My Corrupt Council - Neath Port Talbot

“All animals are created equal but some are more equal than others.” - George Orwell, Animal Farm

According to the NPTC Corporate Plan, the purpose of the Neath Port Talbot Council is "to serve and represent the interests of its citizens and communities" and if you live in Neath Port Talbot you are most likely paying council tax to ensure that the council has the funds to carry out this obligation.

I live in Glynneath, a small town on the edge of Neath Port Talbot and I am a council tax paying resident of the county borough. Over the last year or so (since April 2020) I have been investigating the council's planning system in relation to a proposed housing development that borders my property. What I have found is that I have been living next to a toxic waste dump for the last 14 years and people are dying from contamination related illnesses in my street. During my investigation into the historical information I have found that corruption is widespread amongst council employees and the elected council officials of the county borough are deliberately undertaking purposeful actions that support this corruption.

The actions of these corrupt employees and officials have placed my family and the families of properties bordering the development at risk of death from carcinogens, neurotoxins and other contaminants that have been tipped at the site and they continue to do so as council officials use methods of corruption to support unscrupulous developers whose only interest is how much profit they can make on their investment.

This is unacceptable, and the practices that support this must be addressed now because it is highly unlikely that this is an isolated incident and it therefore highly likely that corruption is widespread in the county borough.

I have built this website to help the people of Neath Port Talbot identify corrupt employees and officials of the county borough and have provided a guide on how to identify their corrupt actions. If we refer to the purpose of the council and two of the values as listed in the NPTC Corporate Plan:

NPTC purpose:

Neath Port Talbot Council exists to serve and represent the interests of its citizens and communities. We strive to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of all of our people.

NPTC values include:

We will be open to challenge and will promote a culture of learning and innovation throughout our organisation.

We will conduct the work of the Council in an open and accessible way, ensuring we are properly accountable for the decisions we make.

Let's see where we go from here.

Dai Richards

www.dai-richards.wales

This page does not tread on eggshells, the protection of our families is of paramount importance to each and every one of us in the neighbourhood so when I say someone is corrupt. I mean that I believe someone is corrupt and I am saying this publicly so if I say that someone is corrupt and they believe they are not and that I am slandering them or my statements are libellous then I am happy to go to court to prove that what I say is correct. So that we are clear on what I mean when I say that someone is corrupt I have defined the meanings that are defined by a commonly accepted defining tool, a dictionary.

We define the words corrupt and corruption and other associated words in relation to the council employees and elected officials as follows:

ACCOUNTABLE: subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; responsible; answerable or other definition of corrupt as defined by www.dictionary.com ON 24/1/2021 - CLICK HERE for a full list of definitions.

COALITION: The joining together of different political parties or groups for a particular purpose, or other definition of corrupt as defined by www.dictionary.com & https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ on 24/1/2021 - CLICK HERE for a full list of definitions.

CORRUPT: Deliberately failing to follow the council's purpose and/or rules or other definition of corrupt as defined by www.dictionary.com ON 24/1/2021 - CLICK HERE for a full list of definitions.

CORRUPTION: Any corrupt or dishonest practice or proceedings as defined by www.dictionary.com ON 24/1/2021. CLICK HERE for a full list of definitions.

The purpose of this page is to fight all types of corruption within the Neath Port Talbot Council and to replace identified corruption with systems of integrity that provide positive outcomes for the people of Neath Port Talbot.

It is my opinion that my case is not an isolated one and so I have built this study website to help other citizens of Neath Port Talbot to identify council corruption relating to their personal circumstances.

This study has evolved out of the East Glynneath - Residents Against Contamination group who found that they have been powerless to prevent an intrusive housing development on their doorstep despite a long history of council malpractice and negligence that has showed a complete disregard for the health and lives of the residents surrounding the development.*** Rather than addressing the concerns of the residents of East Glynneath, council employees and elected councillors have attempted to cover up this malpractice and negligence or refused to investigate our concerns.

We have used the study of this still ongoing case its related corrupt actions to form the basis of beginning of a study into corruption within the Neath Port Talbot Council.

A recent study has found that 20% of properties with long term occupancy that directly border the site have suffered the death of a family member from a rare neurodegenerative disorder within the last 5 years.

We use the term official here to refer to a paid (employee) or unpaid member (volunteer) of the council staff or a paid or unpaid elected official such as a councillor. TYPES OF CORRUPTION We believe that government corruption can be split into the following generic categories:
SYSTEM PURPOSE CORRUPTION	Where a regulation, rule or protocol is included in a system that is contrary to the purpose of the organisation. The classic example of this is Hitler's final solution. Please see below for a working example of this in Wales. EXAMPLE - WELSH GOVERNMENT CHILDREN'S PLAY POLICIES - CLICK HERE (new website www.a-better.wales)
MORAL CORRUPTION	Where an official or group of officials deliberately fail to follow a government's moral values, usually defined by an organisation as 'purpose' and 'values' and the staff 'code of conduct'.
SYSTEM PHYSICAL CORRUPTION	Where an official deliberately fails to follow local, regional or national government rules.
SYSTEM INFORMATION CORRUPTION	Where an official deliberately fabricates information, uses methods of deception or makes other corrupt actions with information while following government rules. EXAMPLE: RA DECEPTION - CLICK HERE
CRIMINAL CORRUPTION	Where an official deliberately undertakes a UK Government common law criminal action in their position as a government official.
CORRUPTION COALITION	Where a person or group form an alliance to support corruption. EXAMPLE - 1990 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT BREACH - CLICK HERE EXAMPLE - PLANNING NOTICE - CLICK HERE

CORRUPT PUBLIC OFFICIAL	A public official (appointed or elected) who deliberately makes an action (or fails to make a required action) that fails to observe the purpose, values or rules of the council. (potentially excluding moral exceptions)
CORRUPTION INCIDENT	A single action/occurrence, the purpose of which is to support corruption.
CORRUPTION EVENT	An event such as a meeting, press release or letter etc the purpose of which is to support corruption.
CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN	An series of corruption events and incidents that are linked to the same group of public officials and subject matter.
CORRUPTION INDICATOR	Information that points toward potential corruption.
COVER-UP	An attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing.
COVER-UP (APATHETIC) (TURNING A BLIND EYE)	Example: A public official who knows that corruption exists and is in a position to report it in line with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1988 but fails to do so.
COVER-UP (PASSIVE/AGGRESSIVE)	An attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing through the failure to provide requested information, either through blocking, refusal and/or the ignoring of information requests.
COVER-UP (ACTIVE)	An attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing with an action or actions in which a method of deception is used.
COVER-UP (ACTIVE - COLLECTIVE)	An attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing as part of a collective action, for example voting on a motion known to cover-up corruption
COVER-UP (ACTIVE - AGGRESSIVE)	An attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing with an action or actions that deliberately conceal evidence.
COVER-UP (ACTIVE - AGGRESSIVE DEFENCE)	An attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing with an action that deliberately conceals evidence used as a defensive method (after being accused or identified as corrupt).
COVER-UP (ACTIVE - AGGRESSIVE ATTACK)	An attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing with an action or actions that deliberately conceals evidence, undertaken on a voluntary basis as a method of attack.
WHITEWASH SOURCE IMAGE SOURCE LINK	An attempt to stop people finding out the true facts about a situation. The biased presentation of data. (dictionary.cambridge.org) (EXAMPLE - COUNCIL LEADER STATEMENT - CLICK HERE)
LIP SERVICE SOURCE IMAGE SOURCE LINK	The action of agreeing with something but doing nothing to support it: (dictionary.cambridge.org)
BACK-SCRATCHING SOURCE IMAGE SOURCE LINK	The reciprocal provision of help or support, typically in an underhand or illicit manner.
TRANSPARENCY SOURCE IMAGE SOURCE LINK	Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed. Transparency implies openness, communication, and accountability.

We'd be happy to receive suggestions/additions or comments relating to the our suggested generic categories.

POTENTIAL CORRUPTION INDICATOR

With media backing, politicians are becoming bolder and are blatantly breaking rules in public, however this is not always the case and sometimes corruption is extremely difficult to detect. Quite often identifying a potential corruption indicator is the first step in tackling corruption. A potential corruption indicator is information that points toward potential corruption.

RELEVANT QUESTIONS & INFORMATION REQUESTS

If you ask a council official a question or request information and they avoid the question or refuse to give you an answer then this is a key indicator of corruption. Democratic Audit, an independent research unit looking into UK government democracy states that:

"For citizens to get involved in governing themselves and participating in politics, they must be able to find out easily what government agencies and other public bodies are doing."

If the council are stopping you from receiving information. This is a purposeful action, and this purpose is most likely to avoid accountability for corruption.

Asking a relevant question - CLICK HERE

Steve Ball - Planning Development Manager NPTC - Steve Ball uses methods of deception to avoid the corrupt and negligent actions of the planning department. He is a compulsive liar who regularly fabricates information when he presents it to the planning committee. - CLICK HERE FOR EVIDENCE RELATING TO THIS EMPLOYEE'S CORRUPT ACTIVITIES

Ceri Morris - Head of Planning and Public Protection - Blatantly falsifies information relating to the planning process in support of his corrupt official

Huw Jones - Chief Finance Officer - Supporting the Heol y Glyn Corruption Coalition

Lesley Spencer - Council Tax Recovery - Supporting the Heol y Glyn Corruption Coalition

We have identified at least another 18 council employees and officials who are supporting the corrupt actions of Steve Ball and we are busy organising this evidence for this website, please revisit this page at a later date to review this information. However if you visit the following page it will identify many of these public officials. - CLICK HERE

Corruption at NPT Council Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/3040774202806008

The Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles) - THIS WEBSITE - UK GOV WEBSITE

UN anti corruption declaration - https://www.unglobalcompact.org/take-action/action/anti-corruption-collective-action

Transparency International - An organisation that fights global corruption. - Transparency international - what is corruption

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) - Anti-Corruption and Integrity Hub - CLICK HERE

More Planning Department corruption at NPTC - https://freecitizens.weebly.com/neath-port-talbot.html

Transparency International (the global coalition against corruption) ..................

WHAT IS CORRUPTION?

We define corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.

Corruption erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and the environmental crisis.

Exposing corruption and holding the corrupt to account can only happen if we understand the way corruption works and the systems that enable it.

To Fight Corruption, We Must Embrace Transparency

Transparency is all about knowing who, why, what, how and how much. It means shedding light on formal and informal rules, plans, processes and actions. Transparency helps us, the public, hold all power to account for the common good.

Seeking and receiving information is a human right that can act as a safeguard against corruption, and increase trust in decision makers and public institutions. However, transparency is not only about making information available, but ensuring it can be easily accessed, understood and used by citizens. - Transparency international - what is corruption

For citizens to get involved in governing themselves and participating in politics, they must be able to find out easily what government agencies and other public bodies are doing. - Democratic Audit