A top director has left her £128k-a-year job at Perth and Kinross Council six months after starting the pivotal role in the local authority’s restructure.
Alison Williams began as director of economy, place and learning in February as part of a complete overhaul of senior positions which saw the executive team reduced from six members to four including the chief executive.
But in August, councillors were briefed that Ms Williams had left the freshly created £127,786 position to “explore new opportunities”.
Chief executive Thomas Glen then informed elected members in September that he was scrapping the new role completely.
Mr Glen said he would be moving forward with an executive team of three, including himself – promoting Claire Mailer from director of strategy, people and resources to depute chief executive.
The chief executive said there would be no increase to his own £145,789-a-year wage or Ms Mailer’s as a result of the changes.
A restructure under threat?
Last year, council voted to overhaul their entire leadership team to save £1.6m by axing four top jobs.
The restructure was still being fully implemented in March as the remaining senior figures stepped down.
But six months later, it appeared in danger of collapsing with Ms Williams leaving her position under mysterious circumstances.
The unexpected departure followed an announcement in July that David Littlejohn, strategic lead for economy, development and planning, was also stepping down from the local authority in September.
Mr Littlejohn reported directly to Ms Williams and his exit was not part of the planned restructure.
However, this month the chief executive briefed councillors that Mr Littlejohn would now be staying on until early next year.
His £105,497-a-year role has been advertised with a possible relocation fee of £8k.
Leadership structure ‘under constant review’
The abrupt end to Ms Williams tenure came after a five-month wait to fill the position.
The director post was advertised in August 2023 with interviews held in September.
The director was appointed on November 2 with an agreed start date of February 5 this year.
The council would not say how much of the £8k relocation fee Ms Williams availed of but admitted she was offered the benefit.
Less than a year after the high-salary position was created, it was quietly removed by the chief executive.
Mr Glen told The Courier: “Our leadership structure is kept under constant review and, in keeping with our commitment to effective workforce management and responsible decision-making, we review all vacancies to determine if filling them is essential for fulfilling our statutory duties and achieving our corporate priorities.
“Removing this post and incorporating reporting across our executive team removes costs, which allows us to protect frontline posts at a time when local authority budgets are under increasing pressure.”
Conversation