Southwark LBC appointed Eleanor Kelly as its permanent chief executive on 4 July, a decision ratified by members of the council assembly.

Mrs Kelly,who has held very senior roles in local government including chief executive at LB Tower Hamlets and LB Merton, steps up to the post with immediate effect. Mrs Kelly joined Southwark as deputy chief executive in September 2008, and from February of this year she had been serving as acting chief executive.