City mayors to pioneer executive leader model

Communities secretary, Eric Pickles, has hit back at critics of his plan for all-powerful ‘executive leaders', but opposition snowballed this week when council chiefs warned of past ‘disasters' when senior managers had been politicised. In a letter to his predecessor, Labour's John Denham, Mr Pickles responds to Opposition concerns that combining a council's leader role with chief executive functions would politicise independent town hall managers, and undermine local probity and accountability. ‘I have been clear that the dual structure of executive leader and chief executive is unsustainable, particularly in mayoral models… Having elected leaders and chief executives whose responsibilities often overlap is both expensive and unnecessary,' he writes. Mr Pickles' letter, seen by The MJ, is dated 13 September, and is a response to a three-page critique of the Government's plan for executive leaders – and the introduction of ‘super mayors' across 12 major cities through the forthcoming Localism Bill – sent to the CLG by Mr Denham in August. Following his original letter, Mr Denham told The MJ he considered the unrestrained power of executive leaders a threat to local government accountability in the post-Audit Commission era. ‘I'm deeply concerned that the well-understood boundaries between the non-political and impartial chief executive and the political leadership of local authorities are going to be thrown away,' he warned. Sources close to Mr Denham said the former secretary of state was ‘unimpressed' with Mr Pickles' response to his concerns because his successor had failed to address future accountability for, and scrutiny of political-managerial decisions made by council leaders. Earlier this summer, Mr Pickles described the role of council chief executives as ‘non jobs' and outlined his determination to divest the most senior management post of many powers. In his speech to the Conservative Party conference on 3 October, he said he wanted elected mayors to ‘trail blaze' new powers for localities, such as plans to pool a wide range of public sector budgets – such as health, education, social care and local government cash pots – and allow local politicians and officials to prioritise their area's spending, free from Whitehall interference. ‘I believe elected mayors in cities will be embraced by the public if they have real powers,' he told delegates. In recent months, Mr Pickles has suggested those powers could encompass both the political and strategic management leadership required to deliver such ambitious programmes. Mr Pickles does not wish to transfer all chief executive powers to elected leaders – some functions, such as ‘head of paid service', must legally remain separate from the political executive. But he still faces opposition from senior council managers. Writing in The MJ this week, SOLACE director general, David Clark, said it may be ‘yet another un-thought through policy' and warned: ‘Officers playing at politics and councillors playing at management have led more than one council to disaster.' In advance of the SOLACE annual conference on 12 October, he adds: ‘As an ex-elected member and an ex-chief executive, I am very much in the business of maintaining a separation between the political leadership and the managerial leadership of an authority, and avoiding the overt politicisation of the officer corp.' Like Mr Denham, Mr Clark questions whether an elected leader could effectively advise other political groups within a town hall, as independent chief executives must. ‘Realistically, opposition backbench councillors are hardly going to look to their political opponent for support and impartiality. ‘The situation would become even more complex and absurd in a hung authority, where a leader-chief executive could change at any minute,' he warns.

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WHITEHALL

City mayors to pioneer executive leader model

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