The cost of the “unlawful” pay scandal at Caerphilly County Borough Council has topped £2.6m as three suspended bosses await trial.
Chief executive Anthony O’Sullivan, his deputy Nigel Barnett and Daniel Perkins, the authority’s head of legal services, are suspended on full pay as they await trial facing misconduct charges.
Last month Caerphilly Observer reported that the bosses could get £1m pay between them while suspended, but a freedom of information request by Plaid Cymru reveals even more costs being forked out by the council.
Payments to the suspended officials, wages to the acting chief executive, as well as legal and other fees have reached £1,626,909.
On top of that, £983,373 has been paid to officers who have ‘acted up’ since the bosses’ suspension.
Councillor Colin Mann, leader of the Plaid Cymru group on Caerphilly County Borough Council, said: “It is important that the issue of the suspended officers is brought to a conclusion as soon as possible because the bill to council tax-payers continues to rise day by day, week by week and month by month.
“The three suspended top officers will have received £1.1m in pay by the time the matter comes to court in November with very significant costs in appointing two acting chief executives and fees for legal and audit costs.
“When finances are tight and councillors are being asked to make very unpalatable decisions concerning frontline services, people in Caerphilly County Borough are naturally angry about the costs of this whole debacle.
“Officers who have acted up had received almost £1m by last April and that will rise much higher.
“This Labour-run council has flatly refused reasonable requests by Plaid Cymru to review the pay deals with a view to reducing the burden on the residents of the county borough.
“They continue to look after those at the top.”
Mr O’Sullivan will have received £491,085 by the time he is on trial, with Mr Barnett getting £415,202 and Mr Perkins receiving £195,027.
The council paid £230,932 to acting chief executives up to April 1 this year, from the time Mr O’Sullivan was suspended.
Council leader Cllr Keith Reynolds said: “It is unfortunate that the continuing delays in bringing the criminal allegations to trial means that the council is unable to proceed with its own internal disciplinary investigation. The officers remain suspended.
“Although they seek to avoid it, the fact is that Plaid Cymru was represented on the committee that approved the senior officers’ pay rise in the first place.
“By his own admission, the Plaid deputy leader did not vote against the proposal when he had the opportunity.
“Labour has apologised for its part in what went wrong, while Plaid Cymru has not.
“In January 2013, the council reduced the chief executive’s annual salary by £21,000 and it has been frozen since then. Other senior salaries are not out of line with those paid by other authorities.”
The three officers are due to appear at Bristol Crown Court on November 16.
The decision to charge the men followed a police investigation into a Wales Audit Office report into pay rises awarded to senior council officers.