‘Inquiry into council officers’ pay scandal should end by New Year’
AN INDEPENDENT inquiry into the Caerphilly council senior officers’ pay scandal is on course to be delivered by the end of the year, but more than six years after it started there remains no certainty about when it will be concluded.
On September 5, 2012, a committee of one Plaid Cymru and four Labour councillors recommended inflation-busting pay rises for chief executive Anthony O’Sullivan and senior colleagues.
The decision only became public knowledge after a leak to the Western Mail.
Mr O’Sullivan was initially suspended from his role in March 2013 after police said they would investigate complaints about secret pay rises awarded to senior officers at the council.
Mr O’Sullivan wrote a report which recommended his own salary should rise from £132,000 to £158,000. The suspension was later converted to “special leave” .
After a public outcry his pay rise was reduced to £5,000.
Together with his deputy, Nigel Barnett, and the council’s head of legal services, Daniel Perkins, Mr O’Sullivan was charged with misconduct in a public office after Anthony Barrett, the Assistant Auditor General for Wales, published a report saying the process had been unlawful.
In his public interest report, published in March 2013, Mr Barrett stated: “As the appointed auditor it is my responsibility to decide whether it appears to me that any item of account is ‘contrary to law’ before exercising discretion on whether to apply to the court for a declaration to that effect.
“In the course of my audit investigation, I sought to reach a conclusion on whether the council lawfully determined the pay levels for chief officers.
“I have concluded that the decision by the senior remuneration committee on September 5, 2012, to approve the recommended pay structure set out in the chief executive’s report to that committee was unlawful.”
Mr Barrett went on to state that in his view the meeting had been conducted unlawfully because it had not been properly advertised, that the agenda had not been made available for public inspection, that certain officers who stood to benefit were present throughout, that no declarations of interest were made, that the report recommending the increases was written by Mr O’Sullivan, a beneficiary who gave advice on a matter in which he had a pecuniary interest, and that the full range of options put forward by a consultancy hired to look at senior pay had not been included in the chief executive’s report.
The report stated: “This report is issued in the public interest under Section 22 of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004. I have issued this report to draw the public’s attention to a failure in governance arrangements and inadequacies in the processes adopted by Caerphilly County Borough Council to determine the pay of chief officers. As a result of such failures the council has, in my view, acted unlawfully with regards to this pay-setting process.”
However, the criminal charges were dismissed by a judge before a planned trial went ahead. All three men remained away from work but on full pay until October 2017, when the council agreed severance payments for Mr Barnett and Mr Perkins, who received £171,000 and £127,000 respectively.
Mr O’Sullivan, however, remains on full pay. As the council’s chief executive, special arrangements have to be made before disciplinary action can be taken against him. An independent investigation into his case is still under way.
Outside observers have calculated that the cost of the saga has been more than £5m in legal bills, payment to the three officers and payments to other officials who have done their jobs while they have been absent. In June last year, it was revealed that the cost of the investigation by an independent person would be £1,000 a day for 100 days.
Councillor Colin Mann, leader of the council’s opposition Plaid Cymru group, said: “People who have followed this costly saga will know that we have now passed the sixth anniversary of the meeting in September 2012 which made the original decision to award pay rises.
“I am sure that no-one who took part in the original decision ever thought that there would be no resolution after six years and possibly £6m down the drain. In addition to this, there is no definite end in sight. The council taxpayers of the borough continue to shoulder a mammoth burden, the consequences of which will be felt for years to come.”
A council spokeswoman said: “The matter remains with the Welsh Government-appointed designated independent person. It is still anticipated that the investigation, being undertaken in accordance with the disciplinary proceedings for statutory officers, will be concluded by the end of the calendar year”.
The council’s Labour leader, David Poole, has previously stated: “Many people are concerned about the length of time that this matter is taking to resolve and I fully understand and share these concerns, but it is important to stress that we are bound by a statutory process, over which we have no discretion.
“I would like to assure council taxpayers that the investigation is being dealt with as quickly as possible, but we must ensure this is done fairly and thoroughly.”