Plymouth City Council hires former Exeter CEO to fill £1,000-a-day role

-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


The South West’s highest paid council officer has been hired by Plymouth City Council and could earn as much as £1,000 a day. Karime Hassan was paid £369,680 a year before he stepped down as chief executive of Exeter City Council last year.

Mr Hassan, who once said he was “not your typical town planner”, has been recruited as interim strategic director for growth in Plymouth. His job title replaces that of strategic director for place, a role held by Anthony Payne until he left the authority last month.

Mr Payne, who left to take a job outside local government after nearly 15 years’ service with Plymouth City Council, was in salary band 2, receiving between £136,920 and £163,904 a year. Only chief executive Tracey Lee, in salary band 1, took home more pay, being paid between £163,905 and £185,493.

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Mr Hassan’s pay package has not been revealed, but council documents said the role would also be in band 2. However, interim appointments are highly remunerated as, the council report said, “this type of post is very much in-demand and there is a shortage of high-quality candidates”.

It said the market rate for such roles fall within a range of £1,000 - £1,300 per day, however, it is understood that this is indicative and does not necessarily mean the job is paid for on a daily rate. Council documents said a permanent appointment will be made but until then the interim is engaged initially for six months, but with the option to extend to nine months “pending the permanent appointment to the role as a priority”.

Mr Hassan, aged 62, was ranked among the top 20 highest paid council employees in the UK when he was at Exeter City Council. He was paid an annual salary of more than £123,000 but in the 2022/23 financial year, his last at the authority, he trousered £369,680, a package composed of his annual pay, compensation for loss of office of £60,877 and employer's pension contributions of £185,125.

This made him the highest paid council employee in the South West and the 11th highest in the UK that year, according to data from the TaxPayers' Alliance.

Mr Hassan left his job as chief executive and growth director at Exeter City Council in March 2023 and was replaced by his deputy Bindu Arjoon.

When Mr Hassan’s departure was announced in December 2022, Exeter City Council said he had overseen “a golden decade” which had seen Exeter “become an economic powerhouse and an internationally recognised city of culture”. He was credited for advancing the city’s sustainability goals with the low carbon task force and Exeter City Futures Community Interest Company.

He also oversaw the council’s “pioneering” Passivhaus building programme and celebrated Exeter being a host city for the Rugby World Cup. Mr Hassan had been with the authority for 23 years and also holds a number of other appointments including the University of Exeter where he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2019.

He has a BA degree in town and country planning from Trent Polytechnic and a masters degree in industry and public planning policy from Loughborough University. In an interview about his “retirement” with Local Government Chronicle last year, he said he was “not your typical town planner” and said leading a council had been “all consuming”.

Mr Hassan was awarded an OBE for services to local government in the Queen’s New Year Honours in 2022.

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