CAERPHILLY nationalists leader Cllr Colin Mann yet again bemoans the pay rises awarded to senior council officers and claims the Wales Audit Office (WAO) has endorsed the competence of the last, Plaid Cymru-controlled Caerphilly council (Argus, 2 October).

Funnily enough, Cllr Mann says he wasn’t aware of “unlawful” payments of £218,000 made to senior officers for car user allowances when he was deputy leader. And he doesn’t mention WAO criticisms of his administration - including a “potentially unlawful” loan to Bedwas Rugby 2011 Ltd in 2011; weaknesses in governance of the sale of Islwyn Borough Transport in 2010; and failure to remove surplus capacity from Caerphilly’s secondary schools (2011-12).

The Labour-led council elected in May 2012 is working to sort out the mes, and to minimise the impact on our services caused by ConDem government cuts.

Caerphilly’s Labour councillors apologised to the public for the senior officers’ pay rises, and put things right. Will Cllr Mann apologise for his poor record in office - and work with us to protect Caerphilly residents’ valued services?

Cllr Gez Kirby St Andrew’s Drive Pontllanfraith