The role of Joint Chief Executive
The Chief Executive of the Council is Mr Derek Myers who was
appointed in October 2000. He is also Chief Executive of the London
Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, with the cost of this post
being shared between both councils since November 2011.
Senior staff, led by the Chief Executive, offer policy
options and commentary as necessary on possible action to elected
Councillors who take the key decisions. The staff run the Council
on a day to day basis.
The Council
The Council is a large organisation with a total turnover in the
order of £570 million. It is responsible for providing or
commissioning over 600 separate services, and the capital programme
is just over £170 million.
The Council is recognised as one of the best in the country.
Only three councils from England’s 150 principal local authorities
received top grades from the Audit Commission each year under the
regime which ended in 2010. The Council has an annual appraisal by
Standard and Poors of its credit rating and management arrangements
and is ranked AAA.
Mr Myers
Mr Myers is a career local government officer, beginning as a
social worker in Essex in 1977. He was promoted to various
managerial positions in Essex and then the London Borough of
Hillingdon in west London. He was appointed as Director of Social
Services in the London Borough of Hounslow in 1992 and was then
promoted to be Chief Executive of Hounslow in 1997.
Remuneration
The Chief Executive is paid on a scale that starts at £155,040
and ends at £209,712. Mr Myers is now at the top of this scale. All
managerial staff are subject to annual appraisal, and progression
on the scale only happens if there is evidence of satisfactory
progress. This salary was frozen in April 2009 and has not
increased since then.
The Council also operates a ‘withheld pay’ scheme whereby an
additional element is only determined at the end of the year when
an assessment is made of whether tasks set have been achieved. This
pay element, if awarded, will be 3, 5 or exceptionally 10 per cent
of basic pay.
Mr Myers is not now a participant in the local government
pension scheme and therefore no element of employer’s contribution
is attributable to his salary.
Fringe benefits
No staff benefits are offered. The postholder is able to reclaim
a restricted range of legitimate and evidenced business expenses,
including travel.
Working arrangements
The Chief Executive is expected to work such hours as are
necessary to ensure the job gets done. This routinely involves at
least two evenings a week on top of the standard Monday to Friday
business week. Occasional weekend working is required. The
postholder is ‘on call’ at all other times, particularly to cover
emergency planning requirements. No extra payments are made for
such extended hours.
The Chief Executive postholder is entitled to 33 days paid leave
each year.
Political neutrality
By law, senior Council staff are not allowed to participate in
any party political activity and are expected to advise and assist
all Councillors irrespective of their political affiliation.
Postholders are selected on merit, against objective criteria,
following public advertisement.
Public profile
Mr Myers has been given permission to participate in his
professional body by the Leader of the Council and in this capacity
may represent the views of his peers in social policy debates. The
Chief Executive attends a variety of meetings to explain the policy
of the Council.
The Council’s work ranges broadly across the life of the Royal
Borough and matters referred personally to the Chief Executive by
residents may be delegated to specialist staff to deal with.
Complaints?
Any complaint about the work of the Chief Executive should be
made in writing or by email to the Council’s Monitoring Officer,
which is a post defined in law as safeguarding standards. The
address is:
Chief Solicitor
Town Hall
Hornton Street
London
W8 7NX