Surrey's chief executive to oversee improvement at 'failing' Liverpool council
Joanna Killian will remain in post at Surrey whilst intervening in Liverpool until June 2024
Surrey County Council’s chief executive is to oversee local government improvement at the "failing" Liverpool City Council for three years.
Joanna Killian will remain in post at Surrey while joining three other government-appointed commissioners tasked with intervening in Liverpool until June 2024.
Her acceptance of the role was approved by Surrey on Monday (July 19), after she was headhunted by local government secretary Robert Jenrick.
Surrey council leader Tim Oliver said the role was a “great credit to the work she has done”.
Surrey County Council will bill Liverpool City Council for her time, at £700 per day, and could get back up to £105,000 of her £235,000 salary.
Ms Killian will have the power to intervene if she is not satisfied with improvement at the Labour authority, where a local government inspector reported serious failings earlier this year.
When Ms Killian started managing Surrey council in March 2018, it was in a precarious financial position.
“It could have been at one point in time that we were having a commissioner,” said Cllr Oliver.
“Joanna has an exemplary track record for problem solving, she is an outstanding CEO.”
Ms Killian, who has previously headed up Essex council and worked for KPMG, will spend up to 150 days working with Liverpool in the first year and it is expected she will spend one day a week there.
SCC has 18 months of its transformation programme to go, which aims to ensure longer term financial sustainability, but Cllr Oliver said she would continue to “drive this forward at pace”.
“Joanna is a complete workaholic so she will not be taking her finger off the pulse,” he said. “We’ll get a good insight into how other councils are run.”
In her absence, executive director of resources Leigh Whitehouse will deal with workforce issues and interim deputy chief executive Michael Coughlin will handle external relations with police, the health service and so on.