Council looks to fill chief exec role immediately

Heather Kidd said the council was looking to fill the post immediately

The leader of Shropshire Council has said the departure of the authority's chief executive is a chance to "look at things differently".

It was announced on Friday that Andy Begley would be stepping down, having been in the role since 2020.

Heather Kidd said the council was looking to fill the post immediately, but in the interim had appointed Tanya Miles, executive director of people, into the position.

"Now we have to find a way forward for the future and we need to do that urgently, because we can't hang around now... we've got a financial crisis on our hands," Kidd told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"He's taken us through some really difficult times, because Covid hit and we had all of that and none of that has been easy - he took us through all of that," she said.

"We've had continual problems with the budget, and none of that's easy to deal with, losing staff is not easy to deal with, so he's overseen all of that."

Andy Begley held the post of chief executive for more than five years

Kidd added that she would lay "most of the budget stuff" at the door of the last administration.

"It's often difficult for senior officers when you have an administration who are not driving you in the direction you need to go," she said.

The council is currently in a perilous financial position and last week Kidd said it may need to borrow £100m to balance the books and avoid the threat of effective bankruptcy.

"I think we welcome the chance to look at things differently, we welcome that chance to move on, but it is a big change and it's unsettling for staff," Kidd said, " we just have to grab it with both hands and make the most of it."

'We need someone innovative'

Looking ahead, she told the BBC what the authority would be looking for in his replacement.

"What we need is to look at someone who can fill Andy's shoes, who is innovative, who is willing to work with an administration who are energetic and wanting to do things differently," she said.

"Most of all, we need to find someone who values our residents and who values our staff, as they've been valued in the past, and make everyone feel happy."

Mr Begley's official departure date is in about three months, and he will not be in any further council meetings.