Bryn Parry-Jones pay-off – “Lesson must be learnt,” says Joyce

Joyce Watson AM has called for a Welsh Government statement about the pay-off deal for former Pembrokeshire Council Chief Executive, Bryn Parry-Jones.
The Labour Mid and West Wales AM asked Leader of the House Jane Hutt AM for a statement on the affair at Tuesday’s (4 November) Assembly Questions, following the news that an attempt to block the £330,000 severance package for Bryn Parry-Jones had failed in the courts.
Mrs Watson said “I believe that the case contains important lessons, especially as we move towards a restructured model of local government in Wales, not least about the scale of the pay at the top of the system in most local authorities.”
In response, Mrs Hutt agreed that it was “an important issue” and revealed that the Minister for Public Services would “write to the Auditor General for Wales to seek his advice on how we can ensure that the kind of situation that has arisen will not be repeated in the future.”
With Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion councils being considered for a merger as part of sweeping Local Government reform, Mrs Watson urged that fair pay at all levels was central to any future changes, reminding the Assembly that “those people at the bottom of the pay scale are being asked yet again to suffer a freeze or a minimum pay rise.”
Mr Parry-Jones, who left the role on 31 October, was the highest paid council chief executive in Wales with an annual salary of almost £200,000.