East Herts Council to take up to 18 months to replace chief executive who quit with two days’ notice

The leader of East Herts Council (EHC) has declined to provide more details about the shock sudden departure of the authority’s chief executive.

Richard Cassidy’s decision to quit was revealed at 5.06pm on Friday September 13, with his resignation effective two days later, from Sunday September 15. He had worked for the council for five years.

By contrast, his predecessor, Liz Watts, gave five months’ notice before stepping down.

Cllr Ben Crystall, leader of the council’s Green Party and Liberal Democrat coalition, has admitted Mr Cassidy’s replacement may have to give six months’ notice to their current employer before joining EHC.

At the first meeting of the full council since Mr Cassidy quit, the leader of the council’s Labour group, Bishop’s Stortford’s Cllr David Jacobs, challenged Cllr Crystall to provide a statement.

He asked about “the circumstances in which the chief executive left the council without serving any notice or handover period, including details of any severance package”.

In a written response, the leader said: “You may recall that a statement was already provided in September, outlining the fact that the then chief executive had made the decision to leave the council after five years at the helm, and I would invite you to revisit that statement should you wish to be reminded of any of its details.”

That three-paragraph statement issued on September 13 did not answer Cllr Jacob’s questions.

The Indie has previously asked the council to clarify when Mr Cassidy told the administration he was leaving and to confirm that he was not asked to leave.

Cllr Graham McAndrew (Con, Bishop’s Stortford Thorley Manor) asked Cllr Crystall if the council would consider sharing a new chief executive with another authority to save money.

He said: “This would provide cost efficiencies and still meet our strategic needs.”

He also asked the leader to review the senior management team to ensure optimal use of resources.

Mr Cassidy’s former deputy, Helen Standen, has been appointed interim chief executive for up to 18 months.

Cllr Crystall said: “With Helen in place, our immediate priority is to hire a new finance director to replace Steven Linnett, who is retiring in December.

“This is urgent given the budget cycle. We have approved the job specification, briefed an agency and they are now carrying out searches for the right candidates to move forward to interview.

“As far as investigating options for our next chief executive, we have also acted swiftly on this. We’ve had discussions with the LGA (Local Government Association) over shared roles and have begun discussions with leaders at shared authorities to understand the issues. Interestingly, there are only 16 such arrangements amongst about 180 councils across England.

“We must proceed carefully as this is a serious decision with long-term impact for the council and residents.

“I’m mindful of the experience of one of our neighbouring authorities, Harlow, which has seen five chief executives in two years. We need to make the right choice and that’s our priority.”

He said Ms Standen had already begun a review of EHC’s senior management structure in a bid to save £500,000.

When Cllr McAndrew asked about a likely timetable, Cllr Crystall said he hoped a new finance officer would be appointed by Christmas and the cabinet would have “a better idea about structural change early in the new year”.

He said appointment of a chief executive was a “much tougher proposition” and a replacement was likely to have a six-month notice period before they could join East Herts.

Cllr Crystall later gave an assurance that any appointment would result from a cross-party process.