TOMORROW marks six years since the start of a dispute with the chief executive of Caerphilly County Borough Council over senior officers' pay, kicking off a row which has cost taxpayers in the borough millions.

Anthony O'Sullivan was suspended from work on March 8, 2013, following allegations of misconduct around pay rises given to senior council officers, including himself.

Mr O'Sullivan had recommended his salary should rise by £35,000, or around 20 per cent.

His deputy Nigel Barnett and head of legal services Daniel Perkins were also later suspended.

All three were later charged with Misconduct in a Public Office, but the charges were thrown out in October 2015 due to a lack of evidence.

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Mr Barnett and Mr Perkins have since been given pay-outs of £171,000 and £127,000, but the council is yet to reach and agreement with Mr O'Sullivan.

His suspension was lifted by the council in 2016 and he was granted a period “special paid leave” until an investigation into the matter was concluded.

This remains ongoing - having so far cost taxpayers in the borough an estimated £4.1 million.

The council has made it clear it is bound by the legal process into the investigation, with leader Cllr David Poole speaking of his own frustration at the length of time it has taken.

But leader of the council's Plaid Cymru group Cllr Colin Mann branded the affair "farcical".

"The whole thing has got out of hand," he said.

"We've been promised all sorts of deadlines, and they've always been missed.

"The review that is going on at the moment should have been finished by November or December last year. The whole thing is farcical.

"You could have built a whole new school for the amount this has cost."

And Labour Caerphilly AM Hefin David, who was a member of the council when the trio were suspended, said he wants council members to have more control over the employment of senior officers.

He said: "The rules for dismissing chief officers need to change.

"The current method does not allow councils to dismiss senior officers, and that needs to change."

In December the council allocated an extra £242,000 towards the investigation, covering its costs and Mr O'Sullivan's salary up until July.

A council report into the investigation released in December said: "A Designated Independent Person (DIP) has been engaged to undertake the formal investigation of the senior officer.

"The DIP has now indicated that it is likely to take until the end of March 2019 at the earliest to conclude the process. Following the conclusion of the DIP process there will need to be a number of internal meetings to consider the report from the DIP and establish what will need to follow."