Bus passengers are paying the price for Caerphilly Council’s pay scandal, Plaid Cymru group leader Councillor Colin Mann has claimed.
Labour-run Caerphilly County Borough Council is axing bus services to save £200,000 with changes coming into effect on September 9.
The cuts include a service to Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr and reduced frequency of four other routes as well as the already scrapped subsidy for the X38 service between Bargoed and Pontypridd.
Cllr Mann said: “Bus passengers are paying the price for the huge pay awards given to 21 top officers through the loss of their services. The people who are being hit are often the ones who have no other means of getting about.”
He added: “The council is making bus passengers pay for their failings.”
Most bus services operating in the county borough are done so on a purely commercial basis. There are some though that need financial assistance from the council in the form of subsidies.
Labour has said the cuts to bus services are because of a 25% reduction in the Local Government Transport Services Grant (LTSG) from the Welsh Government.
The council reviewed the supported services based on the subsidy needed against the number of passengers carried.
Services receiving a subsidy in excess of £3.50 per passenger were identified for change or withdrawal.
Cllr Tom Williams, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transportation and Engineering, said: “With such significant reductions being made to revenue funding this financial year the changes to bus services across the county borough are unfortunately unavoidable. Reluctantly the council has agreed to approve these changes, but has worked hard with operators to ensure that any impact on passengers remains minimal.”
The council has said the reduction in financial assistance represents a 15% decrease in total subsidy payments to bus operators.
It has claimed the changes will impact on less than 3% of the total passengers carried on services supported by Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed through a Freedom of Information Act request that Caerphilly County Borough Council has spent £40,341 plus VAT with lawyers Geldards for legal advice over the pay row since September last year.
Other costs associated with the pay row include seconding audit expert Gill Lewis from the Aneurin Bevan Health Board – expected to be £20,000 for 40 days work – and other officers acting up in roles. The latter expected to cost £20,000.
The council’s deputy chief executive Nigel Barnett and chief executive Anthony O’Sullivan were suspended on full pay following their arrest by Somerset and Avon Police earlier this year.
The pair have been rebailed until a date in the new year.
Avon and Somerset Police are investigating after a Wales Audit Office report found that secret pay rises agreed for 21 senior council bosses were unlawful.
Mr O’Sullivan was arrested on suspicion of fraud and misconduct in public office.
Stuart Rosser, former chief executive, has been brought in to run the authority after the suspensions. The council accepted his request to work three-and-a-half days a week, for which he will be paid the equivalent of roughly £90,000 a year.
Caerphilly council has already set aside more than £300,000 to cover the salaries of its suspended chief executive and acting chief executive.