Oldham chief exec to step in to guide Tameside
Harry Catherall will spend four days a week as interim chief executive at Tameside Council, with Shelley Kipling stepping up as acting chief executive at Oldham in the meantime.
Catherall’s appointment as interim is contingent on the approval of both councils, of course. Oldham Council will be weighing in on the matter tomorrow and Tameside soon after.
Tameside’s need for a chief executive follows a week of high-profile resignations at the local authority earlier this month. A scathing report of Tameside’s children’s services department sparked the departures of Leader Cllr Gerald Cooney, deputy leader Cllr Bill Fairfoull, chief executive Sandra Stewart, and four senior council members.
Oldham Council has been on an improvement journey of its own, bolstering its children’s services core to a Good rating from Ofsted.
That was one of the reasons the local authority was chosen to help Tameside, with a Greater Manchester Combined Authority spokesperson stating: “Oldham is well-placed to provide this help given the rapid improvements they have made to their own children’s services.”
Catherall has more than 40 years of experience in local government. He has been the chief executive of Oldham Council since 2021, having come out of retirement to do so. He had initially been set to retire from the post at the end of 2023, before choosing to stay on until 2026 to give the local authority more time to find a suitable successor.
Under the proposed agreement between Oldham and Tameside, he would work four days at Tameside, and one day at Oldham. Kipling, who is assistant chief executive, would hold down the Oldham fort in the meantime, with Catherall continuing to be head of paid service at the local authority.
As part of the agreement, Tameside Council would cover the full four-day salary costs for Catherall, which are approximately £168,000.
The secondment deal between the two local authorities would be reviewed in six months.
Oldham Council Leader Cllr Arooj Shah praised Kipling’s appointment to acting chief executive.
“I’m really pleased that we are planning to appoint Shelley Kipling to this crucial role,” she said.
“Her experience, energy, and love for Oldham shone through the interview process. I have no doubt she will make a huge difference to Oldham and will be a fantastic support to Harry should these proposals move forward.”
Whilst Children’s Services in Oldham may have improved recently, they are a long way short of what they used to be, as are Adult Services and all Oldham social services, and the number of and standard of some of their social workers leaves a lot to be desired. Meanwhile with the council’s perilous financial position, it appears that everyone in every council department is considering whether it would be sensible to take the opportunity available of voluntary redundancy now rather than it be imposed on them in the near future. Mr Catherall’s involvement in Tameside might benefit them, and it will also enable him to say he was on leave from the full time crew as the Oldham ship slipped further under the water, and no doubt any 6 month agreement will be extended, possibly a number of times. With the Eton College involvement in Oldham now being “Paused” for an obviously sensible re-consideration (i.e. scrubbed), and now this news, it has not been a good week for Oldham. As things deteriorate, the language of the council ,leader becomes ever more exuberant, you can sense what is building up.
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