The successor to Cheshire West and Chester Council chief executive Steve Robinson will earn £30,000 less than his £180,000 salary.
Tomorrow’s (Thursday May 19) meeting of the whole authority is expected to rubber-stamp a recommendation by CWaC staffing committee that Gerald Meehan, currently strategic director of children’s services, be appointed as the replacement for Mr Robinson who leaves in June.
But Mr Meehan will earn £150,000 compared with Mr Robinson’s £180,000 wage as it is argued the task is less onerous compared with that of Mr Robinson who helped set up CWaC from scratch in 2008 before it became a fully fledged authority in 2009.
The huge restructuring of council services that followed saw thousands of posts made redundant so it is also claimed Mr Meehan will be in charge of a smaller organisation.
Councillor Paul Donovan , chair of the staffing committee, said: “Cheshire West and Chester Council’s staffing committee recommended the appointment of Gerald Meehan, currently strategic director of children’s services, as the authority’s new chief executive on May 4 and the recommendation will be voted on by members at full council on May 19.
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“The new chief executive will be taking the helm of a council clear about its direction of travel, with ambitious aims and objectives on how it can support the borough to thrive and a workforce capable of fulfilling these aims.
“The salary of £150,000 is reflective of this and, whilst this salary is lower than that of the outgoing chief executive, marks the great strides Cheshire West and Chester Council has made since 2009 when Steve Robinson was tasked with creating a new and modern authority.”
Mr Meehan is understood to have been selected from a four-strong short-list of internal candidates only, comprising heads of service and strategic directors.
He considers it a ‘privilege’ to have been recommended.
Mr Meehan, whose current role as strategic director of children’s services is a job share between CWaC and Halton councils, commented: “I will do everything I can to ensure the council lives up to the high expectations our residents rightly have of us.
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“I will build on the great foundations laid by Steve Robinson , the leadership team and the wider council.
“I intend to further strengthen our joint working with our partners in the public and charitable sector to both improve the quality of the services we deliver and to further reduce costs. My priority will be to focus on the outcomes we need to achieve for the people of Cheshire West and Chester.”
