The chief executive of Caerphilly County Borough Council has come under fire after it was revealed he penned a report recommending he receive a pay rise of up to £35,000 a year.
Anthony O’Sullivan was one of 20 senior bosses at the local authority who were awarded pay increases at a secret meeting of five councillors in September.
WalesOnline reports the five councillors were the only ones to know of the pay increase with the other 68 sitting on the council kept in the dark.
Mr O’Sullivan’s report, which has been seen by Caerphilly Observer, points out pay differentials between staff, citing the example of a headteacher on £98,000 – £3,000 shy of the salary of the director of education.
It reads: “Chief officer pay has for some time been below the rates paid for comparable roles in other local authorities and public sector partners such as health. This makes retaining the best talent in this key group more difficult, particularly when set against the backdrop of having to achieve more with reduced resources as the organisation develops.
“This has been demonstrated recently by the loss of our head of children’s services to a significantly smaller South Wales authority due to this lack of salary competitiveness. The appointment made leaves us circa £19k adrift of the salary being offered.”
The report states the chief executive’s salary could now be as much as £158,360, a £35,000 increase on previously published figures. A chief officer once on £71,000 now appears, under the new pay structure, to have had an increase to more than £99,000.
Colin Mann, leader of the Plaid Cymru opposition group on Caerphilly County Borough Council, told WalesOnline: “Ordinary members of the public, as well as council staff, have told me that they are absolutely furious at the reported rises of up to 20% for senior management, which are more than many earn in a year.
“This has damaged staff morale and it is clear that ‘we are not all in it together’. Some ordinary workers have not had a pay rise for five years.
“Where is the Labour leadership on the salary issue? The silence has been deafening – they need to tell the public now whether or not they support this rise. The Plaid group had one representative on the panel of five. I understand that he definitely raised his concerns about the proposal but was one voice out of five.
“I believe that the vast majority of councillors of all groups knew nothing about this because of the way the panel meeting was taken to full council. Regardless of the merits or otherwise of these proposals, the secretive way this has been handled by the council smacks of a cover-up.”
Lindsay Whittle, Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales East, a Caerphilly County Borough Councillor and a former council leader, said today: “If I was still leader of the council today, I can guarantee that these huge rises for senior managers at Caerphilly County Borough Council would not have happened under my watch. They are utterly unacceptable and I can fully understand the fury of employees and members of the public alike.
“I’m sorry that I’m no longer leader and this sort of incident makes me more determined to start working in the new year to help wrest control of the authority back to Plaid Cymru at the next council elections.”
Trade unions representing council staff are also unhappy at the revelations and a meeting of the council’s Unite branch is due to take place tomorrow.
Well, who would have thought that public servants are only in it for the money? Colin Mann is leading the charge against these money grabbers and invites the questions into the manner of how and, more importantly, why these outrageous increases were agreed. If public officials having nothing other than the size of their bank balances to think about when considering a job, then we are better off without them. Most of us coughing up our Council Tax aren't even on £35,000. This sort of behaviour needs to be kicked into touch and let's get this particular situation right out into the open. Freedom of Information, anyone?
It is an appalling state of affairs when Councillors, who are charged with the protection of the public purse, can rely on such an incestuous situation as the Chief Executive making a claim for extra wages in a report which is then kept secret from the ratepayers who will be footing the bill.
The claims made by the Chief executive in his missive in support of the "Please sir, I want more" brigade is as exaggerated as the same argument made by the greedy bankers. If it is indeed the case that his close professional allies can get higher paid jobs elsewhere, then, clear off and do so. I predict that there would not be such an exodus as is being feared by the Council`s Chief Officer, and to suggest so is both disjointed and without any foundation whatsoever. It is something which heaps discredit upon those elected Councillors who knew nothing about it, ( or did they) and who are still not prepared to give us ratepayers their opinion lest they fall out with each other in the name of democracy.
Public sector pay is out of control, whilst those in private industry are denied pay rises or have pay cuts the boys and girls in the 'Town Hall' feel that their exceptional abilities deserve salaries above that of many national leaders in the world.
Let us hope that public anger will scupper these unecessary rises but with meetings in camera being in vogue within our local authority don't hold your breath. Apart from anything else how are the senior figures in the council going to be able to argue pay restraint for their thousands of workers?
A group of 5 councillors made this decision and the reaming, as Cllr Mann states were kept in the dark, its easy for whittle to crow about this, has he forgotten that Plaid sat on this committee, why didn’t that Plaid Cllr spill the beans back in June when the decision was made? Plaid would have acted the same
,as leadership of both parties are to close to officers. The decision was wrong they need to be looking at how it can reversed. Oh by when leader Whittle did not know that the council invested £15 Million into failed Icelandic banks three weeks before they went bust, that cost 4 years of lost interest payments and 1.8 million was written off . and he gave the deputy leader a £15k pay rise that was kept secret.
The Prime Minister of England, Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland, earns £142,500 per year.
The Chief Executive of Caerphilly borough council`s salary? £158,800, plus interest free car loans, plus huge traveling expenses, plus his additional income from being the Caerphilly constituency returning officer in elections, and, he still has the cheek to declare to his whipping boy Councillors ( at least five of them who are currently doffing their hats at him), that he is underpaid.
The council should declare this entire process null and void and start again, he should also pay back the ` back pay` he received of £8,000 from August, when the rises took effect.
This is no less than robbery, robbing the ratepayers of the borough, appalling, disgusting and unsustainable, thank god for Councillors like Mann and Whittle who appear to be the only ones except the whistle blower, Ann Blackman of Nelson who are prepared to stand up against these odious decisions of Caerphilly council.
When I was in school the only people who went into Local Government were those who couldnt get into University, how things have changed, if he was getting payment by results he`d be owing us money.
This wage is absolutely ridiculous ,also that multi million pound building they are in is a total waste of money,just think what that sort of money could help the health service,our Nurses and carers don't get anyway near what they deserve .
I don't agree with the wages of the AM members what do they do to deserve a wage so hight?? Maybe Mr L Whittle could tell me?
This wage of the Chief Executive is far too much we as tax payers should have a say in it,he is getting more than the Prime Minister?he gets far too much ,recently our primeminister has been caught lying more than once I have NO faith in our Council or the Primeminister.Give the Real Workers ie the Nurse's and carers a DECENT wage as they actually EARN their money.
Shame on all of you that have taken the secretive rise! You obviously don't live in the real world where people are losing their homes, jobs and In some sad cases their lives because they can't cope with the financial stress of todays living. Why do we have these idiots running our council when they are so out of touch with reality? Shame on you again!
Just heard on HTV news that the workers at CCBC are staging a walkout next Monday,if all of the Council Tax payers realised how much the Chief Exc is being payed I don't think they would be happy,we should all stop paying the Council tax in Protest at this ridiculous wage .
I instinctively feel the same as commentator 'Ron' above who suggests we stop paying council tax. I am 100% sure that voters are not happy with this secretive pay deal for the fat cats of the council. I caution people, however, not to withold council tax as this will enable the very same people who are getting the big pay rises to use the force of the law against them.
the best is that Plaid leader Colin Mann voted for it as did Cllr Whittle at full council on the 9th of October.