Cllr Mandy Moore added: “It’s a day job, acknowledge it with an award or certificate, but freedom of the borough is going a bit too far.” Cllr McCarthy pointed out that both councillors had for not been paid as councillors for “many years” of their service and believed this argument to be “vacuous.” Cllr Haydn Trollope said: “I’m dismayed by what I’m hearing, we have given freedom of the borough to former council officers and elected members.” Cllr Trollope pointed out that the hugely successful British Garden Festival held in Ebbw Vale in 1992, would not have happened without Mr Scully’s work.
Agency staff covering absence at Blaenau Gwent Council southwalesargus.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from southwalesargus.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The concerning reason this council has the highest staff sickness in the whole of Wales - and it s not covid
The cost to the local authoroty has been described as ‘astronomical
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Councillors have voiced concern after the amount of time taken off sick by Blaenau Gwent council staff increased further last year.
Figures show 13.91 days were lost for every full-time equivalent role in the authority in the 2019/20 financial year, a rise from 12.66 days the previous year.
Rates of sickness absence among council staff in Blaenau Gwent were the highest of any local authority in Wales in 2018/19 at 12.66, but national figures for last year have yet to be published. At a meeting of the council’s corporate overview scrutiny committee on Friday, Cllr Lyn Elias said the cost of sickness absence to the authority is ‘astronomical.’ “I am a little concerned about that type of figure of 13 days,” he said. “I was on the task and finish group that looked at this eight years ago when we were running at 11 days and we got it down to eight.