Birmingham City Council appoints interim CEO

Birmingham City Council has announced its chief financial officer will take the helm as interim CEO as the authority continues the search for its fourth chief executive since 2017.

The council said Clive Heaphy will ‘act up’ as chief executive until a new permanent chief executive is appointed, subject to approval by full council on 10 September 10.

The recruitment process for the new permanent chief executive will begin in September and follows the announcement that Dawn Baxendale will be stepping down from her £210,000 role to take up a new position as chief executive of Christchurch City Council in New Zealand.

The council said: “Arrangements have today been agreed for the period following her departure.

“A precise departure date will be agreed once Dawn’s arrangements for her move to New Zealand have been finalised.”

Heaphy joined the council in January 2018. He was interim chief finance officer at Haringey Council and has previously held senior finance posts at HS2, Brent Council and Ofsted.

Since the controversial departure of Mark Rogers in early 2017 over budget disputes (after three years at the helm), the council has employed three more chief executives (although two not full-time) including Baxendale with a brief spell by Angela Probert as acting chief executive before Stella Manzie joined on an interim bases in April 2017.

Baxendale took over from Manzie who was heavily criticised for the city’s bin strikes, which went on for three-months from July to September 2017.

The refuse collection problem was to continue during Baxendale’s tenure with further strikes over pay in March this year.

Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority in Europe with a population of 1.2m according to Population UK.