Cash-strapped Cheshire East Council is looking to fill six top jobs and is prepared to pay more than £750,000 in total for the right people, writes Belinda Ryan.
The advertisements for the top posts come at a time when the council, which is predicting a £20 million overspend at the end of this financial year, is slashing services.
They are closing tips, reducing library opening hours, hiking up fees such as parking charges and green bin collection costs and introducing three-weekly bin collections in 2026.
The posts were advertised this week in the MJ.
If all six are taken at the lowest rate, the total salaries would amount to £560,623.
If all six were employed at the highest salary rate that would be £727,953 in total.
It is probable the figure will be somewhere in between.
The jobs on offer are:
executive director of resources (S151) at a salary ranging from £131,208 to £148,823;
director of public health at a salary ranging from £85,883 to £115,826;
director of planning and environment at a salary ranging from £85,883 to £115,826;
director of people at a salary ranging from £85,883 to £115,826
assistant chief executive with a salary ranging from £85,883 to £115,826
monitoring officer with a salary ranging from £85,883 to £115,826
Most are replacements as the authority has haemorrhaged top bosses over the past year.
Former head of finance and S151 officer Alex Thompson quit in May and so has far been replaced by an interim.
Deborah Woodcock resigned as executive director of children’s services at the end of July.
Former executive director of place Jayne Traverse has also gone and former monitoring officer David Brown left in August.
Former director of public health Matt Tyrer left in September.
In some cases, where interims are standing in, the council could be saving money when it takes on a permanent staff member.
The role of assistant chief executive, however, is a new post.
And at full council next week, councillors are also going to be asked for permission to employ an additional children’s director at a cost of more than £100,000. This too will be a new post.
None of the figures quoted above include on-costs of pension and national insurance, so the cost to the council will be higher than the salaries quoted.
The authority also has to take recruitment costs into account.
These can be massive for top posts.
The council spent a whopping £37,736 just on the recruitment process to get current chief executive Rob Polkinghorne into post.
Cheshire East Council is currently undergoing a management restructure as it aims to reduce costs and make savings.
And so the ‘Jobs for the boys’ Pantomime flushing £100Ks Taxpayers Money down the pan just goes On and On and On?……
I do hope the executive director of human resources can find competent people to fill these jobs and puts them on a suitable incentive to actually perform the role efficiently however I suspect that lessons have not been learned.
Oh, and what exactly is a ‘monitoring officer’? at £85 -£115k for just watching seems a bloody waste.
I don’t know why they are cash strapped, CEC kept part of my £54 (2024) green bin yearly payment, when they left my bin at the roadside unemptied. Council paid lip service to my complaint (missed bin collection portal and direct email to Environment Councillor) and bin wasn’t collected until its next due date. They should refund a portion of that fee….but they won’t.
The main reason the council has hemorrhage top bosses is because in the main they were inept at their role,so like rat’s deserting a sinking ship they left before they had to sort out the mess they have made.
Do we really need this top level of management, or can we not promote people from within who guess what? might actually have a good understanding of how to run things better, and save some money on recruitment costs.
In the private Sector they would take the opportunity review the management structure to reduce costs. This is Cheshire East Council, so this will never happen. Sadly the calibre of leadership is very poor at the top. These individuals would never survive in the private sector.
They never look or explore at saving the tax payer money.
In reality I feel very sorry for those employees who work hard. They must feel rather coy in saying to people they work for Cheshire East.
I would like to see Cheshire East merge with Chester and Cheshire West with an elected Mayor.
Andy Street or Andy Burnham as potential elected Mayors would I believe bring huge benefits to the Citizens of Cheshire.
Why not spend some money on a referendum on the potential merger.
The Chief Executive needs an Assistant. What next.
It is a total joke.
Typical. Always look after themselves .