New boss of Woking council vows to 'give residents what they deserve'

Bankrupt Woking Borough Council’s interim managing director has officially taken over as chief executive following the departure of former boss Julie Fisher.

Last year, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities appointed Richard Carr as a stop gap “until such time as a permanent appointment can be made”. The new boss has said while there will be "no shortage of challenges" when leading the bankrupt council he is determined to turn things as residents "deserve nothing less".

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that Mr Carr has been appointed CEO for an initial year, with an option to extend.

When he first moved to the council, to add seniority to a team seeking to balance its books while under billions of debt, Mr Carr was “entitled to a fee” of £1,100 for each day he was there, plus expenses - up to 260 days for each year - up to 2025. The council has to pick up the tab, which if seen through to its fullest would cost the local authority £286,000 a year.

Details of any new terms are not yet publicly available but any extensions are only permissible by the secretary of state.

If the terms are the same, it is more than any other council CEO’s salary, not including pension contributions. Other CEOs, once pension packets are included, would receive a higher total package

A council statement confirming the new role said that Mr Carr has a “wealth” of local government experience including CEO of Central Bedfordshire Council between 2009 and 2020.

He was also senior responsible officer for the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care System between 2017 and 2020.

Mr Carr said: “I am excited to bring my knowledge and experience of working across the public sector to this role at a crucial time for Woking Borough Council.

“My primary focus is to enable the borough council to get back to discharging its statutory responsibilities in a way that is sustainable and focused on the needs of residents and communities in Woking. To achieve this, a huge amount of work lies ahead of us and there will be no shortage of challenges.

“There can be no illusions about the scale of the challenges facing the council, which is why it finds itself under Government intervention. However, with the support of committed staff, elected members and my fellow commissioners, together with partners and communities, I am determined that we will continue Woking’s recovery. Local people deserve nothing less.”

Details of Mr Carr’s remuneration and expenses were outlined in the December 2023 letter from the commissioners on their decision to make him managing director of Woking.

In 2020, Mr Carr supported the Department of Health and Social Care’s pandemic response. His region delivered the fastest vaccination programme rollout in the country.

He then undertook interim management and coaching assignments, including City of Edinburgh Council and Colchester City Council where he has led the authority’s group of wholly owned trading companies as managing director.

Woking Borough Council’s management of their own companies was a significant contributing factor to its debt problems.

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