be seeking to distance themselves from the issue. However, I am very concerned as to whether any form of inappropriate pressure has been applied to staff to get them to retract a clear and unambiguous statement of the consequences of the bed-blocking at these two facilities.

I fully support the hard and important work that the staff in Ty Gwaun and Ty Cwm perform and the service and support that these facilities provide to some of the most challenging children; children for whom there is currently simply no alternative – save, in many cases, transporting them many miles from Swansea.

To resolve this matter and put it beyond doubt, I call on the Cabinet Member to commission a review of say, the past two years, to establish that no child, in any circumstances, has had to spend time in motorway services."