IN MARCH of this year, I and Plaid Cymru were falsely accused in your columns by Labour councillor Gez Kirby of Pontllanfraith, who wrote “Mr Pritchard strangely neglects to mention that the previous Plaid Cymru-controlled council, under his leadership, was happy to make exactly the same pay award this time last year but decided to postpone it until after the 2012 local government election”.

Following a Freedom of Information Request (FOI), the legal department of the council have now confirmed in writing that they “can confirm that there are no cabinet reports, minutes of scrutiny reports, or reports to the council that support the claim that the Plaid Cymru administration at Caerphilly Council had itself approved the same senior officers’ pay rise in March 2012 or delayed making the award until after the May 2012 local government elections”.

To this end, I wrote to Cllr Kirby last week requiring a written apology and a retraction of his earlier statement in the Argus, as this was a false and malicious attack on my own personal integrity and that of my Plaid colleagues.

I can confirm I have now received a written apology from Cllr Kirby, which I acknowledge and welcome, even though it has finally been made after six months of denial by him and his Labour colleagues at Caerphilly CBC. It is a great pity he didn’t check his facts before putting pen to paper and misleading the public in the first place.

Finally, I can assure residents of Caerphilly county borough that with the workforce undergoing a three-year pay freeze, the vast increases awarded by Labour to senior officers would not have happened under a Plaid Cymru administration.

Allan Pritchard Former leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council