Audit office slams Welsh councillors
Anglesey councillors paid £43,000 in compensation to a former official
The Welsh Audit Office (WAO) has slammed councillors in Anglesey for their
role in paying £43,000 to a former official.
John Arthur Jones, the council’s former director of housing, was paid the
money to settle a claim for unfair dismissal before a tribunal even took place.
In its report, the WAO said the three councillors involved had ‘a
disqualifying interest’ in the case.
According to the BBC, Anglesey county council has accepted the auditors
comments.
Jones, who was dismissed from his post in 1998 and who was one of a number of
officers and councillors criticised by the district auditor, disputed its
findings, and took his former employers to an employment tribunal claiming
unfair dismissal.
On the morning of the tribunal in July 2000 the council agreed to pay him
£43,660 to settle the case.