A new boss could be appointed to the Isle of Wight Council tomorrow.
It follows the departure of former chief executive, John Metcalfe, earlier this year after six years at the authority. He moved to Cumbria County Council.
The role has been filled on an interim basis by Wendy Perera, who was deputy chief executive under Mr Metcalfe.
21 candidates applied for the role
In a search for a replacement, and through a month-long recruitment process, 21 candidates put themselves forward for the position.
Consultation with stakeholder panels — involving partners in the health and voluntary sectors, members of the council’s cabinet, leaders of political groups and team members of the corporate management team — took place earlier this month.
Preferred candidate chosen
The council’s appointments and employment committee then whittled the list down and chose a preferred candidate.
It will be down to the full council tomorrow (Wednesday), however, to accept the committee’s recommendation and appoint the chief executive.
Confidential paper
All councillors have been given a confidential paper disclosing who the potential new boss is, but it has not been made public due to the personal information it contains.
A public report accompanying the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting says legislation requires full council’s approval of the appointment before the offer letter goes out to the recommended candidate.
£138,038 a year
The successful candidate will also be the head of paid services and be on a salary of £138,038 a year — a pay rise of more than £2,000 compared to Mr Metcalfe’s annual salary.
While it is recommended full council accepts the candidate put forward by the appointment and employment committee, there is an option to reject the candidate and start a new recruitment campaign.
Article edit
12pm 22nd Nov 2022 – Difference in previous CEO’s salary corrected to £2,000 not £6,000 – more recent figures were available but not checked by reporter when filing the article to the LDRS Pool
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: Lucas Raggers under CC BY 2.0
