Shared executive roles across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Proposals to improve financial efficiency for the taxpayer across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, as well as further share best practice and resources have been agreed by both the county and city councils.

New plans for the region will see a new joint executive director role joining the top management team alongside Gillian Beasley, who has successfully held the post of joint chief executive of both councils since 2015. The new role is being created to lead Place & Economy work across both councils, replacing a senior role in each council. Two other existing Cambridgeshire County Council director’s roles are also being extended to cover Peterborough City Council.

The executive changes are set to deliver efficiency savings of £90,000 across both councils, as well as delivering benefits of more streamlined working, particularly across areas where the council already works closely with the same partners, such as major IT and digital providers.

Steve Count, leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “This proposal sees us building on the success we have already achieved with Gillian Beasley as our joint Chief Executive driving forward an ambitious plan to share expertise, efficiency and effective practices.  We know how to do this sort of join up well, and driving down costs and reducing duplication is of enormous benefit for our residents and the partner agencies we work with.”

John Holdich, leader of Peterborough City Council, added: “While our management team is shared, we are confident that this will not damage or diminish the sovereignty of either council. We retain our separate identities, and while we share an ambition to improve overall outcomes for our area and our residents, as politicians we remain focused on the particular issues each of us face.”

Gillian Beasley, chief executive of both councils, said: “Our experience in sharing some of our most senior roles has demonstrated how we can build capacity and resilience in both organisations. This innovative arrangement increases our recruiting power, as we strive to appoint the brightest and the best staff in a very competitive market, and offer them an exciting future career in local government.”

As per the agreed changes, Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council have reduced the number of officers they pay more than £100,000 down from nine to two since 2015.