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After dealing with foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks, some wags might argue that Glenys Stacey is well placed to deal with councillor indiscretions, or foot-in-mouth outbreaks, in her new job heading the Standards Board for England.

She is only the third chief executive to lead the CLG-funded board since its launch in 2001, although its most prominent head to date is David Prince, her immediate predecessor, who officially retires this week, aged 60.

After a career which included being a council chief executive and helping roll out the CPA at the Audit Commission, he now intends to focus on non-executive roles after some 40 years in local government. He is currently on the General Social Care Council and also on the Rural Payment Agency's audit committee.

Glenys, taking on her formal role this week, although she has been in post since 1 April, comes from a completely different background from her predecessor. Her last post was chief executive of Animal Health, the former state veterinary service, responsible for managing the response to outbreaks of notifiable animal disease.

Much of her work involved dealing with foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks or avian flu, and, therefore, liaising with civil servants and ministers, so she is already versed with the machinations of Whitehall.

A solicitor by profession, she has spent much of her career in the criminal justice field. She was the first chief executive of Greater Manchester Magistrates' Courts Committee, and was also first chief executive of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, a non-departmental public body responsible for the review and investigation of suspected miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

So, what she may lack in local government experience, she more than makes up for in legal expertise and in understanding her way around government.

She also joins at a time when the turbulent years of the board, the huge backlog of often-minor and vexatious cases and such high-profile disasters as the Islington inquiry, are well behind it.

Another milestone came last month on 8 May, when the new locally-based system for dealing with complaints about councillor conduct came into operation. The board remains responsible for the promotion and maintenance of high standards among councillors in England.

The result is a slimmed-down operation of about 80 staff in the board itself, whose headquarters is now in Manchester. Glenys comments: ‘It's a sizeable reduction, but we've got a real core of experience, and it feels fresh. We have an enthusiastic and young staff with an average age of 32.'

She adds: ‘My job is different from David Prince's. Our casework numbers have reduced, although it will take a year to know the pattern and until then, we've had to make assumptions about manpower and learn to be flexible.

‘The organisation is coming up for air on the casework side, but we still don't know what the light-touch approach means in practice.'

The board will collate all local complaints, but a full evaluation of the pattern is only possible from results delivered by the end of this year.

So, what drew her away from the animal world to local government?

‘I've always been interested in strategic regulation,' she says. ‘My last job was steeped in it, mostly driven by Brussels. Normally, I had little to do with local government, but in animal health emergencies, our main partners were local authorities. They were the ones who had the local knowledge.

‘When you are controlling diseases, you need to know who owns what sheep or cattle. I gained a great respect for them.'

She adds: ‘I did wonder whether my background would be an obstacle, but certainly, there's been no feedback to suggest it is.

‘I went through an open recruitment process and I've got experience of managing complex organisations.'

After dealing with foot-and-mouth and avian flu, the task of keeping an eye on indiscreet councillors should surely be a breeze in comparison.