20.10.14
Pembrokeshire council agrees £330,000 severance deal for chief executive
A severance deal worth £330,000 has been agreed for Pembrokeshire chief executive Bryn Parry-Jones to quit his job following two police investigations and a no confidence vote from his council over his taking cash payments in lieu of pension contributions.
Councillors voted 29-23 in favour of the deal at a meeting in Haverfordwest on Thursday. Parry-Jones will step down on 31 October.
The issue was sparked by the Wales Audit Office, which said the cash payments in lieu of pension contributions to avoid potential tax payments were unlawful.
Two police investigations were launched to look into the payments but both were dropped when no criminal offences were found to have occurred. Police have said that no further action will be taken on the matter.
However in September, before the second investigation was completed, Pembrokeshire council passed a vote of no confidence against the chief executive and agreed he should face a disciplinary panel.
The proposal for a severance deal was confirmed to BBC Wales earlier this month by a member of the council’s disciplinary investigation committee.
Paul Miller, who also leads the opposition Labour group on Pembrokeshire council, said any discussion over such a package “should be held in public gaze”.
In July, Pembrokeshire council said it would take no further action to reclaim the money from him or another unnamed senior officer involved in a similar arrangement.
Parry-Jones is the highest paid council chief executive in Wales, with a salary of almost £195,000 plus benefits in kind.
Pembrokeshire council had no comment on the matter. A spokesperson said that discussions on the severance deal were held in private session and had not been made public by the authority.
(Image: Pembrokeshire County Hall c. Humphrey Bolton, licensed under Creative Commons)
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