Pay Deal
Unfortunately, I was unwell and missed the special meeting of Caerphilly Council called by Plaid Cymru last week to discuss top officers’ pay fiasco.
The Plaid group wanted the decision to award 21 officers rises higher than many council employees earn in a year rescinded. Instead, the ruling Labour group pushed through a compromise deal which, they said, would save £400,000 over four years.
But, the original deal would have cost almost £1.6m over the same period so residents will still face a bill topping £1.1m. And the chief executive will pick up another £100 a week on his six figure salary.
Ordinary council workers have seen their pay frozen for three years but this deal has been cobbled together to get Labour out of a hole they had dug for themselves.
The original pay deal was agreed without the knowledge of the majority of the council being aware of it. But Labour did not learn its lesson – there was no supporting report or financial information on the compromise deal. Plaid and Independent councillors were kept in the dark and that is bad for democracy. Is this being done to avoid scrutiny? As far as I’m concerned all councillors and the public deserved a detailed breakdown of the costings.
I know if I had been a council leader there is no way I would have been agreed the original deal, which was ludicrous, and showed a Labour leadership so out of touch with residents in the county borough struggling to keep a home over their heads and pay their household bills. What message is the council sending to its residents by agreeing this deal.
When I was leader I insisted that council tax should be pegged for two years because I knew how people were struggling in this dire economic crisis.
My challenge to Labour is not to make residents pay for this compromise deal through their council tax.
Their initial decision caused outrage among employees and residents so it would be another betrayal of the people they represent if council tax was hiked to pay for increases for already well-paid officers.
Lindsay Whittle
Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales East
In regards to the Council Tax, Cllr or AM Whittle have chosen to link the pay issue to the forthcoming budget. In a statement made by Cllr Andrews he said "In reality, the last Plaid administration froze council tax before the 2011 Assembly and 2012 local elections but built a council tax rise of 2.35% into their medium term financial strategy for this non election year. They knew that the alternative would be to cut services. At the time the Labour opposition warned that Plaid were pushing debts into the future. We now have to deal with the mess that they left. Discussions over the budget are ongoing and no decisions have yet been made.”
It sounds like Plaid is playing cheap politics and afraid of coming clean. Labour is not perfect in this but has come up with a compromise which will not put the Council in any legal challenges or further financial cost. At least they had the decency to apologies and work with the unions and chief staff on this issue, what has Plaid done? Playing cheap politics, I am ashamed to say I have voted Plaid in the past, never again.
L Howells
Mr Whittle neglects to mention:
– Last year, the Plaid Cymru-controlled council of which he was a supporter backed the same senior officers' pay deal they now criticise! But they were to scared to introduce it before the May council elections
– Last week, his Plaid Cymru group of councillors called for the sacking of Caerphilly Council's senior officers – a reckless plan which would have cost the council hundreds of thousands in legal expenses and put at risk the council's delivery of key public services
– Last week, our Labour-led Caerphilly Council DID rescind the pay award, and introduced a fair compromise
– he's got a nerve claiming any increase in Caerphilly council tax would be due to this pay deal. He knows his Plaid Cymru administration froze council tax for 2 years, knowing it would have to increase this year!
Typical Nationalists – more porky pies than Peters Savoury Products!
So why didn't Plaid's representative on the Remuneration Committee that approved the original deal object?
Plaid playing cheap politics , that's standard practice for Plaid , they were willing to fight an expensive legal battle, putting services at risk, even thou the pay deal was rescinded, the public can see Plaid for what they are opportunistic and irresponsible
Perhaps Jeff Cuthbert, The man who shut the Miners,AM should remember that the Plaid Councillor, was one of five memebers on the committee and thus would have been outvoted by the four Labour Councillors, one of whom appears to ahve avested interest in the vote.