A CONTROVERSIAL decision-making system at Ceredigion council introduced during the pandemic which cut out elected members has finally been shut down following repeated calls to scrap it from councillors and politicians.

Since March 2020, temporary delegated powers have been given to the council’s chief executive Eifion Evans and the Gold Command leadership group allowing them to make “urgent decisions relating to the authority’s response to the pandemic” without councillor input.

The powers have been renewed continually since then, despite Wales moving to alert level zero and council members and Ceredigion MS Elin Jones and MP Ben Lake calling for ‘democracy to return’ to the county.

Now, more than two years after taking control, the council has said that Gold Command will finally be disbanded.

Ceredigion County Council chief executive Eifion Evans and a leadership group of senior councillors and officers made more than a thousand decisions during lockdowns, re-opening and the move towards a return to normal.

A council spokesman has said that there was no longer a requirement for the gold command structure – under the ‘Civil Contingencies’ act - following the removal of covid-19 restrictions and the move from “pandemic to endemic.”

“Welsh Government has announced we are now in a transition phase from pandemic to endemic,” the spokesperson said.

“As we move beyond the emergency response phase to Covid-19, there is no longer a requirement to facilitate a Gold Command structure.”

The last set of published decision made by the group are for February 2022 and include endorsing the approach to traffic changes in some towns, continuing arrangements for support to care homes, agreeing proposals to revert to local decision making framework for schools from the half term, continuing mask use in public council settings and the need for a “supportive process” for some staff involved in contact tracing following changes to arrangements.

A wide range of covid related decisions were made under the delegated powers, without the full input of councillors, including the setting-up of the safe zones in town centres across the county, and the reintroduction of parking fees.

There had been calls to return to full authority involvement following the move to alert level zero late last year - but the decision was made that “Gold Command will continue to operate for the time being to make operational Covid-19 related decisions.”

That led to calls from Cllr Ceredig Davies, Ms Jones and Mr Lake to “return to democratic accountability for all decisions.”

The council said at the time that it “does not feel that there is a democratic deficit in the current system as weekly meetings between the cabinet and senior officers have continued throughout the pandemic.”

Deputy leader Cllr Ray Quant defended the Gold Command against calls to disband it, saying the criticism was “disappointing”.