S.Wales Evening Post - 28 July 2009
A row has erupted among Swansea councillors over compulsory sterilisation of parents of children in care.
Conservative group leader Rene Kinzett claims two councillors caused uproar in a meeting which looked at the growth of the number of children in care in the city.
Councillors were discussing the issue of parents who have had their children taken into care but continued to have more children.
Councillor Kinzett, who was not present at the meeting, said he had been told the concept of forced sterilisation for parents had been raised. The subject was discussed at a members seminar on social services.
Tory councillor Paxton Hood-Williams has supported Councillor Kinzett's claims over the meeting.
Councillor Robert Francis-Davies, who was also at the meeting, confirmed the Labour party had tabled a motion for Thursday's council meeting as a result of a discussion at the members forum on social services.
"I can't remember exactly what was said, but Alan Robinson certainly did mention sterilisation and Councillor Fitzgerald agreed," he claimed. "However, David Phillips told them that was disgraceful."
He said it got very heated and people started to "backtrack" saying they had been misunderstood.
Both Councillor Robinson and Fitzgerald declined to comment when contacted by the Post last night.
A group of opposition councillors are now seeking a condemnation of the concept of forced sterilisation from the Lib-Dem administration.
Ten Labour members, including party leader David Phillips, have called for the matter to be discussed at a meeting of the full council on Thursday.
They have tabled a notice of motion calling for the council to acknowledge the complex issues involved when a child is taken into care.
It said: "Council considers it imperative that there is an evident commitment to such sensitivity and compassion at all levels in the authority and that this is expressed by both its political and administrative leaders.
"Council states unequivocally that it is unacceptable for any member of council, or the authority, to publicly pronounce, or privately harbour, views that some parents of children in care should be prevented from having any more children, by compulsory sterilisation if necessary. It believes that such extremist views have no place in mainstream politics in Britain.
"Council calls upon the leader of the council and the chief executive to unambiguously condemn such views and explicitly assure council that such statements not only have not, but also do not, form part of the policy considerations of the authority.
"Council calls on them to ensure that no member of the cabinet or senior management team hold, or agree with such views, and provide an assurance that such statements will not be tolerated within the authority."
