The Search is On: Cheshire East Council Seeks New Financial Chief

Cheshire East Council seeks a new senior official as Alex Thompson, the current director of finance and customer service, is departing to assume the role of executive director for finance and transformation at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in May. In the upcoming full council meeting, councillors will be tasked with granting chief executive Rob Polkinghorne the authority to hire an interim chief financial officer in consultation with the chairs of the appointments committee. They will also be requested to authorize the committee to commence the search for a permanent replacement.

The potential need to recruit a temporary finance leader from an agency, rather than an internal candidate, may result in unforeseen expenses for the council, as agency fees typically inflate costs. In a recent instance, Cheshire East paid an agency £1,200 per day for interim chief executive David Parr OBE, resulting in a total daily cost of £1,380.

The appointment of a chief financial officer is required by Section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972, which stipulates that ‘every local authority shall make arrangements for the proper administration of their financial affairs and shall ensure that one of their officers has responsibility for the administration of those affairs.’

A report for the upcoming full council meeting has proposed using the funds allocated for the departure of the section 151 officer to finance the proposed interim and permanent appointments.
The full council meeting will convene on Tuesday, February 27, at 11am at Macclesfield Town Hall.

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