THE Chief Executive of Monmouthshire County Council is set to be appointed to a firm owned by a consortium of local authorities after it was stung with a £5 million bill.

The body, made up of 10 councils in South East Wales including those in Gwent, had to pay £5.25m to a company that lost out on a contract to demolish a disused power station after a High Court judge ruled it had been unlawfully awarded to a rival firm.

The ten councils which make up the Cardiff Capital Region have had to foot the bill leading to criticism from Senedd members as well as its own scrutiny committee of backbench councillors from across the region.

The councils set up CCR Energy, or Cardiff Capital Region Energy, as a limited company to buy and redevelop the former Aberthaw Power Station as a “green energy park” including a tidal energy scheme, a solar park, on and off shore wind farms, battery storage and a data centre under a £38.6m project.

It is now proposed that Monmouthshire’s chief executive, Paul Matthews, is appointed as an executive director of the firm until at least April 2026.

Mr Matthews is to put a report before Monmouthshire council’s full meeting on Thursday, December 4 asking it to approve his appointment.

The company is run by its management team and a board of directors, that can include up to six executive directors and up to five non-executive directors which will include Mr Matthews if the appointment is approved.

The report states the appointment will require a “time commitment” from Mr Matthews depending on the business of the board but there is no remuneration on top of the £131,000 salary he currently receives as chief executive of Monmouthshire County Council.

Earlier this year a decision backed by a majority of Monmouthshire councillors saw Mr Matthews receive a pay rise of £9,792 over the next two years taking his salary to £141,000 in the 2026/27 financial year.

The appointment will be until Monmouthshire council’s annual general meeting in April and could be subject to renewal.

The South East Wales Corporate Joint Committee, the formal name for the super council for the Cardiff Capital Region, also has a reserved decision making role related to the company that owns the former power station on the Vale of Glamorgan coastline.

Accountancy firm Deloitte has been preparing a report for the committee on the procurement decision which was ruled unlawful. Cardiff Capital Region has said the payout has been funded from interest on the balances it holds without impacting its projects or needing any further funding from the councils.

The company purchased the former power station in 2022 and awarded the demolition contract in 2023 to a company called Erith but Cardiff council, which had run the procurement, admitted liability in court after lawyers for rival, Brown and Mason Limited, challenged the contract.

The committee is currently chaired by Monmouthshire council’s Labour leader Mary Ann Brocklesby.