Now you can be told - council boss poised to clinch 18 month contract extension



Agenda item first on thing Friday (left) - then a few hours later

Only hours after our report on Friday’s blog that tonight’s full council agenda item on the future of the chief executive role was to be discussed in secret, we were delighted to see the lifting of the ban on members of the public and press attending that part of the meeting.
Whilst we are not claiming any credit for this, it does prove a point – which is that sometimes, agenda items are published on pink papers – which makes them secret - when they do not apparently need to be.
Mr Harbord became interim Chief Executive in August 2009, and according to the report, has overseen an overall improvement in performance at the council.
Most of the time, his contract has been extended by short increments – usually six months or so – and his current contract expires at the end of November.
But if tonight’s recommendation goes through, he will get a contract for a “further, final period” to 31st May 2013 – a staggering 18 month extension.
The report says there are several significant challenges and key projects underway that require continued strong management to protect the council’s position and ensure the right decisions for the council and the borough are made - and that Mr Harbord’s experience is “invaluable at this point to successfully deliver these projects.”
We know that Mr Harbord faced a tough challenge when he arrived in Boston, and he is said to have risen to it and come up with answers.
But a contract extension as long as this – coupled with the report’s comments - suggests that there is more of the same on the way – which rather worries us.
Mr Harbord will be employed as an officer of the council for a “nominal sum” and his main terms of engagement will be through a contract for services.
This arrangement was highlighted in Boston Eye earlier this year, and you can read that report by clicking here
At the time, services charged by his company totalled £32,259 for the period September to November last year – calculated at £600 a day for just 47 days' work in a 91 day period - plus expenses.
At the equivalent of a five day week this would come to £156,000 a year – which would place Mr Harbord in that privileged band of local authority chief executives paid more than £150,000 last year - trumping the Prime Minister's salary of £142,500.
However, Mr Harbord's pay could be going down, as the report notes that if the council agrees to the recommendation the cost will be within the approved budget “due to a lower fee being negotiated.”
How much lower, we wonder?
We suspect that it will not be a lot.
After two years with a caretaker at the helm, we would have thought that by now Boston would be looking for a new full time Chief Executive – unless as we said earlier, there were major problems in the air that would rule such a thing out.
But the report takes that into account as well – saying that the contract extension will “allow sufficient time to ensure the best long term Chief Executive arrangement for Boston Borough Council.”
Given the council’s fondness for internal appointments, we are uncertain whether this is good news or bad news for current management team members who may have aspirations.
After more than three years of playing second fiddle to Mr Harbord, any of the potential top tier candidates will have a tricky situation on their hands.
They will either have to persuade a selection board that they will continue with the much applauded mixture as before, or that they would provide a different style of leadership.  Whichever one they choose may not be what the council wants as its next future step – and second guessing them would be the trick.
Time then for an external candidate, perhaps?
But that’s all well in the future.
Although the report recognises that there are options not to extend the current contract, and to consider alternative options for the post of Chief Executive, the Tory majority and BBI style of voting makes it a racing certainty.
And in a somewhat chilling aside, which may be designed to give any waverers pause for thought, the report adds: “As the Chief Executive has been employed continuously since August 2009, albeit on a series of short term contracts, there is a risk that he will have acquired statutory rights. This broadly means that if the Chief Executive were to be dismissed, the council would have to have a fair and legally recognised reason for dismissal (e.g. conduct, capability, etc.) and would have to follow a fair procedure. If an employee does not have unfair dismissal rights then these steps are not necessary, although with an organisation the size of the council, these steps should not be omitted even where they legally can be.”
What we don’t understand is how the situation will have changed in another 18 months if – as this warning seems to be suggesting – non-renewal of a contract apparently counts as dismissal.

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