Caerphilly council pay row costs to rise to £3.6m

Anthony O'Sullivan, Nigel Barnett and Daniel Perkins were suspended after a critical audit report in 2013

A long-running dispute over pay rises for senior officers at Caerphilly council is due to cost nearly £50 for every household in the county.

Councillors will be asked to set aside an extra £193,000 for legal costs and pay for chief executive Anthony O'Sullivan, who is on special leave.

Plaid Cymru said residents would be "dismayed" at the total bill of £3.6m.

Caerphilly council said it was "working hard to bring this matter to a conclusion as quickly as possible".

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Mr O'Sullivan was suspended, together with his deputy Nigel Barnett and the head of legal services Daniel Perkins, after the Wales Audit Office declared their pay rises were unlawful in 2013.

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

The involvement of Mr Barnett and Mr Perkins in the dispute ended in October last year when they received compensation payouts of nearly £300,000.

But Mr O'Sullivan remains on special leave.

Councillors will be asked to set aside an extra £193,000 for legal costs and pay for chief executive Anthony Sullivan

A criminal case, involving charges of misconduct in public offices, was dropped in 2015.

The council's investigating and disciplinary committee then carried out a 14-month inquiry before deciding to appoint an independent investigator, who is in the process of carrying out a formal inquiry.

On Tuesday, Caerphilly councillors will be asked to ensure enough funds are in place for the inquiry to continue until the end of 2018.

The financial provision will be reviewed again if the inquiry is not completed by then.

'Price of mistakes'

More than £2m of the overall cost has been taken up by salaries with the rest on legal costs and compensation.

With 76,000 households in the county borough, the average cost per household is £47.

Colin Mann, leader of Caerphilly council's Plaid Cymru group, said: "Residents in the county borough will be dismayed that the bill from the senior officers' pay scandal is rising again by another £193,000, with no end in sight it appears.

"Our residents have been out and out losers over the past five and a half years. It is vital that the residents of towns like Pontllanfraith, where the future of the leisure centre is uncertain, do not pay the price of mistakes made in the past."

He added that he hoped the investigation would be completed by the end of 2018 to bring "this long drawn-out and unhappy era in the history of Caerphilly council to a conclusion".

A Caerphilly council spokesman said: "We are working hard to bring this matter to a conclusion as quickly as possible, but when dealing with disciplinary proceedings at this level, we are bound by a statutory process which must be followed."