THE new head of the region’s largest council has made keeping close to its people his top priority.

New Durham County Council chief executive George Garlick takes over only months before a unitary council is due to replace County Durham’s county and district authorities.

Critics of the shake-up, the biggest in North-East local government in a generation, claim the new council will be too remote.

But Mr Garlick told The Northern Echo: “A council this size can’t see itself as a monolith. The council has got to go to the people.

“The council will only get it (the move to unitary status) right by really talking to people and giving assurances it reflects what their aspirations are.

“It’s probably our biggest single challenge and one which, if we meet, will be the biggest factor in the success of the council.

“The principle success factor for the council, and therefore its officers, is public satisfaction.”

The new authority, which will also be called Durham County Council, will serve half a million people, employ 22,000 staff and spend £1bn a year.

Mr Garlick said he was “utterly convinced” of the benefits of unitary councils and aimed to make the new authority the best in the country, describing the planned reform as a “tremendous opportunity”.

“There’s a tremendous opportunity just from the nature of Durham – its industrial areas with a fantastic skills base, Durham City and the World Heritage Site, through to the rural areas. It’s got the lot in many ways.”

The 52-year-old former chief executive of Stockton Borough Council said he had the experience to do the job, having worked in local government for 25 years.

But he said: “The only thing nobody’s done is taken a unitary authority on this geographic scale and made it effectively in touch with local people.

“That’s the really exciting challenge and I think what everybody’s really interested in.”

He reaffirmed the county council’s commitment to make £21m-worth of savings over the next two years, saying: “I see no reason why the overall level of saving could not be achieved.

“I’m broadly comfortable that the effect will be we can make these savings.”

Mr Garlick said a council objective was to “equalise council tax” but he was unable to say what next year’s tax levels might be, as the budget has not yet been set.

He said his five-year vision for County Durham was for it to be “considerably more prosperous”, be one of the highest scoring councils on performance measures and be “close to people”.

“The county hasn’t done well relative to the rest of the North-East and the rest of the country over the past ten years or so.

“We really need to turn that round over the next five years.

Prosperity lies at the heart of tackling all sorts of social evils.”

Mr Garlick succeeds John Richardson, who had been acting chief executive since Mark Lloyd left for Cambridgeshire County Council in March.

He is married to Pinki, has a five-year-old son, Atticus, and lives in Norton, near Stockton.