BREAKING NEWS: Chief executive of West Sussex County Council to step down

Council leader, Louise Goldsmith, said: “Kieran has given twenty-two years of diligent and loyal service to the County Council, three of those as Chief executive. We are very grateful to him for his tireless commitment to both the council and to West Sussex.”

The county council’s governance committee will be asked on January 20 2014 to agree the temporary appointment of a chief operating officer from within the council’s current senior management structure and the appointment of an interim Transformation Director.

The interim Transformation Director will lead the next phase of the transformation work started by Kieran and his colleagues and consider what changes are needed within the county council to meet the new challenges and opportunities facing it.

These plans mean that the functions of chief executive will be shared between the two posts and so the meeting of the Full Council on 14 February 2014 will be asked to confirm the removal of the post of chief executive.

The leader of the council has written a letter to all county council employees explaining the reasons for the proposed change.