South Lanarkshire Council to recruit new housing director

Jan 21 2010

SOUTH Lanarkshire Council have begun the task of recruiting another housing director.

Current incumbent Jim Hayton is approaching the end of a five-year contract and has decided to leave the authority.

According to adverts placed in the national press, his replacement will be employed on a fixed five-year contract and earn an annual salary of between £117,176 and £120,516.

Mr Hayton, who is married with two teenage sons, was the council housing department’s head of strategy and development from 2001 to 2005 before being promoted to the post of director in April, 2005.

Prior to local government re-organisation in 1996, he was depute director of housing at East Kilbride District Council. The early years of his career were spent in the community-based housing movement.

His time as a senior housing department official has coincided with the introduction of HomeHappening, the £1bn project to upgrade 26,000 council houses.

His successor will be chosen by a recruitment panel chaired by Council Leader Eddie McAvoy. Interviews will be conducted on February 22.

The successful applicant, who is likely to take up the post at the end of March, will head a department of 2000 staff.

Auditors, who last year criticised the council over recruitment procedures, are likely to scrutinise the process for identifying Mr Hayton’s replacement.

The audit team from financial watchdogs the Accounts Commission examined the council’s recruitment in 2008.

They were concerned at the number of senior posts filled by internal applicants.

Council bosses said they had well-developed internal training schemes and finely-tuned ‘succession planning’. but took careful note of the auditors’ views.

Adverts have also appeared for a new head of roads and transportation at a salary of between £59,327 and £83,015.

Current head of roads Jim Cannon is taking early retirement from the council.

The council are also seeking 140 redundancies among middle managers as part of moves to cut their budget by more than £100m over the next four years.