'New elected mayors will be chief executives too' - LGC
The department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) has confirmed that the new elected mayors provided for in the Localism Bill must also take on the role of council chief executives in their cities, according to reports in the Local Goverment Chronicle.
Existing mayors will not be required to adopt the new powers proposed in the Bill. New mayors, however, will be responsible for co-ordinating all council functions and managing its staff.
Leaders and chief executives in cities that will be affected are challenging both the wisdom of this proposal and its imposition by central government which they see as contrary to localism principles.
An LGC poll of leaders found that only in Torbay is there ‘possible support’ for the move.
It has been suggested that the proposal is intended to remove unpopular ‘fat cat salaries’ from local authority payrolls.
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13 January 2011
