Council will spend £242k more on inquiry into pay dispute

CAERPHILLY council will pay an extra £242,000 towards an investigation into a dispute over senior officer pay rises after a heated debate.

Labour, Plaid Cymru and Independent councillors clashed over the long-running probe into the council and its former chief executive Anthony O’Sullivan.

Discussions were often brought to a halt with councillors deemed to be straying too close to the source of the investigation and not the proposed financial contributions.

The investigation, which will have cost taxpayers £4.1m by next year, was described as a “debacle” during a full council meeting on Thursday.

Proposals to allocate further funds for Mr O’Sullivan’s salary and legal costs were moved by the council’s deputy leaders, Barbara Jones and Sean Morgan, “with the utmost regret”.

“I, like everyone else, am frustrated by the situation we find ourselves in as I fully expected it would be concluded long before now,” said Cllr Jones. “This matter is out of our control and we wait with bated breath for the decision.”

But the proposals were met with anger among opposition councillors and residents, with a petition calling for the end of the investigation reaching nearly 900 signatures.

Independent group leader Kevin Etheridge attempted to pass an amendment asking for further funding to cease, but was told this was not possible due to the authority being bound by statutory process.

Colin Mann, leader of the Plaid Cymru group, said: “The chief beneficiaries in this debacle are the legal profession closely followed by the chief protagonist.”

Independent councillor Nigel Dix, who presented the petition to council, said he would not support the recommendations, adding: “I’ll be doing what the people are telling me to do.”

The £242,000 will include £108,000 towards Mr O’Sullivan’s salary and £134,000 towards legal costs.

It is expected the investigation will take up until March, with the extra funding covering liabilities until the end of next July.