Councillors are set to discuss how and why a group of top Caerphilly Council bosses were awarded huge secret pay rises.
A special meeting of Caerphilly County Borough Council will be held at the council offices in Ystrad Mynach on January 17. The meeting is being held after calls from Plaid Cymru councillors.
The decision of the Labour-run authority to award rises of up to £30,000 to 20 senior officers and the chief executive has sparked anger among the public and led to a recent walk-out by council staff.
Councillor Colin Mann, leader of the Plaid Cymru group, said: “We asked for this meeting to be held because we felt it was important that there was a full and open debate at the council.
“The decision to award these rises was disastrous and we will be expecting the Labour group to spell out their plans for reversing these increases as a matter of urgency. There must be no delaying tactics or pussy-footing around – the public will expect immediate action.
“We will also be insisting an explanation from Councillor Harry Andrews, the Labour leader of the council, as to how he ever thought these rises were acceptable in the current austere climate when many council workers are struggling to pay their energy and food bills.”
Fellow Plaid Cymru councillor Mike Prew has called for the meeting to be screened live on the council’s internal TV system so that staff can watch proceedings.
He said: “We think it is important that council staff are able to watch and listen to this very important debate.
“With that in mind we’d like to see all plasma screens around the council offices, meeting rooms and canteen area switched on. It is important that staff are not excluded from the debate. To do so would be a snub to employees.”
It has been reported in the press, that spokesman for Caerphilly Council said that this subject, when discussed at the meeting on the 17th January, will be declared and exempt issue, and therefore the public and press will be excluded from the meeting at that point.
If this were to happen at the meeting on the 17th it would be a total public disgrace, the ratepayers of the borough have a complete and unquestioned right to know how this matter came to be ratified by the full Council without any debate at all, who voted and supported what?, and who, may be telling lies?, if anyone, about their support or opposition to the objectionable decision taken by the five man Remuneration Panel, who`s decision, was ` waved through` by the full council.
The only way the Council can reverse this decision is laid out in the council`s own constitution, it does not take the minds of highly paid, Independent lawyers, ( at a huge cost to the ratepayers again) to advise the Council on how to do so, they should get on with it, I am sure the Council`s own well paid senior legal officer can tell them how to do it, if I know how it can be done so does he. But if he does so he is in conflict with his colleagues who are recipients of this huge pay hike, and he would not want to unset them, would he?
Is Cllr Prew proposing to pay council staff overtime to watch Council proceedigs after 5pm?
Does Gez intend to vote to call in this odious decision by the full Council, and then vote against it? a decision which was waved through without a seconds thought of the mayhem it would cause and the anger it would bring about amongst the ratepayers of the Borough and PARTICULARLY the staff who are told to exercise restraint and accept lower than inflation rises for years?.
What a public disgrace, by a Labour Council, who`s members are normally well experienced and well versed in dealing with, and, moderating difficult and politically sensitive civic issues of public interest. The situation playing out here is unbelievable, and finally, could it be that the Council staff may give up their home time freely, to stay at their desks and watch this debacle playing out, at a PUBLIC MEETING.
I agree with the above posts. Why isn't this meeting being held so that the public and council workers can attend? Allowing the Council staff to 'watch the proceedings on plasma tv screens' is a good way of ensuring that noone gets to ask questions on what is a very important matter i.e why everyone else is sacrificing their salaries in the form of pay cuts or pay freezes so that some people can get richer.
Trefor – see you in the council chamber on the 17th, when you'll see how every councillor votes, including me. And I suspect Plaid Cymru's sordid role in this whole controversy will for the first time be exposed to proper scrutiny.
All in this together??
I do not think so!
I put another comment on a post about the Council Tax budget reductions in April and how some councils can afford to pay the short fall.
Not Caerphilly (via welsh Govenment) this giving pay rises is one and also buying an airport another I think?
Why can't the council be open about events rather than have one secret meeting after another? What have they got to hide?
Just for the record the Labour Group will be paying the legal bill NOT THE COUNCIL.CLLR. June Gale