IN his letter (January 14), Cllr Gez Kirby of Pontllanfraith accuses Plaid councillors of “dodging the issue” (of senior officer salaries) when they controlled Caerphilly council.

As former leader of the council, I welcome the opportunity to enlighten Cllr Kirby on what Plaid actually did to address inequalities of pay when in control of the council: Working closely with the trade unions, we were among the first councils in Wales to sign a Single Status Agreement. The main part of this was to address the inequalities of equal pay for lower-paid women workers: something that Labour had swept under the carpet for many years. This agreement raised the salaries for thousands of lower paid workers and substantially improved the quality of living for them and their families. Cllr Kirby also states that Plaid councillors “have done nothing to help sort the problem (of the massive rises to senior managers) out”. Does he not realise yet that it was his own Labour cabinet members who took the decision to award these vast rises and it was Plaid councillors who called for a special meeting of the council to try and rescind the decision of his superiors?

Allan Pritchard Penrhiw Terrace Oakdale