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You are here: home > News >  Press releases >  Archive >  2008 >  August 2008

Release date: Aug 29, 200

Recommendation for David Buckle as joint chief executive...

On Monday evening South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils will be asked to appoint David Buckle as the chief executive to run both councils, following a recommendation made today by a panel of South and Vale councillors.

If the recommendation is agreed the new Chief Executive will officially take up the post on 17 September.

David Buckle said:

“I’m obviously delighted with the panel’s recommendation but it’s still not concluded yet as both councils need to endorse their decision on Monday night.  Assuming they do I’m looking forward to getting started with the job and meeting the staff and councillors I’ve not yet had the pleasure of working with.

“Both Terry and myself have worked hard to get to this point so Terry will naturally be disappointed with the news, but we both knew that one of us would end up in this position.  I know Terry will relish the opportunity to think about his next challenge and I wish him luck in whatever he decides to do”

Terry Stock said:

“Clearly I’m disappointed with this outcome but I’m in no doubt that a joint management team is the right way forward.  Having worked with David closely over the years I know he will lead both councils successfully into the future and I wish him the best of luck for the future.”
   
Cllr Ann Ducker, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, says:

“The panel put both chief executives through a gruelling and exhausting selection process. We involved stakeholders and external recruitment consultants to help us select the right person to lead both councils through the challenging and exciting times that lie ahead of them.  

“Our decision was by no means an easy one, but we knew from the outset it wouldn’t be, as both chief executives have done a great job leading their respective councils to success.  However after much deliberation the panel felt that David was the best candidate for the job.”

Cllr Tony de Vere, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, added:

“David and Terry made the panel’s job very difficult as they both demonstrated how enthusiastic and committed they were to delivering further successes for both councils and showed real vision for how they would achieve this.  But we had to make a decision and on the day David proved he was the right person to do this.”

“We’re obviously sad to say goodbye to a good member of staff but joining management teams is the right decision for both councils and taxpayers as we can focus on delivering frontline services with minimum managerial support.” 

The appointment will be the first step in creating a single shared management team for both councils, which could save around £750,000 a year by seeing the current 21 senior jobs across both councils reduced to 12. 

The first job for the new CE after meeting his new staff and councillors will be to propose a management structure for the next two tiers of senior officers.  Like the CE appointment these will be ring fenced to the existing staff.

Both councils will remain independent of each other and retain their separate identities.  This is particularly relevant because South Oxfordshire is Conservative controlled and the Liberal Democrats run the Vale of White Horse.

The two councils have a good track record of joint working as a shared finance service has been in place for some time.  We hope to extend this further with the introduction of a joint waste collection and street cleansing service from next year.