Sir, Last Thursday, 29 members of Pembrokeshire County Council voted to pay-off the under-fire chief executive of the authority, Bryn Parry-Jones, with a severance deal worth £332,000. In doing so, they brought to a premature end the formal disciplinary investigation into allegations of gross misconduct against Mr. Parry-Jones, chief among which was that he had rebuked two councillors in a temper using foul language for the way they had voted on a matter in which he had a direct financial interest, and that he had sought to influence their future votes on this same matter. The disciplinary process will now reach no conclusion, and the man who earned more than the Prime Minister will walk away from the council on October 31. The meeting which approved this huge pay-off was held in secret session. I was opposed to throwing out the public and press for this key debate involving a huge amount of taxpayers' money, but unfortunately I was in the minority. I also voted to refuse the obscene pay-off which denies the possibility of Mr. Parry-Jones ever being brought to book on this very serious matter which I believe would have resulted in his sacking. I represent the East Williamston ward, and of the other councillors within the readership of the Tenby, Narberth and Whitland, Pembroke and Pembroke Dock editions of the Observer, Clrs. David Simpson (Lampeter Velfrey), Tony Brinsden (Amroth), Phil Baker (Saundersfoot), Jonathan Preston (Penally), Mike Evans (Tenby South), Phil Kidney (Manorbier), Tessa Hodgson (Lamphey) and Jonathan Nutting (Pembroke St. Michael) all voted to refuse the deal too. Among these, myself included, are seven independent councillors who are not affiliated to any group, one who is affiliated to Plaid Cymru and another to the Pembrokeshire Alliance. They also voted, unsuccessfully, to allow the public and press to remain to see this debate and for it to be broadcast live over the webcasting facility and to be archived for future viewing. Ten councillors representing wards within the distribution of the Observer voted to both go into private session and to approve the golden handshake. They are: Cllrs. Elwyn Morse (Narberth Rural), David Pugh (Kilgetty), Rob Lewis (Martletwy), Sue Perkins (Llanion), Alison Lee (Pembroke Dock Central), Brian Hall (Pembroke Dock Market), Pearl Llewellyn (Monkton), Arwyn Williams (Pembroke St. Mary North), Daphne Bush (Pembroke St. Mary South), and John Allen-Mirehouse (Hundleton). Apart from Clr. Lee, all of these councillors are affiliated to the ruling party of the council known as the 'Independent Plus Political Group.' Apart from Clrs. Lee and Perkins, who were both elected as Labour party candidates, they all stood in the 2012 election claiming to be 'independent' which your readers would be forgiven for thinking means 'not affiliated to any group'. However, the IPPG is a political party whose attraction they all found too good to resist. Clr. Perkins signed up to it in 2013 and serves as a cabinet member, earning £29,000 per year for her efforts, as does Clr. Morse, Clr. Lewis and, until he was recently demoted, Clr. Pugh. Clr. Hall and Bush also receive over £8,000 for chairing council committees on top of the standard salary of £13,800 which all councillors receive. Days before last Thursday's key vote over the chief executive's pay-off, Clr. Lee also accepted her own lucrative cabinet post within the IPPG administration and was subsequently booted out of the Labour group. Three councillors representing the Observer's readers were absent for the vote: Clrs. Michael Williams (Tenby North, Plaid Cymru, illness) Wynne Evans (Narberth, IPPG, fell ill during the meeting, but did vote to allow the public and press to remain) and David Neale (Carew, IPPG, holiday.) Incidentally, your readers may be interested to learn that despite testifying against the soon-to-be ex-chief executive's conduct at a disciplinary committee just weeks beforehand, the councillors who Mr. Parry-Jones is alleged to have given a stern dressing-down to - Clrs. Mark Edwards (Haverfordwest Prendergast) and Peter Morgan (The Havens) - both voted last Thursday to approve the third of a million pounds deal. They are also IPPG stalwarts. I hope this letter gives your readers some idea of the nature of the IPPG, its guiding force, and what it stands for.

Jacob Williams, County Councillor for East Williamston. New Park, Wooden.