Wirral Council can't attract top executive, says leader

Jun 27 2012 by Liam Murphy, Birkenhead News

WIRRAL is not in a position to attract a “top notch” new chief executive because of its current poor reputation, according to the council leader.

Instead, the authority is advertising for a temporary replacement to help it over the coming years as it fixes problems highlighted in a number of highly critical reports into how it has been run and managed.

Cllr Phil Davies said the council’s search for a replacement for the recently retired Jim Wilkie would now start in earnest.

An advert outlining the £130,000 a year job calls for someone to “deliver a long term improvement agenda, with particular focus on changing the culture and rebuilding mutual trust”.

It also says the successful applicant will need to work with councillors “to ensure effective governance of the council, high ethical standards, probity and integrity of decisions made”.

Mr Wilkie had been appointed chief executive in April 2011 after a stint as interim chief executive following the early retirement of his predecessor Steve Maddox who left in September 2010.

Mr Wilkie had been off work ill in the months preceding his retirement and the council’s director of finance Ian Coleman has been acting chief executive.