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Irrespective of the views of communities secretary, Eric Pickles, about the need for more executive leaders, many local authorities are already sharing their top management teams. Jamie Hailstone looks at some recent trail-blazers It can't be easy being a council chief executive at present. Not only have they got to prepare for massive cuts to public spending, but they also have to contend with regular onslaughts from the secretary of state, Eric Pickles. The communities secretary has made several comments, both about the size of some top officers' salaries and whether or not local authorities even need a chief executive in the first place. ‘Couldn't the chief executives bring more to the table by working across boundaries, rather than replicating what the leader should be doing?' Mr Pickles told delegates at the LGA conference in July. While many chief executives, particularly at district level, are now working across two local authorities and sharing resources, the idea that the role could be merged with the council leader's has proved to be less popular. Rugby BC made the headlines in August when it was announced that council leader, Cllr Craig Humphrey, would be taking a more ‘hands-on' role in the running of the authority. But a council spokesman said Cllr Humphrey was not now the authority's chief executive. The council's deputy chief executives, Andrew Gabbitas, and Ian Davis, have become executive directors, and will remain responsible for the leadership and management of the workforce. The rest of local government also remains unconvinced about merging the roles of leader and top officer. ‘The two roles are different – and should remain different,' says SOLACE's assistant director general, Mike Bennett. ‘It's important in a system of good governance that we have proper checks and balances.' Mr Bennett adds: ‘It's difficult to see in an organisation such as a local authority, where there is a duty to serve the council as a whole, how a political leader could have responsibility for managing the organisation or overseeing the advice that is given to the authority as a whole. It would cut across the whole idea of independence, which is so important to professional officers. Especially when we consider the different position in local authorities across the country. Some are hung and some have large majorities. To have a leader taking over the role of independent advice-giving seems quite difficult.' He continues: ‘The leaders I have spoken to have always been clear with me that they have no interest in taking on the position of chief executive, because their role is to provide political leadership and not to manage the organisation.' Mr Pickles' suggestion that more councils should share chief executives has proved to be more popular. ‘It has shown itself to work in different areas and it's something that a lot of councils are considering,' says Mr Bennett. ‘We are always in favour of innovation, and there is no one perfect structure. ‘The crucial thing is the principle of good corporate governance is upheld in any future structure.' In September, Camden LBC and Islington LBC became the latest local authorities to announce that they were looking at sharing a chief executive. While several district councils have already shared a top officer – including Worthing BC and Adur DC – this will the first time that two top-tier local authorities could enter into such an arrangement. Camden LBC's cabinet member for resources, Cllr Theo Blackwell, says the opportunity came about after Islington's chief executive, John Foster, announced he would retire in May 2011. A report will go before both councils' cabinets in January, and if the plans are approved, Camden's chief executive, Moira Gibb, will take also take over the reins of the neighbouring London borough, and the two councils could begin sharing services. There was also an election commitment from both the Camden and Islington Labour parties to explore the sharing of services, according to Cllr Blackwell, who says there is a ‘natural fit' to the two councils. He points to the border between the authorities, which is more than 10 miles long, as well as similar demographics and models of service. The massive regeneration of King's Cross rail station and the surrounding area will also impact on each council, since it borders both. ‘Between now and December, we will do the due diligence and see what the benefits are,' says Cllr Blackwell. ‘This is not a PR exercise. This is a real investigation into joint working. ‘We are looking at services for more than 430,000 people, which puts us above Bradford in terms of delivering services. It is a significant proposition – there's no doubt about that.' Cllr Blackwell says the two councils have already worked together, jointly procuring a school meals contract and says they saved £150,000 in the process. ‘We had two different policies on school meals between Camden and Islington,' he explains. ‘Islington is committed to doing all its school meals for free, and we don't have that policy. So there can be policy modulation between the authorities. The policy does not have to be the same. ‘This is a slightly different ask than a district going with a county,' he adds. ‘There are some unknowns, and that is why we are taking our time in looking into it. What will be clear is that there are some areas in which we can press ahead, and there will be other areas where we will have to go at a different speed.' Cllr Blackwell says residents have given the idea of closer working a warm reception, so far. ‘The view from the public was this was an interesting idea,' he says. ‘But there were a lot of questions that people wanted to ask. ‘People were concerned because Camden has direct council housing services, and Islington has an arm's length management organisation (ALMO). They were concerned that it could allow in practices they had voted against through the back door. ‘We can only go ahead with this if there are real benefits for the people of Camden,' says Cllr Blackwell. ‘If it looks like a senior management closing of ranks to weather the storm, then people will not buy it, and neither will we.'

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WHITEHALL

The new face of the charing profession

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