In July 2015, South Somerset District Council suddenly terminated an arrangement whereby they and East Devon District Council shared a CEO Mark Williams. This severance cost SSDC upwards of £100,000. No reason was given at the time but SSDC decided temporarily to have a management team without an overall CEO. Mark Williams, whose salary and hours had been shared 50/50 with SSDC returned to EDDC full-time (though we seem to have been managing quite well with his half-time the job split).
At the time the two councils seemed keen on sharing even more posts but the CEO post was the only one that ever emerged.
Fast forward a year and South Somerset now has a new CEO – Alex Parmley:
“Alex is currently a Corporate Director at Eastleigh Borough Council where he leads a major business transformation programme, as well as the building of the new Fleming Park regional leisure centre, regeneration and regional schemes to support business growth and jobs through innovation and the green economy. Prior to working at Eastleigh, Alex was a Director and General Manager at Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and also worked at Parramatta City Council, Australia, leading the implementation of their City Strategy.”
For background on the old and new appointments see:
Click to access 8%20Recruitment%20of%20New%20CEO%20Report.pdf
Some things about this train of events will forever remain a mystery it seems.
East Devon Watch 