Caerphilly Council
Well, it seems the senior officers’ pay fiasco is going to prove costly – and not just in the wages of 21 top officials at Caerphilly council.
The authority has now set up its own investigation team and an internal appointment of a solicitor to review governance. The costs have been estimated at up to £28,000 and I predict there will be further costs which will add to the growing bill.
Cash for this is coming from council reserves but at the end of the day it is still public money.
It is important that this investigating committee does a thorough job as the Labour-run administration has to restore wrecked public confidence in what was a well-regarded local authority.
The investigation follows the damning dossier from the Wales Audit Office which found the decision to award huge rises was unlawful.
It will be interesting to see how public react to this debacle because there has been enormous anger at the pay hike for top officers while the ordinary workers have been stuck on a three-year pay freeze. That will be tested when voters go to the polls in a by-election in Risca East on May 2.
Funeral of Don Bradfield
I recently went to the funeral of Don Bradfield, who passed away at the age of 97.
Don was my woodwork teacher at Caerffili Boys’ Grammar Technical School, which eventually became St Martin’s Comprehensive.
During World War Two Don was a rear gunner in a Lancaster bomber and appropriately at the end of the service at Thornhill in Cardiff, the Dam Buster’s march was played.
As a teacher, Don, who hailed from Abertridwr, was highly respected by both fellow teachers and pupils. Viv Rees, who chairs the school’s Old Boys’ association was among the mourners who paid tribute.
The association, of which I’m an enthusiastic supporter, continues to be very popular. At the last annual dinner we had 125 former pupils present – our highest turnout yet – and it’s great to have the chance to wallow in nostalgia for a few hours.
The Caerphilly association is the largest of its kind in Wales and is only open to pupils who attended the school before St Martin’s was established in the 1970s.
Pontlottyn
I visited the Action for Children project in Pontlottyn last week and talked to parents and staff about the services they provide.
As a member of the Health and Social Care Committee, the visit was useful as Assembly Members consider the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Bill.
The family centre offers crucial advice and support on the many issues families face, including offering advice to young and single parents.
Lindsay Whittle
Plaid Cymru AM South Wales East
Dear Councillor Whittle. Can you please categorically inform the electorate which way James Fussell, the Plaid member on the renumeration committee voted? did he vote in favour of the pay rises or not? Until we know we can not trust Plaid Cymru at all.
Plaid are going into this by – election with one policy. That policy being to slag off the very process by which they were in part responsible for but chose to not speak about until it became public knowledge. Anybody with a bit of sense will realise that they knew all along about the pay rise debacle but chose to keep quiet becasue they were implicated. Do they think the people of Risca are fools?
The Council`s internal senior solicitor was recently `demoted` and his day to day responsibilities `curtailed`. His previous responsibility as Monitoring Officer of the council, a statutory role, was taken from him and given to one of his close senior colleagues.
Can Lindsay Whittle inform his electorate/constituents if Dan Perkins, The Caerphilly council`s internal head of legal services, has now had a reduction in pay for now NOT being responsible for this very important statutory role in local government?
Dan Perkins ( in house Solicitor) was, of course, also one of the senior officers cited and singled by the Auditor General for Wales report as being involved in ` unlawful` activity in respect to the senior officers salaries issues. Does he still enjoy the increases in pay the `dodgy` report cited?, in fact, what increases in salary was agreed to be paid to his deputy solicitor for taking over responsibility as Caerphilly Council`s Monitoring Officer, from him, recently?.
These unanswered questions really do seem, appear, to give an impression of further dodgy dealings and of the council getting its wagon in a circle in having to deal with a Police investigation for the pay hike issues, and, its forthcoming considerations ( 16th April) of the surveillance of the public problems it will shortly have to properly address.
I ask again. Which way did Cllr Fussell vote? Their silence on this issue when it comes to their role is deffening. This question needs answering and Plaid Cymru are failing to answer it. Shocking!
The establishment of an internal investigation is not as expensive as Plaid's ludicrous suggestion to sack all the senior staff and then re-hire them. This would cost the council far more money and left them open to being sued etc. Still no comment about Cllr Fussell's role either yet……..
Lindsay the man who put £15 million in failing banks, it cost the councils hundreds of thousands of pounds in lost interest and over 2 million lost forever.