Cash-strapped council slammed after refusing to reveal cost of suspending dozens of employees

Emily Price 

A cash-strapped council has been criticised for refusing to reveal how much it cost to suspend dozens of employees in one year.

Caerphilly County Borough Council suspended 37 employees during 2024 – 2025.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by Plaid Cymru also revealed that the longest suspension to the date of the request ran to 346 calendar days.

However, in its response, council officials refused to provide details of the financial impact that the suspensions had on the local authority.

In its FoI response, Caerphilly Council stated: “We can confirm that the council holds information falling within the description specified in your request, but we are refusing to supply this information under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

“We estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 for local government, which is specified in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees) Regulations 2004.

“Therefore we are refusing to supply this information under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.”

FoI legislation required the council to multiply an estimate of the time it expects to take to comply with the request by £25 per hour.

If the cost of complying with the request exceeds the limit of £450 – more than 18 hours – the council can decline the request.

When making the calculation the council can include the time taken to determine whether it holds the details and time taken to locate, retrieve and extract the information.

The council stated: “Unfortunately, on this occasion, as the information is not separately held and would require the examination and extraction from over 3,663 financial records and 49 staff suspension, sickness and pay records, we are unable to provide the detail requested without exceeding the appropriate fees limit.”

Costs

Plaid Cymru’s Caerphilly co-deputy group leader Gary Enright, himself a former employee of the authority, criticised the failure to provide the detailed costs of the suspensions.

He has estimated that the cash used to suspend the staff would have been enough for the local authority to save Caerphilly’s living museum, Llancaiach Fawr, and protect its libraries.

The closures came as the council struggled to balance its budget last year.

Councillor Gary Enright said: “Frankly, it beggars belief that the council cannot provide the information requested at the touch of a button.

“Residents have a right to know how taxpayers’ money is being spent, not hiding behind an FOI clause not to disclose.

“If there was nothing to hide then the council would be open and honest about this worrying process. What does the new council leader say about this secrecy?

“The average pay grade ranges between £13,621-£44,873, so if you take the first set of 37 suspended Caerphilly CBC employees during 2024-25 that alone has a ballpark figure of between £1.2m- £1.6m, estimated, of course, because we do not have the data.

“Either of those amounts would have saved libraries and Llancaiach Fawr from closure.”

‘Eye-watering’

He added: “I would have expected a more fuller and in-depth response from an organisation the size of Caerphilly Council. I suspect they are withholding it, not because of the time to work it out, but because the figures are eye watering.

“The fact that officials argue it would take them that long to work it out is evidence alone that it’s not a robustly managed process.

“Ultimately if you have a robust HR process, which manages suspensions correctly then those figures should be readily available and if they are not then they should be.

“That is a worry because you can’t manage what you are not controlling.”

A spokesperson for Caerphilly County Borough Council said: “Our guidance in line with the Freedom of Information (FOI) framework indicates that if locating the requested data would take more than 18 hours, it is not reasonable or cost effective to provide a response within the statutory or expected timeframe.

“Our primary duty is to safeguard residents. When concerns are raised regarding a member of staff, we undertake robust investigations to ensure the highest standards of safety and accountability.

“This commitment to safeguarding informs all our decisions and actions throughout any inquiry, which may, on occasion, involve collaboration with the police and other agencies.

“Suspension is a neutral measure designed solely to facilitate a thorough investigation.

“During this period, employees continue to receive pay in accordance with the National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service for local government employees.”