Post by Focus on Jul 2, 2013 18:59:05 GMT
A council boss was arrested today after allegedly giving himself a £26,000 pay rise while other staff had had their wages frozen as part of the national austerity drive.
Anthony O'Sullivan, chief executive of the Labour-controlled Caerphilly council in South Wales, was questioned by police on suspicion of fraud and misconduct in public office.
Arrested : Anthony O'Sullivan has been questioned over claims he approved a massive pay rise for himself
Most employees of the council have had their annual pay rise limited to just one per cent in a bid to save money - but O'Sullivan was awarded a salary hike of nearly 20 per cent thanks to a report he wrote himself.
His salary was increased from £132,000 to £158,000, and 20 other top bosses also received similarly outsized increases following a secretive meeting to determine executives' salaries.
The chief executive was suspended from Caerphilly County Borough Council in March, and the Wales Audit Office called in Avon and Somerset Police to investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
O'Sullivan and one other official were arrested today as the police investigation drew to a close.
'Following a request to carry out a review by the Wales Audit Office two people have been arrested on suspicion of fraud and misconduct in public office,' a police spokesman said.
'They currently remain in police custody where they are being questioned.'
The pay rises were revealed in a devastating report by the spending watchdog, which claimed they were illegal as they had been approved in a meeting which was concealed from the public.
O'Sullivan apparently wrote a report for the council in which he recommended that he be paid a much higher salary, then participated in the vote to approve the wage hikes.
'The decision to approve the pay structure was unlawful for a number of reasons, assistant auditor general Anthony Barrett said in March.
'The meeting of the committee was not properly advertised in accordance with the Local Government Act and agendas for the meeting were not made available for public inspection.
'Certain officers, including the chief executive, who were beneficiaries of the decision were present at the meeting to approve the salary increases.'
Freeze : Most staff at Caerphilly council, pictured, were restricted to a pay rise of just one per cent
The salary increases were approved by a five-person committee of the council, with the officials involved taking part in the decision too.
'They participated in the decision-making process when they should not have because of their financial interest,' Mr Barrett added.
'The report presented to the committee was written by the chief executive who was himself a direct beneficiary of the decision and gave advice on a matter in which he had a financial interest.'
Council workers went on strike after the executives' pay rises were announced last September.
In January, bosses negotiated a compromise which would see O'Sullivan's pay rise cut from £26,000 to £5,000.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has called on all local-government salaries over £100,000 to be subject to a vote by the full council, but this is not legally binding.
Councils are therefore free to set their own remuneration policies via committees of elected or appointed officials, without a vote on the issue.
A spokesman for Caerphilly County Borough Council said: 'We were informed this morning by Avon and Somerset Police that two senior council employees have been arrested and are being interviewed.
'We have been advised by the police it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage, but we will continue to co-operate fully with the ongoing investigation.'
Ooo the arrogance of the man ... greedy t..t!! - Fx
