PEMBROKESHIRE county councillor Brian Hall came under the spotlight in a BBC Wales Dragon's Eye programme on Thursday.

The programme made a series of allegations regarding Cllr Hall's business dealings, his behaviour towards fellow councillors, council candidates and council employees.

There has been much controversy surrounding his relationship with Dr Michael Ryan, an Irish business consultant employed on a part-time basis by the county council. There has been continual questioning by other councillors and the media about whether that relationship constitutes as conflict of interest for Cllr Hall.

The programme also raised issues regarding the funding of opposition councillors' wards within the county and the role of the authority's director of communication.

"I think the programme leaves more questions than it answered," said leader of the Labour group Cllr Joyce Watson, this week.

"If the allegations, and they are just allegations at this stage, have any foundation in truth, then there is one of two things happening here. Either Cllr Hall is suffering from delusions of grandeur and offering things which he clearly has no power to deliver on his own, because the system should not allow that to happen. Or, if the allegations are substantiated and he can deliver, then that stirs up a whole new hornets' nest.

"I feel Maurice Hughes, as leader of the Independent ruling group and also all cabinet members other than Cllr Hall, need to take a close look at those allegations.

"At a time when Pembrokeshire is looking for economic development, allegations like these cannot fill prospective investors with any confidence about investing here. "The programme did not put Pembrokeshire in a good light," she said.

Cllr Watson, Cllr John Allen, of the Lib Dems, and Cllr Michael Williams, Plaid Cymru, have now written to the council's chief executive, Bryn Parry Jones.

They ask that the council be recalled to consider whether an independent inquiry should be carried out and whether Cllr Hall has breached the council's code of conduct and the Local Government Act.

They also want to discuss referring the matter to the National Assembly. Cllr Tom Tudor has also written to Mr Parry-Jones asking for an investigation into whether Independent-held wards were favoured over other wards by the cabinet and officers.

Leader slams 'smears'

IN a press statement this week, county council leader, Cllr Maurice Hughes, said:" It is a sign of desperation of the opposition on the county council that they have now resorted to personal smears in what is undoubtedly an orchestrated campaign against Independent councillors.

"In the past few months we have seen evidence of this in unfounded and unsubstantiated attacks against social services staff and their director; against me in this week's local newspapers and continually against Cllr Brian Hall.

"These are purely a smokescreen to cover for the inadequacies of their own policies. "The fact is that this council has the lowest council tax in Wales and is one of the best performing local authorities in Wales. The opposition know this is the case, which is why they want to blacken the name of the authority.

"Now, unable to make any of these allegations stick, they have wheeled out the big guns. "It is disappointing that Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire MP Mr Nick Ainger has made no attempt to contact the county council to find out if there is any truth in the allegations made in the Dragon's Eye programme, yet he is prepared to go on television to comment on them.

"If anyone is guilty of oppressive and inappropriate behaviour, it is the BBC. The manner in which they tried to interview Councillor Hall - by blocking the entrance of the drive to his home with vehicles - was reprehensible.

"Perhaps the BBC should have introduced the programme with the words 'Party Political Broadcast'."

MP's ombudsman call

CARMARTHEN West and South Pembrokeshire MP Nick Ainger said this week: "Following the Dragon's Eye programme I have called on those who made the allegations about Cllr Hall's behaviour to make a formal complaint to the local government ombudsman. This is the only way their allegations can be investigated.

"These allegations go to the heart of local democracy, accountability and scrutiny. I would have expected the leader of the council, in which a cabinet member has been accused of serious wrong-doing, to confirm they are taking these allegations seriously and will co-operate with any ombudsman's investigation."