By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter
In a bid to save over £1.3 million, eight senior council posts, including the head of education, have been axed by Powys County Council.
A new senior management structure has been unveiled to staff but details have not been made public yet.
Acting chief executive, Mohammed Mehmet, has been working on a comprehensive review of the local authority’s leadership.
It is expected that the roles of deputy chief executive and director of education will either be amalgamated with other posts or axed altogether.
Staff working for PCC have been told of the changes this week which are now estimated to save £1.3 million.
The changes are supposed to be in place by St David’s Day next year and will be inherited by the incoming chief executive Dr Caroline Turner, who was appointed in November.
The new structure will see the existing senior management structure reduced from its current 24 posts over four management tiers to 16 posts.
There will now be the chief executive, three corporate directors and 12 heads of service operating over three tiers.
Speaking to staff, acting chief executive, Dr Mohammed Mehmet said: “The new structure, which will come into operation on March 1, 2019, would provide a new robust structure capable of meeting the challenges facing local government.
“The new operating structure will ensure the county council has an appropriate sized senior management structure that is capable of delivering priorities within Vision 2025 and leading service transformation at a time of considerable pressure on local government,” he said.
“We carried out a comprehensive review of the council’s senior structure which showed it was no longer fit-for-purpose and needed a radical overhaul to more closely align it to the council’s priorities, reduce the cost of management and remove silo working.
“I believe the new structure will provide the leadership and direction the council needs.”
