Burnley’s Smith set to replace Boylan at Stockport

Stockport Council’s appointments committee will recommend to the council’s next meeting on 16 May that Pam Smith, currently chief executive at Burnley Council, be appointed as its new chief executive.

Smith has previously been chief operating officer at AdviserPlus and an executive director at Rochdale Council, where her predecessor as Burnley chief executive Steve Rumbelow is now in place as chief executive.

She has also previously held roles at the Audit Commission and at Oldham Council.

Cllr Alex Ganotis, leader of the council, said: “This is a critical decision for the council. After a thorough and challenging selection process Pam demonstrated herself to be an outstanding candidate. She will join an already strong corporate leadership team at Stockport and brings a wealth of experience with her, which will benefit the borough in line with the priorities we as a Council have set ourselves.”

Smith said: “I am looking forward to working with everyone in Stockport and building on the fantastic work which is already taking place in the borough. My focus will be to ensure Stockport continues to be successful, sustainable and has the public services it needs to thrive in financially challenging times.”

The role was vacated when Eamonn Boylan won the race to be the first chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.