Council to consider fresh appointment of chief executive
RHONDDA Cynon Taf council will consider once again appointing a chief executive – having operated without a permanent one for a year.
The local authority last had a permanent chief executive in October 2015, when Rhonddaborn Steve Merritt retired from the £141,000-a-year post.
Temporary agreements were then put in place for the council’s director of education Chris Bradshaw to merge his role with that of the chief executive – a move that the council said would save them £150,000. Earlier this year, the council agreed to extend this arrangement for another year.
Now, RCT council says the scrapping of a controversial proposal to cut the number of Welsh councils from 22 to eight, confirmed by Finance and Local Government Secretary Mark Drakeford earlier this month, gives a more certain future for local authorities – a certainty which allows them to make the chief executive role permanent once again.
Council leader Andrew Morgan said: “The new senior management changes [within RCT], which we first introduced when I became leader in 2014, are saving the council over £2m and are working well including the changes we have made to the chief executive role.
“The recent statement by the minister [Mark Drakeford] has made the future direction of travel for local government clear and on this basis, to my mind, now is the right time to make the temporary structures, which are delivering for this coun- cil, a permanent arrangement.
“As we continue to face director of education financial challenges, we will continue to require the successful candidate to also hold responsibility for the 21st Century Schools to ensure no additional costs for the authority.”
Coun Morgan added that “a full recruitment process” could be started soon, with the majority consent of councillors.
He added: “Subject to agreement by full council next week, a full re- cruitment process will be initiated over the coming months, with the recommendations of the appointments committee, which includes councillors from a number of political groups, to be presented to full council for approval by the end of this calendar year.
“This will allow the successful candidate to support the council in developing its budget strategy for the forthcoming financial year.”
The issue will be debated at a council meeting later this month.