THE salary of Pembrokeshire County Council’s new chief executive is to be much lower than that of the controversial Bryn Parry-Jones, but they will still earn a handsome £130,000.

Members of the Senior Staff Committee met on Wednesday afternoon (February 3) to consider the appointment of a new chief executive following the departure of Mr Parry-Jones last October.

They had to agree on the job description, the salary and the timetable of recruitment.

The leader, Councillor Jamie Adams said: “Here we have an opportunity for some fresh thinking about the most senior position in the council.”

The authority is currently being headed by Ian Westley, the acting head of paid service. But the committee agreed his workload was unmanageable due to him being the director of transportation, environment and housing.

“We’re probably flogging the horse a bit too hard,” said Cllr Adams.

Cllr Rob Lewis agreed. “We’re looking at a period of challenge ahead of us with the financial constraints,” he said, “the chief executive needs to be able to focus on that and not be drawn back to other things.”

After agreeing the current arrangement was unsustainable, members voted to appoint a new chief executive and so followed the highly anticipated discussion of his or her salary.

There were three options to consider, including retaining a salary scale of £156,000 to £172.392.

When Mr Parry-Jones was in the job, he was Wales' highest paid chief executive earning more than £190,000 a year.

He also received a £277,000 severance deal.

Councillors were quick to dismiss the status quo option and voted to adopt the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales’ recommendation, which would see the new chief executive receive a salary of £130,000, as well as a pension and a £7,300 car allowance.

But concerns were raised as to whether this much lower salary would attract the right candidate.

Cllr Adams said: “We need to look at our ability to attract high quality staff to this part of the country.

“One of the concerns I have is that that level of salary is not that far away from director’s salaries in a neighbouring council.”

He added: “I think we have to recognise that we don’t have the same opportunity in terms of people’s ability to travel to work. Authorities such as Bridgend will have people as far as Bristol available to them. We don’t have that opportunity and that will put pressure on us to provide an attractive package.”

Cllr Tessa Hodgson accused the leader of being negative about Pembrokeshire.

She said: “Pembrokeshire in my opinion is a fantastic place to live and bring up your children.

“There are people out there who would love to come and work here, especially at a senior level.

“I think we should be selling Pembrokeshire.”

Cllr Hodgson added: “A package of £150,000 is a lot of money in anybody’s language.”

The committee’s recommendations will now be sent to full council, and if approved, the chief executive job will be advertised in April - although some members were mindful that the date would clash with the general election, a major event that many potential candidates are likely to be involved with across the country.

The prospective candidates will be assessed in early June before a final decision is made.

If the right calibre of applicants fail to come forward, the committee agreed to reassess the package.

Labour council group leader Cllr Paul Miller, said: "I personally would have liked to have seen a wide ranging review of chief officer positions before we committed to a new CEO but unfortunately others did not agree.

"That said there was some good news - my proposal that council adopt the independent remuneration panel for Wales recommendation of a £130,00 salary ceiling was approved by the senior staff committee.

"Assuming that recommendation is carried by full council, no member of staff in Pembrokeshire will earn more than £130,000 going forward and that's a huge reduction from the £180,000 nearly earned by Bryn Parry-Jones. That was only right and never again can Pembrokeshire be allowed to get into the position it's been in over recent years.

"These changes are only happening because of the pressure from the people of Pembrokeshire. You can feel the change in the attitude of councillors who now know they are being monitored outside the council offices and that has got to be a good thing. While there's much work to do, there is certainly something to build on."