Caerphilly council pay row costs to exceed £4m by 2019

Charges against Anthony O'Sullivan, Nigel Barnett and Daniel Perkins were dropped in 2015

A long-running dispute over pay rises for senior officers at Caerphilly council will have cost more than £4m by next year, a report has said.

Members will be asked to set aside an extra £242,000 to pay for an ongoing investigation and the salary of former chief executive Anthony O'Sullivan.

He was suspended on full pay in 2013 amid allegations of misconduct, but the charges were dropped before trial.

Council leader David Poole said the ongoing issue was "hugely frustrating".

Mr O'Sullivan was suspended, along with his deputy Nigel Barnett and the head of legal services Daniel Perkins, after the Wales Audit Office declared their pay rises were unlawful.

It had been claimed they had agreed to give themselves a 20% increase when most other council staff faced pay freezes.

Criminal charges against the three men were dropped in 2015, and Mr Barnett and Mr Perkins left their jobs in October last year with compensation payouts between them of nearly £300,000.

But Mr O'Sullivan has yet to reach agreement with the council and remains on special leave.

The head of the investigation estimated the matter would not be resolved until March at the earliest, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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Mr Poole said: "It's disappointing and hugely frustrating that we are being asked to provide further funding to allow this investigation to reach a conclusion.

"We are facing significant cuts over the next few years and none of us want to see our shrinking budgets being diverted away from frontline services."

He said the council was "bound by a statutory process which is completely outside of our control and it is absolutely essential that we fully comply with relevant employee legislation".

The additional funds will cover the costs of the continued investigation and Mr O'Sullivan's salary until the end of July.

Colin Mann, leader of the council's Plaid Cymru group, said the figures were "staggering".

"This is public money that could have been spent on frontline services," he said.

"I have no confidence that this matter will be resolved by the end of July 2019, and I fear it could go on much longer."

Councillors will consider the report on 13 December.