A CASH-STRAPPED council agreed to pay £209,000 to its outgoing chief executive at a secret meeting on Monday, it has emerged.

CEO Christina Harrhy has been absent from Caerphilly Council since going off sick last November.

The authority plans to close the Llancaiach Fawr Manor Tudor mansion and museum and Blackwood Miners’ Institute arts venue as it tries to cut £45 million from its budget over the next two years.

Ms Harrhy was assessed to be fit for work in January. BBC sources say she had raised concerns about working relationships and trust relating to Labour leader Sean Morgan and a senior officer, but an independent investigation allegedly did not uphold the claims this summer.

It comes three years after the council gave its former chief executive Anthony O’Sullivan a £97,500 payout after he was sacked in a pay row and was on paid gardening leave for a number of years.

Ms Harrhy confirmed she had left the council but declined to comment. Mr Morgan also declined to comment.

A council spokesman acknowledged a special meeting of council took place on Monday “to discuss a confidential employment issue” but said “it would not be appropriate to disclose the details.”

The council confirmed Ms Harrhy had left and deputy chief executive Dave Street will act as interim chief executive.

Unison Caerphilly branch secretary Lianne Dallimore said: “The council says finances are extremely tight.

“People are losing their jobs with more redundancies on the way, and community services are being slashed.

“That makes it all the more painful for staff and residents affected to hear the authority is making such a payout when times are so tough.

“Council workers and members of the public will be deeply disappointed.”