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Two beleaguered councils have been forced to postpone the appointment of top posts. Doncaster MBC's controversial elected mayor, Martin Winter, has announced he would not seek re-election in June after the Government announced it was taking over the children's services department. The move followed the revelation that seven children on the at-risk register had died over a three-year period despite coming into contact with the authority's social workers. But he has refused to step down immediately despite a formal council vote calling for his resignation. Mr Winter blamed political in-fighting for the failings in the department which had already been panned by Ofsted before ministers ordered the takeover. He said: ‘We have shown we are a very self-aware local authority and we judge ourselves as inadequate. ‘Many councillors have been using these issues as an opportunity to damage me and the mayoralty. I will not be seeking re-election as the Mayor of Doncaster in June. I have made this decision to stop another bout of political in-fighting.' Work to recruit a new chief executive at Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been postponed in the wake of elected mayor Mark Meredith's arrest. The council had been expected to name its new chief within weeks, following a recruitment process. But the council was advised by its lawyers to defer the appointment until after a new council leader has been elected on 5 June. The council has now created a new appointments committee tasked with appointing the new chief. The committee will hand the recruitment role on to a newly-formed human resources committee in June.

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WHITEHALL

Hunt for new chiefs on hold

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