RULES around senior council officers' pay in Wales could be reviewed to avoid a repeat of the case which has seen Caerphilly council's chief executive suspended for more than six years, Mark Drakeford has said.

Anthony O'Sullivan was suspended from work on March 8, 2013, following allegations of misconduct around pay rises given to senior council officers, including himself. Mr O'Sullivan had recommended his salary should rise by £35,000, or around 20 per cent.

His deputy Nigel Barnett and head of legal services Daniel Perkins were also later suspended and all three were later charged with Misconduct in a Public Office, but the charges were thrown out in October 2015 due to a lack of evidence.

READ MORE:

Caerphilly council 'could have built new school' for amount spent on pay row which started six years ago

Further cash for investigation into dispute over Caerphilly council senior officer pay rises after heated debate

Settlement reached with two of the officers at the centre of the Caerphilly council pay scandal

Mr Barnett and Mr Perkins have since been given pay-outs of £171,000 and £127,000, but the council is yet to reach and agreement with Mr O'Sullivan - and the case has so far cost taxpayers in the borough an estimated £4.1 million.

And, speaking in the Assembly earlier this week, Ukip Wales leader Gareth Bennett called the situation "nonsense".

"We have a chief executive there who hasn't come into work for six years, and he's being paid £130,000 a year to do precisely nothing," he said. "And still, the situation hasn't been resolved."

South Wales Argus:

Gareth Bennett

Addressing the first minister, he added: "The Caerphilly situation has been dragging on since 2012, so I think it now warrants some public comment from you, bearing in mind as well that one of your previous roles was as local government minister.

"So, this ongoing fiasco has certainly been on your watch.

"In human terms, the salary of a chief executive who is being paid to stay at home would more or less cover the cost of running Pontllanfraith leisure centre, which is threatened with closure."

Replying, Mr Drakeford, who was the Welsh Government's local government secretary from May 2016 until November 2017, said the situation at Caerphilly council was "not satisfactory to anybody," but that there were legal procedures which had to be followed in the situation.

South Wales Argus:

First minister Mark Drakeford

But he added he had already said he would "institute a review" of the procedures once the investigation in Caerphilly is concluded.

"It is not satisfactory," he said. "It does not work. It does not deliver for local residents or for the council itself.

"But, when you are in a process, you have a legal obligation to see it through.

"People can make as much nonsense of it as they like. In a mature democracy, if there is a law that you have to abide by, then that is exactly what we will have to do.

"Then, we will see how that law can be changed, so that there is a more satisfactory process for the future."