With new research by Penna revealing almost half of council chief executives have taken up their roles in the last three years, there are mounting questions around the level of turnover in this top role.

While the recruitment specialist's director Julie Towers highlights the major global and international events since 2020 which had contributed to this, she also points to the relentless challenge and 24/7 nature of the role, as well as the willingness of politicians to act decisively when the member/officer ‘fit' at the top of the organisation isn't right.

As local government prepares for wholesale unitarisation and devolution, the sector is expected to go through a turbulent time and the risk of rapid churn at the top, alongside potential recruitment challenges, could prove costly.

Some agreed with Penna's analysis that the focus on ‘fit' between the chief executive and leader was too strong, potentially making the role unnecessarily precarious. They felt more work needed to be done to address members' behaviour, given the risk of putting ‘people off'.

And speaking of costs, the Local Government Association's analysis of a £6.4bn funding gap in the next two financial years remains a debilitating headache for chiefs which continues to cloud the landscape.

The MJ and Penna gathered a selection of chief executives and senior sector experts for this round table session to consider these challenges and pose potential solutions.

One attendee was quick to echo the research findings regarding the pressures placed on the role, saying: ‘This is an undoable job in terms of what people expect of you.'

The only answer, they added, was to tell new chiefs to focus only on doing what's really needed.

There was, nonetheless, some support for churn, with another participant arguing it ensured a rich vein of experience and diversity coming to the role. And others felt there was too often a reluctance among chiefs to recognise when it was time to go.

In the opinion of one, there was something to be said for a fixed term for the role – something still practiced in places such as New Zealand.

Although, another cautioned against such a move, pointing to the benefits of being a long-serving chief. They suggested strong understanding of an area could prove crucial when faced with certain challenges. Reorganisation, they added, was likely to be one.

If the speed of turnover in the post is set to continue, the round-tablers recognised there was a problem with the pipeline of new chiefs. It was highlighted that some were now ending up in the role because ‘they are the only person left'.

This, no doubt, reflects the pressures and uncertainties currently associated with the job, inevitably impacting on its attractiveness.

One voice among the gathering suggested the sector needed to ‘reframe' the ‘employee value proposition' to attract strong applications.

‘We can attract people if we present it in the right way. But it should not be presented as a job for life.'

Some agreed with Penna's analysis that the focus on ‘fit' between the chief executive and leader was too strong, potentially making the role unnecessarily precarious. They felt more work needed to be done to address members' behaviour, given the risk of putting ‘people off'.

And, with all the negative aspects of the council chief job being highlighted, one person argued there was a real risk of talking it down.

‘I love every second of it,' they said.

‘Local government is a more stable environment than in our partnership areas, places like the police and health.

‘There are some signs that in other parts of the public sector the turnover can be worse.'

But there remained concerns that the ‘talent pool' for new council chiefs was not as ‘buoyant' as it once was. And the impact of pending reorganisation, with swathes of positions facing the axe, raised further fears.

‘Why would you do it?' asked one.

When it came to achieving greater diversity in the top job, there was a call for increased efforts to diversify further down the organisation – allowing this to feed through.

Another person added: ‘Gen Z is supposed to be the purpose generation and we do something that is about purpose.'

Indeed, this focus on younger members of staff also led another round-tabler to suggest great emphasis be placed on promoting the truly talented, even if this meant jumping established hierarchies.

‘It comes down to, do we focus on what people have done or rather on what people can do?

‘We get risk averse at critical times and we should be doing the opposite.'

But another questioned if councils were really set up in a way to achieve this.

One final critical ingredient to attracting strong talent was felt to be the degree of support offered to the chief by other statutory roles, such as section 151 and monitoring officers.

There was plenty of support for increasing the points on the ‘golden triangle', which the chief executive creates alongside these two other posts. But some envisaged a ‘golden pentagon', with roles such as HR included. And others suggested the addition of deputies.

Regardless of what revision to statutory roles took place, there was clear support for it to happen, with one person pointing out they were currently ‘too old fashioned.'

And while someone pointed to how their statutory function allowed them licence to do things that would otherwise be difficult, another participant bemoaned the lack of powers provided.

‘The section 151 officer can stop the money, the monitoring officer can stop decisions, but the chief executive can stop nothing. All they can do is write a report.'

But there was nonetheless confidence that plenty could be done to improve the attractiveness of the role. High up the list was an appetite for breaking down hierarchies and establishing flexibility, so chiefs were properly supported.

As one participant concluded: ‘Who is on the top team should depend on the quality of the person and what they bring to the priorities of the council.'

 

Dawar Hashmi – director, Penna, on the current challenges facing chief executives

‘As we navigate 2025, local government chief executives are at the forefront of unprecedented challenges – from navigating complex devolution and reorganisation efforts to addressing significant financial constraints and evolving political dynamics. It is imperative that we not only attract and retain visionary leaders but also cultivate a diverse talent pipeline equipped to drive innovation and resilience in our communities.'

 

Participants at The MJ/Penna round table

Dawar Hashmi – director, Penna

Steven Heales – senior leadership adviser, Local Government Association (LGA)

Adam Hill – chief executive, Mansfield DC

Trevor Holden – chief executive, South Norfolk and Broadland Councils

Althea Loderick – chief executive, Southwark LBC

Pam Parkes – president, Public Services People Managers Association (PPMA)

Barry Quirk – former chief executive, Lewisham and Kensington & Chelsea LBCs

Becky Shaw – chief executive, East Sussex CC

Tom Stannard – chief executive, Salford City Council

Jonathan Stephenson – chief executive, Brentwood BC and Rochford DC

Julie Towers – director, Penna

Robin Tuddenham – chief executive, Calderdale MBC and president of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (Solace)

Heather Jameson – editor, The MJ

Dan Peters – news editor, The MJ (chair)

Paul Marinko – deputy editor, The MJ (reporting)

 

News: Half of chiefs have started their roles in last three years