Cheshire East Council is interviewing for a permanent top legal boss – nearly two years after the last one left, writes Belinda Ryan.
The cash-strapped council is currently paying out a whopping £1,121 a day, which includes agency fees, for interim monitoring officer Kevin O’Keefe.
He has been in post since September of last year and his contract runs until October.
The council will now be hoping it will be third time lucky following two unsuccessful attempts last year to recruit a permanent replacement for David Brown, who left the authority in August 2024.
It is not known how much it is prepared to pay for a permanent appointment as no salary was quoted, instead the post was advertised as ‘competitive’.
But it will definitely be a considerable saving on what is being shelled out at the moment.
Meanwhile, the announcement earlier this month that Rob Polkinghorne has stepped down as chief executive by “mutual agreement” after an absence of more than six months will add to the council’s financial woes.
Cheshire East is now “actively recruiting” for an interim chief executive.
This is a costly process as temporary appointments are always expensive.
The last interim chief exec, David Parr OBE, cost Cheshire East £1,380 a day with agency fees included. Mr Parr worked the equivalent of three days a week.
And the recruitment process itself for top bosses is also costly.
Cheshire East spent more than £37,500 on a “rigorous recruitment and selection process” to appoint Mr Polkinghorne when he replaced Mr Parr.
Regarding the search for Mr Polkinghorne’s replacement, a council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The council is now actively recruiting an interim chief executive.
“As is normal practice for local authorities, we will work with an executive search agency to find suitable candidates with the appropriate senior leadership experience.
“Once a suitable candidate is selected, the decision to appoint a new interim chief executive will be put before full council.
“In the meantime, the chief executive’s delegations and duties will continue to be covered by Helen Charlesworth-May, executive director for adults, health and integration, supported by the corporate leadership team.”
Recruitment recently closed for a number of other top posts at Cheshire East which are currently vacant, or being filled by an interim.
The council is willing to pay between £135,407 and £153,585 for an executive director of place following the sudden departure of Phil Cresswell who “resigned by mutual agreement with immediate effect, on Friday December 5”.
The post of director of people was advertised at a salary of £100,993 to £119,532.
The council is offering between £100,993 and £119,532 for a director of transport and infrastructure, between £76,271 and £88,631 for a head of transformation and £76,271 – £88,631 for a head of housing.
The closing date for all these posts was the end of May.
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