Finance boss reveals he will be leaving council in May
A council's deputy leader and finance boss has announced he is to leave the council in May – just hours after getting the budget approved.
Within hours of successfully gaining approval for the budget at the full council meeting this week, Powys County Council's portfolio holder for finance Councillor Wynne Jones announced his intention to leave the county council in May.
He said his one regret from his time at the council was that they had been unable to transform the education service and he warned the council is in danger of letting down the county's children.
Councillor Jones said: "This decision has been made for some time but in order to protect the integrity of the council's budget process I have been unable to announce it until after the budget went through.
"I have found the work at council quite stressful in recent months with some niggling health issues occurring and, in addition to that, I owe it to my wife to spend more time with her and that in turn will allow us to spend time with our six young grandchildren who currently we hardly ever see.
"Council has been far more than a full time commitment for me and I feel I have achieved much at both ward and county council level.
"As I look back on my time at council there will be only one regret, and that is that during my time we were unable to take forward the very much-needed transformation of our education service.
"We are in big danger of letting down our children to whom a high-quality education is vital, so I really hope that the new council will have the political appetite needed to take the difficult decision needed for the benefit of our children."
Councillor Jones, who serves the Dolforwyn Ward, has been a member of the council for 14 years and has been previously held the portfolios for regeneration and also highways.
In addition he also held the position as Chair of Scrutiny for two years and served on several outside bodies including WEFO Performance Monitoring Committee, All Wales Flood Defence Committee and as a Director of Tourism Partnership Mid Wales.
He is also the leader of the largest political group on Powys County Council, the Powys Independent Alliance.
Leader of Powys County Council, Councillor Barry Thomas said: "I'd like to thank Councillor Jones for his hard work, commitment and loyalty since becoming deputy leader and portfolio holder for finance.
"Councillor Jones has worked tirelessly with other portfolio holders as the cabinet addressed the significant financial challenges the council has faced during these difficult times of austerity. “He has been instrumental in establishing the three-year budget planning cycle which has given us time to plan the necessary changes to meet the budgetary pressures we face until 2019. During the term of this council, £65m of savings have been made.
"Part of his legacy is leaving the council’s finance portfolio on a sound footing. I wish him all the best for the future."
