11 July 2003
The Local Government Association's hunt for a successor to Neil Kinghan has been thrown into disarray after top Treasury mandarin Adam Sharples turned down the job, Public Finance has learned.
According to a senior local government source, the LGA had offered Sharples the post of director of economic and environmental policy within the past fortnight. It fell vacant in April when Kinghan left to be director general of local and regional government at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
But PF has learned that Sharples, who is the Treasury's director of public spending and the civil servant in charge of the Spending Review process, will instead be joining the Inland Revenue.
A spokesman for the Revenue confirmed this, although he was unable to give details of the post.
PF also understands that the LGA, rather than offer the post to one of the other candidates on the original short list, has decided to readvertise the position.
The source told PF: 'Frankly, people were amazed that Sharples had applied for the job in the first place. The LGA thought they had made a great appointment and are not too happy now that the job has been turned down.'
Sharples was selected from a short list comprising candidates from local and central government.
Other contenders for the post included Stephen Hughes, director of corporate finance at Brent council; Chris Bilsland, corporate director of finance at Somerset; and Lindsay Bell, strategy director for the ODPM's neighbourhood renewal unit.
PFjul2003
