Pendle Council is set to have two new joint chiefs – a pair of existing directors have been appointed in the top management positions.
Dean Langton, currently head of central and regeneration services, will become strategic director, which includes head of paid service. He has worked at Pendle Council for eight years and has been responsible for the council’s financial and performance management, and more recently regeneration projects.
Working in partnership with the leader of the council, Dean will take on the role of ambassador for Pendle. They will work with Government agencies and partners to raise Pendle’s profile to make sure that the opportunities for jobs and economic growth are maximised.
Dean will also be accountable for the strategic and corporate leadership of the council.
And Philip Mousdale will become corporate director. As well as taking on the roles of monitoring officer and returning officer he will have responsibility for the overall management of the council.
Philip has worked there for 29 years, where he has held a number of positions. He started as a solicitor, rising to director (services) and more recently deputy chief executive.
The appointments were made by the council’s Restructuring Committee and their new roles will come into effect on April 1st next year.
Coun. Joe Cooney, leader of Pendle Council, was on the interview panel. He said: “We’re delighted to appoint two very experienced senior people into our new top roles. We’re confident that when Stephen Barnes, our chief executive, leaves in March next year, Dean and Philip will lead from the front.
“Both directors will play a key role in taking Pendle forward and will support the Restructuring Committee to finalise the council’s new structure which will come into effect on April 1st.”
Mr Barnes, who has worked at the council from its very beginning 40 years ago, is being made redundant and will leave his position on March 31st.
Taking the decision to delete the post of chief executive will help the council to reach the £4 million in savings it needs to make over the next two years.
The Restructuring Committee chairman and Liberal Democrat leader, Coun. Tony Greaves, added: “We are looking at the whole structure of the council and felt it was only right to start with the top jobs. The policy of the council now is to give priority to maintain frontline services and to streamline and reduce management and administrative costs.
“We’re confident that Dean and Philip will work closely with leading councillors and give our organisation the strong leadership that it needs.”
Labour leader Coun. Mohammed Iqbal said: “As we need to make substantial savings over the coming years, it was only right that we looked at making savings from the top in order to protect frontline services.”
Coun. Cooney added: “We’ll be very sorry to lose Stephen but by taking this approach we can minimise the impact on frontline services. I’m wholly confident that our new management structure will give us the stability and leadership our council needs going forward.”
The next meeting of the Restructuring Committee will take place today, considering feedback from staff and starting to discuss options for restructuring the council’s service units.