By Mark Smulian | 18 October 2011
Two adjacent London boroughs plan to share a chief executive, with formal agreement due this week.
The move by the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea is thought to be the first case of top-tier councils sharing a chief executive, although such arrangements are common among districts.
Derek Myers, chief executive of Kensington & Chelsea since 2000, will manage both councils following the retirement this month of Hammersmith & Fulham chief executive Geoff Alltimes.
The two west London councils have already entered a series of service and staff sharing arrangements known as ‘bi-borough’.
Some also involve Westminster City Council, under the ‘tri-borough’ partnership, but Westminster has decided to retain a separate chief executive for the foreseeable future.
A report to Hammersmith & Fulham’s Cabinet said the shared appointment would save it £120,000 a year and that Myers’ salary would be split evenly between his two employers.
He will manage the executive directors of finance and corporate governance in each borough, and the bi-borough executive directors of environment, leisure and residents’ services and of transportation and technical services.
Additionally he will manage the work in the two boroughs of the tri-borough executive directors of children’s and adult care services.
Originally a social worker, Myers was previously chief executive of the London Borough of Hounslow and is chair of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers.
