Here's the latest Argus column by South Wales East AM Delyth Jewell:

IN THE last fortnight, the long-running saga of the council chief executive suspended on full pay came to an end with the dismissal, at last, of Anthony O’Sullivan.

The past seven years have been a sorry time for Caerphilly. With a council boss receiving his £137,000 salary while not actually working, residents have seen their local services cut.

From leisure centres to police stations, public conveniences to street lighting, we’ve seen all manner of public services being cut back.

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And the people of Caerphilly have felt it.

Public services aren’t just a ‘nice to have’ that can be cut without consequence when times are hard. They are absolutely a necessity.

And when you cut them, it affects people’s lives.

You see health problems rising, problems with crime and anti-social behaviour, you see disabled people struggling to live their lives fully, and children growing up with little hope for the future.

This isn’t the sort of county I want Caerphilly to be, and it isn’t the sort of country I want Wales to be either.

Throughout this whole period, I’m sorry to say that Labour has been in charge of both Caerphilly council and the Welsh Government.

They could have done something.

They could have made things move faster.

They could have stopped this scandal carrying on as long as it did.

But they didn’t.

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Not only that, but we’ve also seen the leader of the council be suspended and then resign over accusations that council shareholding rules were broken.

The people of Caerphilly deserve a council which works for them – which makes our county a good and decent place to live.

But as it is, this council is in crisis – and it should be put into special measures.

The government in Cardiff Bay has a responsibility to step in and roll its sleeves up to put things right.

Like many people across our county, I am fed up of the incompetence of one party who think they have some inalienable right to rule.

They don’t – and change is coming.

There will be a Senedd election in 2021 and local elections in 2022. I promise you that my party, Plaid Cymru, will provide our area with a fresh start, with new ideas and new integrity.

Our mission is not just to manage our problems, but to solve them.

We’ll transform Wales. And we’ll make Caerphilly, too, a place we can all be proud to call home.