24 February 2006
Swansea taxpayers have paid a massive £76,300 for the investigation into former leisure chief David Evans.
It means the independent investigator brought in to look at the top officer's role in the November 2003 closure of Swansea Leisure Centre was picking up a whopping £100 an hour.
The final bill for the 13-month investigation has been confirmed by Swansea Council.
It has also emerged that the Lib Dem-led administration forced through a deal with Mr Evans that saw him retire two years early on full council pension.
He will also avoid any further action over his role in the closure of the centre.
Councillor Gethin Evans, who sat on the disciplinary body that agreed the deal, said the committee was split on whether or not Mr Evans should answer the three allegations the investigator recommended he should face.
But he claims Lib Dem councillor Susan Waller used her casting vote to push through a deal.
Councillor Evans said: "The written and verbal report given to us made it clear that David Evans had three points that needed to be answered over his role in events leading up to the closure of the leisure centre.
"But when it came to the crunch, the ruling group seemed more eager to get him out the door than to get to the bottom of things."
A spokesman for the Lib Dem, Independent and Conservative coalition said: "We cannot comment on the details of the meeting or on the leak from opposition members.
"The general purposes panel was dealing with a sensitive issue concerning the contractual matters of a member of staff, and as such its business is subject to a degree of understandable confidentiality."
The panel based its decision on the report from the independent investigator which took 763 hours over a 13-month period to draw up.
It recommended Mr Evans, who was suspended on full pay from his £70,000-ayear post while the investigation was carried out, should face three of the eight allegations.
They were that he failed to heed warnings about the poor condition of Swansea Leisure Centre; that he did not make sure staff carrying out health and safety checks knew about the condition of the building; and that he did not follow council practice and involve the legal department on liability issues.
But after more than a year of investigative work, a fee of £76,300.50 for the independent investigator and hours of council resources, not one person has been made accountable for the hugely unpopular closure of Swansea Leisure Centre.
A spokesman for the Labour group said: "It says something about the thinking at County Hall that despite spending this kind of money on an investigation that they initiated from start to finish, the administration thought it was a cheaper option to cut a deal with David Evans."
Councillor Rene Kinzett, a spokesman for the LIC coalition, said: "The charges left against Mr Evans were not enough to convict him of gross misconduct, so he would either have to be reinstated or take early retirement.
"The committee investigating Mr Evans decided to look into his case and to negotiate for a settlement. The committee, in the end, decided that to give Mr Evans early retirement, with no lump sum in compensation, was better and more cost-effective than continuing with an investigation which could have cost about £1,000 per day.
"After councillors Bailey and Francis-Davies admitted their fault in the leisure centre closure, how could one officer take the rap on his own?"
Labour group leader Councillor David Phillips said: "What people are learning about the ruling administration, just as with the Pool Sanctuary investigation, is that they think they are a law to themselves.
"Its also very obvious that their only strategy, whenever they find themselves in political trouble, is to stoke up the leisure centre issue by whatever means."
