December 4: Wanted: new chief exec for KCC - we think
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IT’S been a
while – well getting on three months – since KCC chief
executive Peter Gilroy announced he would be
leaving the job next May.
But as yet, there has been no official
news about any plans to replace him. Part of the reason for the
delay is that there has been some behind the scenes discussion
about i) whether KCC could do without a chief executive and ii)
whether the job could somehow be split between two people.
Both these options have now, I
understand, been pretty much ruled out and the political view is
that KCC should have a replacement for Mr Gilroy at all.
As yet, the official recruitment
process has not yet started and it is unclear whether recruitment
consultants have been – or will be – appointed.
A few people have commented to me that
KCC is leaving things a little late given that Mr Gilroy says he
will be departing in early May.
Any appointment is now unlikely to be
made before January at the earliest and the likelihood is that a
successor will probably be obliged to serve at least three months
notice.
There is also the tricky issue of the
new chief’s salary. The issue of public sector pay remains highly
contentious and all political parties have signalled they want to
see a crackdown on extravagant remuneration packages.
The Conservative shadow chancellor
George Osborne says any public authority that wants to pay a boss
more than the Prime Minister - who earns £194,250 – will need his
permission.
He told the Tory conference in
October: "Anyone who wishes to pay a public servant more than the
prime minister will have to put it before the chancellor."
On the basis of the latest survey by the Taxpayers’ Alliance –
the scourge of the public sector – some 323 public
servants would be appearing before him to get their deals rubber
stamped.
I suppose if the appointment is made
before next May, KCC might just avoid this but either way, there is
said some discussions about what package would be appropriate.
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There's a rather slim agenda for next
week's
backbench cabinet scrutiny committee, which could be
interpreted as suggesting that there's not a lot going on.
Among the items the committee is
due to consider is the Kent Design Guide and possible job cuts
among a relatively small number of office reception staff at
assorted KCC offices.
There are different ways of looking at
this of course but can it be that these are the only most pressing
issues that the committee feel needs scrutinising?
To be fair, there is an item on the
allocation of school places which may be related to plans to
re-engineer pupil numbers at Kent's grammar schools in a way which
would help out west Kent - at the expense of places available at
east Kent.
But it's not the meatiest looking
meeting, it has to be said - given that this is arguably the most
important backbench committee.
Read our story
on this here>>>>
Friday, December 04 2009
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