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Stoke City Council's interim boss has unexpectedly gone on leave, after failing to be selected for the new chief executive role. Chris Harman had been running the council since Steve Robinson stepped down last September, but he was told he would be expected to revert to his role as assistant council manager in January, when John van de Laarschot will start the £195,000-a-.year role on a permanent basis. It has emerged that since the announcement, Mr Harman has unexpectedly been on leave. A spokesman said: ‘Mr Harman remains the interim chief executive and is currently on leave,' but did not know when he would be back. The problem was compounded as the contract of interim assistant manager, Mike Maunder, expired last week. Monitoring officer, Paul Hackney, is the next most senior officer at the council, and it is believed he will act as chief until the new year, if Mr Harman does not return. The questions over who is running the council have somewhat overshadowed Mr van de Laarschot's appointment. He is currently chief executive at Torridge DC in Devon, which he has moved from a ‘poor'-rated council to ‘good'. Mr van de Laarschot also has an extensive private sector background, including roles as managing director of Pepsi Cola in Turkey and South Africa. He beat 24 other applicants to the post, and was interviewed by the council's youth panel as part of the recruitment process. In a statement to staff, council leader, Ross Irving, said: ‘The process to select the chief executive has been lengthy, and I am confident that we have applied a rigorous and robust procedure in making our choice.'

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Stoke crisis as interim chief goes 'on leave'

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