Herefordshire Council says it is struggling to a new top official
It's since current chief executive Paul Walker announced his departure, which was to have been this month
Herefordshire Council says it is struggling to a new top official since current chief executive Paul Walker announced his departure, which was to have been this month.
Mr Walker took over the council’s top job in spring of 2021 following a damning High Court judgment against the council’s children’s services, but is widely felt to have put it back on a more even keel in the years since.
He announced his intention to step down last September, since when councillors and senior officials have been seeking a suitable replacement.
A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said: “Although we got some excellent applicants, our employment panel decided they wanted to extend the search to find the very best candidate for Herefordshire.”
They added: “Like all councils we want to get someone who is right for us and will commit to the long-term and make a difference for local people as Paul has done.”
Meanwhile Mr Walker has agreed to stay on in the post “for a few more months”, he said.
A decision on appointing a new chief executive was scheduled to be made by the council’s Employment Panel a month ago, but the meeting was cancelled.
Papers with an earlier meeting of the panel revealed that the latest published salary for the role, of £168,970 for 2024/25, is the lowest among top-level authorities in the West Midlands, and second-bottom among England’s smaller counties, the lowest being Rutland which has less that a quarter of Herefordshire’ population.