Anglesey council boss paid £270k

David Bowles is at the council following an Auditor General's report

The interim managing director (MD) of Anglesey council is costing the authority £270,000 a year, it has been revealed.

The council said it is paying for David Bowles's services via advisory recruitment agency Solace Enterprises Ltd.

Mr Bowles was recruited after the assembly government stepped in to run the council after a damning report by the Auditor General. Council leader, Councillor Clive McGregor, said he was glad the details had been published.

Details of the costs involved were revealed after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

In a statement the council said it "recognises there is public interest in knowing how much Mr Bowles's appointment... is costing the public purse".

Published

It added that "as with any other individual contract, there has been a need to balance the public interest against a possible break of commercial confidentiality".

But both Mr Bowles and Solace Enterprises Ltd, had "co-operated fully in agreeing the information should be published".

The council said it did not hold information about the sums paid to Mr Bowles by Solace Enterprises Ltd.

Mr McGregor, added: "I'm glad that we've been able to publish these details.

"We can now concentrate on supporting Mr Bowles's continued good work, which is integral to the council's recovery."

'Mission impossible'

BBC Wales political correspondent, John Stevenson, speaking on the Politics Show, said the sum of £270,000 was the minimum cost involved.

"There are also the costs of the recovery board, which actually supervise Mr Bowles, and these figures have not been revealed," he said.

Mr Stevenson said he had spoken to the leader of the Labour group on the council, Councillor John Chorlton.

"He said he was disappointed the contract was costing so much, and had they been aware of the financial implications they would have asked more searching questions," he said.

"I spoke to Peter Rogers, the only unaligned member of the council, and he said David Bowles had a 'mission impossible'."