Erewash Borough Council is set to debate plans to appoint a permanent Chief Executive on a salary of £129,331 a year and create two new senior director posts at an estimated additional cost of around £230,000 annually.
The proposals will be considered at an Extraordinary Council meeting at Ilkeston Town Hall on Thursday 11 June.
Councillors are being asked to approve the appointment of current Interim Chief Executive Gary Smith as the council’s permanent Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service from 1 July.
At the same meeting, councillors will also be asked to approve a significant restructuring of the council’s senior management team.
Under the proposals, the existing Director of Environmental and Community Services role would be removed and replaced with two new posts – Director of Place and Director of Communities.
According to the report, the changes are needed because the council is facing increasing pressures from Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), preparation of a new Local Plan, delivery of Pride in Place projects and work funded through the Erewash Investment Fund.
The report states that a lack of capacity is currently the council’s “number one risk” and argues that additional senior management support is needed to help deliver major projects and maintain services.
The restructuring is expected to cost between £310,000 and £350,000 per year. After taking account of savings from the deletion of the existing director post, the report estimates a net additional cost of around £230,000 annually.
The proposed Director of Place would oversee services including housing, environmental health, waste management, licensing, neighbourhood wardens, markets and parking.
The proposed Director of Communities would be responsible for areas including community safety, culture and events, communications, partnerships, corporate projects and local government reorganisation.
The proposals come at a time when district and borough councils across Derbyshire are preparing for Local Government Reorganisation, a process expected to eventually replace existing councils such as Erewash with larger unitary authorities.
While the council argues the additional posts are necessary to manage the transition and increasing workload, some residents may question whether now is the right time to expand senior management given the uncertain future of the authority itself.
Councillors will make the final decision when they meet on Thursday evening.
What do you think? Is this a sensible investment in leadership during a period of significant change, or should the council be focusing on reducing management costs ahead of reorganisation?