10 months ago
3861
The Nuclear Free Local Authorities have responded to claims made by several elected members during a debate at a recent meeting of Caerphilly Council that the organisation ‘does not meet, meets infrequently, or does not even exist’.
At the Council meeting held on 11 November, Councillors voted 38 to 15 to withdraw from affiliation to the NFLAs.
Despite the official rational for withdrawal being the possibility that ‘the Council may be signing energy purchase agreements which could include nuclear energy’, several Councillors chose to deviate from the script claiming variously at length that the NFLAs do not meet or meet infrequently, or in one instance that the organisation does not even exist.
Given this misinformation may have influenced some Councillors in their vote, Councillor Lawrence O’Neill, Chair of the NFLAs and Councillor Sue Lent, Chair of the Welsh NFLAs, have now written to the Presiding Officer and Director of Legal Services to put the record straight.
In their letter, Councillors O’Neill and Lent contend that ‘these statements unjustly impugn the reputation of the UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities and the conduct, integrity and honour of the elected members who serve, and have served, without payment on the Steering Committee of this organisation and the professional local government officers who have served our organisation successively as Secretary’.
We reference the sixteen meetings and four Annual General Meetings held by the Steering Committee over the last four years, all of which have been documented and minuted, and the prodigious body of work produced by the NFLAs which can easily found on our website https://www.nuclearpolicy.info
Councillors seemed to be unaware that until her recent death, Caerphilly had been represented on the Steering Committee by the late Councillor Christine Forehead, who had received invites to meetings and regular mailings of media releases, briefings and newsletter.
It is a shame that no one from Caerphilly Council bothered to contact the NFLA Secretary before the meeting to enable the true facts to be ascertained and then relayed to the November Full Council, and regrettably Councillors rejected a call for the vote to be postponed until a balanced report could be prepared.
We end our letter by calling for it to be circulated to all elected members and entered into the record as part of the minutes at the next meeting of Full Council.
However, at the meeting, Councillors opposed to the plan were most concerned that in sanctioning withdrawal the authority was giving a ‘green light’ to a future nuclear power plant at the former Aberthaw power station site recently acquired as part of the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal. This is hinted at in the report.
With recent changes by UK Government in siting policy to make it developer-led and with the Nuclear Regulation Taskforce proposing sweeping nuclear deregulation, a new SMR development at Aberthaw is certainly possible and a potential threat to watch.
For more information, contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email to richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk
Photo: Credit CADW
The letter sent to Caerphilly County Borough Council reads:
Councillor Colin Gordon, Presiding Officer,
Caerphilly County Borough Council
Mr. Robert Tranter, Director of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer,
Caerphilly County Borough Council
Dear Cllr Gordon and Mr Tranter,
It is with considerable regret that we must disturb the generally collegiate spirit that exists between local authorities by being obliged to write to you as Presiding Officer and Chief Legal Officer to complain about a series of false statements made by elected members in the Council Chamber during the debate on Item 13 of the agenda of Full Council on 11th November 2025.
It is our contention that these statements unjustly impugn the reputation of the UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities and the conduct, integrity and honour of the elected members who serve, and have served, without payment on the Steering Committee of this organisation and the professional local government officers who have served our organisation successively as Secretary.
Amongst these elected members who served on our Steering Committee, indeed until her recent sad death, was the late Councillor Christine Forehead, who creditably served as Caerphilly’s appointed representative for many years, and was most recently reappointed at your Annual Council in May of this year.
At this point, on behalf of the NFLA Steering Committee and NFLA Secretary, we sincerely convey our condolences to family members, elected member colleagues and officers affected by Councillor Forehead’s death.
In addition, whilst we do not contest that it is entirely within the remit of the elected members of Caerphilly County Borough Council to determine which external organisations they wish to affiliate, or not to affiliate, to, we are concerned that some elected members may have chosen to vote to withdraw after being influenced by these false statements.
Contrary to the various claims made by four elected members in Chamber, including unfortunately by the late Councillor’s daughter, that the NFLAs does not meet, does not meet regularly, does not seek input from members, or even does not exist, the NFLAs have in fact been in continuous existence since Autumn 1981 and the Steering Committee, to which representatives from all affiliated member authorities are studiously invited, meets quarterly as well as holding an AGM.
The current NFLA Secretary has been in post since November 2021.
During his time in office, meetings of the Steering Committee have been held on the following dates:
3 December 2021
4 February 2022
27 May 2022
23 September 2022
9 December 2022
10 March 2023
16 June 2023
6 October 2023
15 December 2023
1 March 2024
14 June 2024
6 September 2024
6 December 2024
21 March 2025
20 June 2025
26 September 2025
Also, within these four years, the following Annual General Meetings were held:
4 February 2022
9 December 2022
15 December 2023
6 December 2024
The next meeting is pending on 12 December.
All these meetings are documented and minuted.
Hardly then an organisation that new Council Leader James Pritchard claimed in his closing statement ‘doesn’t meet or doesn’t meet regularly’.
The late Councillor Forehead was sent all invites, papers and minutes for every meeting, and in November 2024 also had a lengthy telephone conversation with our NFLA Secretary.
This situation follows practice established by the current postholders esteemed predecessors.
Our successive NFLA Secretaries have also been responsible for a prodigious body of work.
We regularly issue media releases, specialist briefings and, until capacity curtailed this activity earlier this year, monthly newsletters. We also attend various forums with regulators, government ministers and senior civil servants and the nuclear industry and make representations by letter to these parties or by written submissions in response to consultations conducted by these parties. Our opinion being valued is also frequently sourced by credible national and regional media outlets, such as the BBC.
All this material can be easily found on our website https://www.nuclearpolicy.info
As a Steering Committee member, the late Councillor Forehead would also have received a weekly email with relevant documents issued within the preceding period, as do the hundreds of other elected members, activists and campaigners on our extensive mailing list.
In stating that the NFLAs does not meet, does not meet regularly, does not seek input from members, or even does not exist, an impression will have been to elected members, and any representatives of the media and public watching, that Caerphilly’s financial contribution was being paid to a non-existent, dysfunctional and opaque organisation.
As the report references ‘Manchester City Council (as) managing the NFLAs’, this could also wrongly infer that either the City Council is incompetent in its management function or taking money from subscribing authorities under false pretences.
It is therefore most unfortunate that no officer, nor elected member within the Administration, seems to have attempted to contact our NFLA Secretary to enable the true facts to be ascertained and then relayed to Full Council on 11 November 2025, something which may have happened should Councillor Judith Pritchard’s amendment, for a deferment to permit the preparation of a balanced report, been accepted graciously.
Given the situation, we are seeking redress; namely that this letter be circulated to all elected members and that it be entered into the record as part of the minutes at the next meeting of Full Council.
Yours sincerely,
Councillor Lawrence O’Neill,
Chair, UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities
Councillor Sue Lent,
Chair, Welsh Nuclear Free Local Authorities
