A councillor told Denbighshire Council’s retiring chief executive she didn’t need a “lecture” on why councillors “need to understand” why the authority was financially “struggling”. Denbighshire Council announced today (Friday) that its chief executive Graham Boase is set to retire in January 2026.
Before this, at a cabinet meeting this week, the chief executive showed his irritation at rumblings in the chamber that the authority was underperforming. Mr Boase delivered a four-minute speech one councillor later dubbed “a lecture” on how tough the council’s financial predicament was, citing its invisible successes and “excellent schools”.
Mr Boase’s delivery formed part of a debate on a self-assessment report, highlighting where the council was succeeding and failing, with various areas scored in red or green, depending on whether targets were met. Citing a stakeholder survey that the council report said was a UK trend, the papers stated: “Not unique to our council is declining trust and satisfaction with democracy and public services generally.” Sign up for the North Wales Live newslettersent twice daily to your inbox.
The report also added: “Public trust and satisfaction in democracy and services is declining, emphasising the need for improved communication and engagement.” Mr Boase said: “Can I come in on that point that says DCC is well behind where it should be, and that certain services are struggling?
“Well, I’m not sure we are well behind where we should be. We’ve had other reports that have told us we’re a good-performing authority within the context that we have to work. So we need to understand that.
“Certain services are struggling. I’ll quote now from a recent report that was done that’s saying, without significant further investment, local government is unsustainable in Wales. Local government is facing a series of acute pressures and has done for a number of years. Our members need to understand this if they don’t already understand it.
“Social services, education, and housing dominate local authority spending. And what that means is that the areas that we call place-making functions are being squeezed out.
“But it is those place-making functions that communities like and see every day. But we are dealing with pressures in social services that are so significant, they are taking ever more resources from those front-line services in the environment area that the public see day to day.
“’I’m paying more council tax and getting less services (the public say).’ No, you are not. We are giving more and more services, but they are in areas that not a lot of the public see or understand that the council do – like the excellent schools that we have, and the thousands of pupils that come out with their really good qualifications.
“That is funded by Denbighshire County Council. Social Services – where we’ve got elderly people being looked after in nursing homes at £900 per week – is being spent by and paid for by Denbighshire County Council.”
He added: “That means some services, particularly those front-line services in the environment area that we call place-making, are struggling. Yes, they are struggling. And they will continue to struggle, because we prioritise our expenditure and our funding in those areas like schools and social services.
“So members do need to understand that message if they don’t already understand it. There will be services in the council, particularly those in the environment, that are struggling – won’t be performing as well as you want them to be, won’t be performing as well as the head of service and staff want them to be – because we are diverting funding from those services to pay for the ever-increasing pressures in social services, education, and housing, with our homeless people.
“So we do need to understand that. So when we see this report, we need to report on performance and reds – you need to understand it’s in that round, in that context – in the context of significant extra spending in the year-on-year, millions and millions of pounds extra going into our social services, because that’s where the budget pressures are.
“That money is coming from those other services – what we call our environment and place-making services. They are struggling. What is the alternative? Not to fund social services and continue to put money into those place-making services? That is not an alternative, because we have prioritised those vulnerable people.
“So we do need to understand and accept, when we look at these reports, some of the performance won’t be where we want it to be, and some of the services are struggling, but we must understand and acknowledge that context I’ve just described.”
Looking visibly irritated by the long speech, Ruthin backbencher Cllr Bobby Feely then remarked: “I am aware of all those things you said. Of course, I am, but what I asked, in a positive way, was, can you point to anything we can help to do to improve the situation? I didn’t need to have a lecture on the situation we are in, and I’m well aware of that.”
Summing up the report council officer Helen Horan said she didn’t use the word “disaster” to describe Denbighshire’s botched recycling scheme launch, as it implied “loss of life”. She added: “These reports may appear sanitised. They are not. It is just a different tone and language.”
Key achievements highlighted in the report included the council insisting it was a “well-run, self-aware council with strong staff commitment and effective governance”. The report also highlighted progress on meeting equality objectives and improved engagement with under-represented communities, as well as staff pride.
But the papers also highlighted medium-term financial pressures of between £14m and £26m for 2026 to 2027, with a rising demand in social care and housing.
The report also said poverty and inequality persist – with a disparity in outcomes for children and young people leaving care – and said meeting climate goals was “challenging”. The cabinet noted the report and agreed on amendments going forward.
Announcing his retirement on Friday, Mr Boase, who has been chief executive for the past four years, said: “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be CEO of such a wonderful Council and county and while I’m still very much enjoying the role, following a period of reflection, I’ve come to the decision that now is the time for me to prepare for a different future away from work.
“I will remain one hundred percent committed and focussed on my duties for the remainder of my time with the council and the next seven months will provide time to recruit a successor and to ensure a brief handover period.”
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