When he first took on the job a year ago, The MJ spoke to Matt Gladstone, the newly installed chief executive of Peterborough City Council. He may have taken on a tough job – the council faced a plethora of finance and governance issues – but he was energetic and up for the challenge.

A series of reviews of the finance and governance of the city painted a dire picture of Peterborough. The council had a £13m overspend and ‘no plan ready to tackle it'.