The mysterious nine-month absence of a council’s chief executive

Martin Shipton

For the second time in a decade, a Welsh council finds itself at the centre of a controversial and expensive row involving the lengthy absence of its top official.

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s chief executive Christina Harrhy has not been at work for more than nine months, but no coherent explanation has been offered as to why that’s the case.

There have been rumours that she fell out with the authority’s Labour leader Sean Morgan over the appointment of a senior officer and that allegations of bullying followed, but nothing has been confirmed.

What is known is that during her absence Ms Harrhy applied to be the chief fire officer at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service. She got to a short list of two, but failed to be appointed.

Confidential

Plaid Cymru group leader Lindsay Whittle said: “Councillors and the public are being kept in the dark over the absence of the chief executive, Christina Harrhy. I’ve been pressing for information but all I have been told is that meetings have taken place in private and everything is confidential. This is concerning since the public pays the wages of all employees.

“There have been a host of rumours circulating about the reason for the chief executive’s absence over more than nine months but there has been no clarity and as leader of the opposition I have a duty to ask these questions.

“If the chief executive is ill then obviously she’s entitled to six months full pay and six months half pay as per local government regulations . But we as councillors have not been told if this is what is happening or whether the chief executive is continuing to receive full pay.

“I’m sure the public will also have been surprised, as I was, to hear that while absent from work at Caerphilly Council, the chief executive was applying for jobs, such as a very senior role at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

“I don’t want the council to repeat the mistakes of the senior officers’ pay scandal which dragged on for six years. Millions of pounds was paid out to three top officers, including a former chief executive, as well as enormous legal and other costs.”

‘Special leave’

It has been suggested that Ms Harrhy is, in fact, on “special leave” rather than sick leave, in which case she would be entitled to full pay.

In the 2022-23 financial year – the last year that salary figures were published – she was paid £148,773, along with pension contributions of £28,640, making a total of £177,413.

Cllr Nigel Dix, who leads the council’s Independent group, said: “We have been assured by the deputy chief executive that the council is following all appropriate policies and doing all it can to resolve the matter in a timely manner.

“The deputy chief executive has assured me that he will keep all party leaders fully informed. Clearly this matter needs to be resolved as quickly as possible, to ensure the council can function properly and improve services for the people of Caerphilly.”

A spokesman for Caerphilly council said: “We are aware of recent media coverage and posts circulating on social media, but all we can say is that the chief executive is not in work at present and, as we have a duty of care to maintain confidentiality in regard to this matter, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

At the centre of the senior officers’ pay scandal referred to by Cllr Whittle was the then chief executive Anthony O’Sullivan, who was paid more than £1m from the public purse in pay and pensions from his first suspension in March 2013 until his sacking in October 2019.

Mr O’Sullivan was suspended after the Assistant Auditor General for Wales said he had acted unlawfully when recommending himself for a secret salary increase of £26,000 in 2012, to £158,000 a year. In total 21 senior officers would have received pay rises at a time most staff had their pay frozen.

Misconduct

Mr O’Sullivan and two other officials later faced criminal charges of misconduct in a public office, which were dismissed by a judge at Bristol Crown Court in late 2015 on the grounds that “what at worst the defendants … were endeavouring to achieve, unattractive though it may have been, was avoiding public scrutiny of new remuneration levels”.

Later Mr O’Sullivan’s status was changed from being suspended to being on special leave. He was eventually dismissed on the basis of an independent report for Caerphilly council which concluded he had been “grossly negligent (if not reckless)” and had “wilfully breached his contract”.

However, he lodged a claim against the council at an employment tribunal. The case was settled by negotiation, with Mr O’Sullivan getting a final pay-off of £110,700. The decision to settle was made after the council was advised it would potentially have bills totalling £500,000 if it lost.