Axing chief exec role is ‘power grab’

Criticism of leader’s plan to ditch top position

A bid by the city council leader to scrap the authority’s chief executive role when its current boss retires has been branded “another power grab”.

The option - which would save more than £100,000 a year - is being considered by the authority following the announcement that Colin Carmichael is stepping down from the role after 25 years at the helm.

It has been proposed by council leader Ben Fitter-harding, who argues: “We have a very talented team of three directors who are quite capable of running the council, with one taking on the responsibility of head of paid service, which Colin does as a legal requirement of his role.

“I just feel it will be a better fit as we move to a cabinet system and I don’t think we could do any better by bringing someone in from outside.”

But opposition members on the council fear it is a further move by him “to grab more power” after already planning to introduce the cabinet system

of governance.

Labour group leader Dave Wilson said: “At a time when we are trying to come out of a pandemic, facing financial challenges and moving to a cabinet system, I just think we need a firm, experienced hand to guide the staff and councillors through it.

“To put this is in the mix at this time is bizarre, and to have no senior staff with the genuine capability to weigh against the leader of the council can’t be healthy.

“As usual with Ben’s ideas, there is no justification for this and it looks like just another power grab by the leader. No one person should have that amount of control over the council.”

But Cllr Fitter-harding dismissed the claim, saying: “I don’t have any ambition for any more personal power than is absolutely necessary to be able to implement the will of the residents.”

Now 68, Mr Carmichael’s last day in the job will be on March 31 next year. He has produced a report for Monday’s policy committee meeting, detailing how the new management structure could work.

Its main advantage, he says, is that in a leader and cabinet system of governance, there is “less need for a specific post to co-ordinate the management of resources and officers’ priorities”.

Mr Carmichael, who earns £124,508 for a four-day week, also points to the significant annual saving.

But among the structure’s disadvantages, he lists the increased workload coming out of the pandemic, the lack of a clear officer focal point, especially for external partners, and the new model’s reliance on a good working relationships between directors.

Outgoing chief Colin Carmichael executive