Councils should have a directly-elected chief executive to run them, former Tory deputy prime minister, Lord Heseltine, has claimed. In a bid to attract better candidates as leaders – and to move away from criticisms over senior officers' pay – councils should pay a premium for elected politicians who would also head up the officers, he argued. Speaking at an LGIU annual memorial lecture in memory of LGIU founder Roy Shaw in London last week, Lord Heseltine said: ‘I would have four-yearly elections for a directly-elected chief executive – call them what you will – a paid leader and chief executive in one.' The role would be accountable to voters but, he added, would not be accountable to other members of the council. He also claimed getting rid of quangos could save £10bn – which councils could then bid for. Local government minister John Healey described the plans as ‘confused'. He claimed councils needed ‘strong elected leadership' in the form of a political leader, and a high-calibre managerial leader, unlike the private sector, where the roles could be shared. He added: ‘Councils are not companies.' Lord Heseltine also cautioned against further reorganisation. The former secretary of state for environment, who headed a local government reorganisation of his own, said he was ‘totally convinced we had to move to unitary authorities' but, in a warning to a possible future government, he added: ‘I wouldn't change their frontiers, and I wouldn't change the rate support system.' He admitted the Conservatives were able to bring reorganisation in for Scotland and Wales because ‘there weren't any Tory councils in Scotland and Wales', but said he was ‘misguided' to believe England would soon follow.
