Shropshire Star

Council advertises CEO role with £138,000 salary

Powys County Council has stepped up its search for a new chief executive. The authority has begun advertising the role, which comes with a £138,000 salary.

Published

Former chief executive Jeremy Patterson left his post in September after being off on sick leave for nearly a year, having been signed off by the council in the wake of the shocking report on the state of children’s services in the area in October 2017.

Currently the authority is being run by acting CEO Dr Mohammed Mehmet, who was brought in to turn the council around following the report.

In April he was given a nine month contract, however the former Denbighshire Council chief is expected to stay until a permanent replacement is found.

Mr Patterson was signed off work just days after the children's services report was published in 2017, and in April it was agreed by the council his full sick pay would be extended.

At a meeting held in July, the authority met behind closed doors where it agreed a deal worth around £181,500, with a compensatory sum of £116,915 to mutually terminate the former chief executive's contract on September 20.

Now the council is searching for a new full time replacement, with applications closing on October 26 and a spokesperson said an advert had been placed nationwide.

The advert says: "Working closely with the leader of the council, the chief executive will set the strategic direction of Powys County Council, and lead on integrating the internal resources and utilising external partner relationships.

"The post holder will be accountable for the delivery of the council’s corporate plan and long term business benefits which will have a significant impact on the lives of people living in, visiting and working in Powys.

"The post holder will oversee that within each specialist area of the council all relevant statutory duties and legislative obligations are met."