New assistant directors to help take Arun council forward

THREE senior members of staff have been appointed as part of a major management shake-up of Arun District Council.

Phillipa Dart, Karl Roberts and Paul Warters will start their new roles as assistant directors on June 4.

Their appointment was backed by councillors at last Wednesday’s full meeting of the council.

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The trio are existing employees and will continue in their current representative specialities of parks and greenspaces, planning and finance.

The revamp of the management structure has been led by Arun’s chief executive, Nigel Lynn. He told councillors in a report: “My view, as the incoming chief exeuctive, is that the current structure lacks the focus needed to drive forward the council’s forthcoming vision, values and objectives.”

But the process was criticised by Labour councillor Tony Squires (Ham).

He said: “Only 18 months to three years ago, we got rid of directors. We were shedding them like they were going out of fashion.

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“We are re-inventing the wheel. It seems very strange to me. If we had a system set-up, why destroy it and then rebuild it? “Was this necessary? The jobs this council are doing are shrinking by the day. Why do we need these people employed now when we are outsourcing all this work?”

Council leader Gillian Brown (Aldwick East) said Cllr Squires’ comments were unnecessary.

“I am absolutely appalled by the remarks, particularly as we have the three successful candidates sitting here.

“We all agreed the process for the recruitment exercise, how it was going to work and how much it was going to cost. It was a process we had to go through with every head of service.”

The consultants used for the selection process cost £20,000, she said. This had been agreed by councillors.