IN response to Chris Gallacher’s letter about council officials here are some facts, as opposed to speculation and innuendos, relating to the appointment of a chief executive to a very large local authority a few years ago.

The shortlisted candidates for this post were given a bank of psychometric tests over a period of two days, gave presentations to elected members of the council and chief officers and then were interviewed by both elected members and senior chief officers of the local authority. These candidates had been shortlisted by a consultancy working in conjunction with the local authority and elected members.

In respect of the assertion that chief officers and other officers working for local government are not worth their salaries, I think it would be timely for authorities such as Durham County Council and Sunderland to arrange for people like Chris Gallacher to shadow officers at work for a couple of days or so. In addition, anyone who is concerned about the management of local authorities should take advantage of the fact that the public is admitted to council meetings.

It may or may not be the case that we have been overpaying council executives, but let’s have the debate based on facts rather than assertions such as “they have advanced themselves by political patronage”.

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