Exeter's boss expected to give up half his role

An independent review by experts from other councils recommends CEO should drop his responsibilities as growth director to focus on urgent internal projects

Exeter City Council's chief executive should end his dual role, according to a new report that is to go in front of the city's executive this week.

In addition to CEO, Karime Hassan currently also holds the title of growth director- the job he held before becoming chief executive in 2012. Now a 'corporate peer challenge' in which leading executives from other areas conduct an in-depth study into how the council is performing, says that some major pieces of internal work need urgent attention - and that the council's chief executive needs to give them his whole focus. These projects, the authors say, have been delayed because of recent restructuring of the top team that has created several new directors, and saved £2.5 million pounds. They include working on a long term vision for the city up to 2040, transforming internal ways of working, a major project concentrating on a digital 'channel shift' in the way that residents deal with the council, and establishing a housing development company.

Whilst it has no legal obligation to carry out the recommendations, one wouldn't expect the council to keep a dog and bark itself. So the report's emphasis on Mr Hassan giving up his duties as growth director is likely to be given considerable weight when councillors and officers assess it. If its recommendations are implemented, the chief executive's job will then primarily be "to balance external drive and internal focus" according to the report.

Rather than a new growth director, the report instead recommends a new job of 'director of the built environment'.  However, as this would be a new role and there’s no new money, the logic would be that one of the top team could be expected to leave, possibly through redundancy. And although the report doesn’t say this, it’s thought that Mr Hassan will take personal control of the bus station redevelopment, which stalled last year when the company planning to build the shopping centre, Crown Estates, pulled out. In the face of considerable public criticism at the time, Mr Hassan handled the original Bedford Street redevelopment into what is now known as Princesshay. He is widely judged to have done so successfully.

It's understood that, should the executive team accept the report's recommendations - in full or in part - when it meets this week, some changes may be made quickly.

The report is broadly positive about Exeter's position as a leading city in the UK and the changes that have taken place over the past decade. But whilst it notes the £2.5 million saving from senior management cuts -  and that a hundred jobs have gone overall - it says further savings will be needed over the next two years.