Council pays £165k for 'shake-up manager'
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by political
editor Paul Francis
Kent County Council is paying £165,000 for an interim
manager brought in to oversee a shake-up in the way the authority
is run, it has emerged.
The county council has revealed that it is paying the
six-figure sum to Jeff Hawkins for his temporary role as its
transformation project manager, involving wide-ranging changes to
the structure of the authority.
The council said it had recruited an outside manager to
take on the job after deciding it had no-one with the time or
skills to fulfil the role.
The pay package is higher than any of the salaries paid to
KCC’s most senior officers, with the exception of managing director
Katherine Kerswell.
Mr Hawkins, whose contract began in August, was taken on
to steer the authority’s "Change To Keep Succeeding"
programme.
That has led to a slimming down in the number of
directorates, along with a reduction in senior managers. KCC said
those changes had succeeded in saving the council £750,000 in
management costs.
In a statement, the council said: "Kent County Council is
undergoing the most comprehensive organisational change programme
in its history. We view this programme as essential to deliver not
only the most difficult budget settlement that this Council has
ever faced, but also to make sure we are able to deliver our
priorities as set out in our new medium term plan Bold Steps for
Kent."
The statement added: "It was important that the right
person with the skills and experience needed to deliver this scale
of programme was recruited."
It has also emerged that more than £40,000 has been spent
on consultants brought in to help staff "develop leadership
competencies" and to assist 25 senior managers involved in the new
structure.
Consultancy firm Q Learning has been paid £32,657 for this
work while £8,000 has been spent appointing the Hay Group to advise
on senior pay policy. The details were disclosed to the KM Group in
response to a Freedom of Information request.
KCC said: "Once the entire restructure is completed it
will lead to savings of approximately £20 million."
Friday, March 04 2011
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