The chief executive of Fife Council has announced he is to step down from his £150,000-a-year post.
Ronnie Hinds this week confirmed his intention to retire next year.
He said: ”In June 2013, I shall have been in post for seven years. Having led the organisation through the delivery of an ambitious council plan and overseen the preparation of a new plan that will underpin the policy priorities of the new council, I believe that this would be the right time to hand over to a new chief executive.
“On a personal level, I feel it is time to move on and pursue other interests.I wish to record my gratitude to the council for affording me the privilege of fulfilling this role.”
Mr Hinds made a formal request to retire, which will be brought before councillors on the executive committee for approval on January 15.Once approval is given, the process of finding a successor will get under way.
Fife Council leader Alex Rowley said: ”I want to thank Ronnie for the significant contribution he has made to local government in Fife. He has also driven an agenda for performance management and service improvement across Scotland, which will help us continue to improve service and budget planning in the years ahead.
”I support Ronnie in his wish to move on to new challenges and we will put in place a new chief executive officer to see us through the next period, which will be very difficult in financial terms and challenging in redesigning all public services.”
Former council leader Peter Grant added: ”Ronnie has provided outstanding leadership to the council’s workforce during the most difficult financial times we’ve seen. I greatly valued his advice during my five years as council leader. I’ll be sorry to see him leave, but I understand and respect his reasons for deciding this is the right time to move on. I’m sure we’ll all want to wish him every success in whatever plans he has for the future.”
Mr Hinds was previously head of financial services at City of Edinburgh Council before taking on the Fife role in 2006. He earns £149,946.
Other than his pension, he is not entitled to any other financial settlements from the council.