By Sally Guyoncourt Nottingham City Council has picked award-winning chief executive, Michael Frater, to take on its top job. But his appointment is already steeped in controversy, with opposition councillors boycotting the recruitment process, claiming the leading Labour group had acted outside the agreed process. Mr Frater’s £165,000 appointment was given approval at a meeting of the full council on Monday night (17 July) but both the Lib Dem and Conservative group abstained from the vote in protest. The Lib Dem group’s deputy leader, Cllr Tom Stephenson, said: ‘We have not been involved in the process itself and we have no idea whether he is the candidate we would have chosen. ‘It’s not his fault, the Labour group excluded us from parts of the selection process. And we wouldn’t hold it against him.’ The dispute centres on a meeting the council’s leader, Jon Collins, had with potential candidates before a shortlist was drawn up. Both opposition parties claim they should have been involved in all meetings with candidates, and boycotted the remainder of the recruitment process as a result. However, the Labour group claims the entire process had been agreed at a previous meeting. Cllr Collins said: ‘Mr Frater stood out among a very strong shortlist of candidates as the right person to lead Nottingham City Council forward, and we’re absolutely delighted that he has accepted the job.’ The 58-year-old is currently chief executive of Telford and Wrekin Council, which won The MJ’s ‘Best Achieving Council of the Year’ award at last month’s ceremony. He has also been selected to chair Ruth Kelly’s Lifting Burdens task force to cut red tape for councils. Mr Frater said: ‘Nottingham is one of England’s Core Cities and known throughout the world, so it’s a proud moment for me to have been chosen as the council’s chief executive.’ mjnews@hgluk.com
