A-Z of Services

About the Chief Executive

The Chief Executive post is a full time role with no fixed office hours, as the nature of the post requires total flexibility and working unsociable hours to meet the demands of the Authority and the people of Wrexham. This frequently includes evening meetings, weekend work and civic engagements.

Roles and Responsibilities

As Lead Officer and Head of Paid Service the Chief Executive works closely with the Management team and all elected members to deliver the following:

Leadership: ensuring strong and visible leadership and direction, encouraging and enabling managers to motivate and inspire their teams
Strategic Direction: ensuring all staff understand and adhere to the strategic aims of the organisation and follow the direction set by the Elected Members
Policy Advice:acting as the principal policy adviser to the elected members of the Council to lead the development of workable strategies which will deliver the political objectives set by the Elected Members
Partnerships: leading and developing strong partnerships across the local community to achieve improved outcomes and better public services for local people
Operational Management: overseeing financial and performance management, risk management, people management and change management within the Council.

The Chief Executive’s role includes the following key responsibilities:

Promote local democracy
Attract business and jobs
Ensure sound financial management to achieve value for money
Deliver vital services to vulnerable people
Run everything from schools and social work to restaurant inspectors and rat catchers
Be responsible for cleaner, greener environments
Promote cohesive communities
Take a long-term view of the development of an area
Advise local and national politicians
Advance the social, cultural, economic and financial interests of the local area
Run regional programmes on collaboration
Influence national policy for local government

The Council

Wrexham County Borough Council is the largest employer in Wrexham and provides or commissions over 700 separate services. The total turnover is in excess of £345m and the capital programme is around £49.8m.

The Council has received Excellence Wales awards for the Team around the Child project, and Day and Employment Services. The Authority was also shortlisted for a further Excellence Wales award in 2010 for their Waste Recycling facilities. Wrexham consistently performs well against their priorities and in 2010 topped an unofficial league table, in the Western Mail, of Local Authorities Performance in Wales. Principal regulators of the Authority are Estyn (Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales), the Care and Social Services Inspectorate for Wales (CSSIW) and the Wales Audit Office (WAO). Their reports on the Authority are available on their websites.

Remuneration

The Chief Executive Post has a salary range of £105,000 to £117,500 per annum. The post holder is entitled to 35 days annual leave each year.

The Chief Executive is also the Returning Officer for Wrexham and Clwyd South. The Returning Officer is the person who has the overall responsibility for the conduct of elections. The Returning Officer is an officer of the Council who is appointed under the Representation of the People Act. Although appointed by the council, the role of the Returning Officer is distinct and separate from their duties as an employee of the council. The fees payable in this role are variable and mainly prescribed by Central Government.

Pension

The Chief Executive, as with most other Local Government employees, is entitled to be a member of The Local Government Pension Scheme. This is a nationwide pension scheme for people working in local government or working for other employers participating in the Scheme.

Expenses

The reimbursement of expenses incurred by the Chief Executive, as with all other employees of the Council, is made in accordance with strict corporate guidelines and only on the production of the relevant receipts.