In Chaos: County Hall

LAURENCE HARDING, the County Council’s Monitoring Officer, has become embroiled in the row between the Wales Audit Office (WAO) and the Council regarding the £330K settlement agreement with controversial Chief Executive Bryn Parry-Jones.

In a letter sent to all councillors, Mr Harding has claimed that the appointed auditor, Anthony Barnett, has reneged on an agreement to withdraw the Notice served on the Council advising them that WAO regards the terms of the bonanza pay-out to be unlawful.

Mr Harding has told Councillors: “Yesterday, I became involved in the discussions, having been served with a copy of the Notice. I discussed the resolution reached the previous afternoon with Mr Barrett when he also informed me that he would be publishing the Advisory Notice and issuing a press statement. He confirmed that the withdrawal of the notice would be issued on Thursday (30 October).  I subsequently formally confirmed the action that the Council would take, which complied with the Advisory Notice, and requested that he withdraw the Notice as he had previously stated. He then advised that, contrary to our previous understanding, he would not now be withdrawing the Notice.”

Shambles over pay-off: Bryn-Parry Jones

In the letter Mr Harding also claims that while the WAO had been informed of the proposed financial settlement before the Council meeting which approved the deal on October 16, Mr Barrett was not personally involved in those discussions until after the meeting took place.

He then goes on to state that, upon becoming involved in the process: “Mr Barrett identified concerns relating to pension elements that had been included in the calculation of the severance payment… The Council’s external legal advisors were of the opinion that Mr Barrett’s concerns were unfounded.”

While Mr Harding states that “negotiations are on-going with the Chief executive (with the WAO being kept informed)”, it appears as though the Council is potentially facing another battle with the auditors over the decision in 2011 to allow Bryn Parry-Jones avoid future tax liabilities on his £1.5m+ publicly-funded pension pot.

Advising Councillors on the way forward, Mr Harding appears to contemplate the Council becoming involved in a court case with the WAO, writing: “If the Council determines to proceed to implement its original decision in full, Mr Barrett has the opportunity to institute Judicial Review proceeding for a court to rule on whether the decision does relate to an unlawful decision.”

The WAO’s stance means that it is possible that Chief Executive Bryn Parry-Jones could return to work at County Hall on Monday.

Yesterday evening, The Herald was informed that in correspondence with Labour Group leader Paul Miller, Laurence Harding stated: “As a consequence of the Advisory Notice and the outcome of discussions with the WAO, an Extraordinary Meeting of Council is being arranged – probably on a day next week.”

This morning, however, a Council spokesperson is reported to have denied such a meeting is being scheduled.

A spokesperson for the WAO said: “The Appointed Auditor believes any new settlement ought to go before the council and has advised the council this.”