TOP civil service chief Sir Bob Kerslake acted as an adviser to Bradford Council in its recent quest to appoint a chief executive to replace Tony Reeves, who last year left public service for the private sector.

An intensive couple of days of interviews, psychometric testing and questioning by a panel of business people and a panel made up of voluntary sector and social enterprise representatives, as well as questioning by a panel of three Bradford councillors reduced the six candidates to a short list of two; but neither of them made it. Now a new selection procedure will be announced in the next couple of weeks.

The list candidates was originally drawn up by a Leeds consultancy firm, which prompted one T&A correspondent to challenge the efficacy of this process, which was defended by former Bradford Council Conservative Group leader Ronnie Farley.

For the past 20 years he and his partner Marilyn have been giving courses in local government to local politicians from all parties and council officers all over the country.

Mr Farley said: "I think most councils use consultants in selection procedures. A big city like Bradford should get a lot of applications. These should be sifted by an outside consultancy which should draw up a short list, perhaps even ranking the candidates. Then politicians from all major parties should come into it. it's a partnership.

"In the 70s and 80s throughout the country there were politicians looking for chief executives who would be sympathetic to their policies. That's wrong. It's dangerous too.

"If officers are scared to give politicians advice, if they just tell you what they think you want to know, you'll hit the rocks. It also wastes time and time's precious. Gordon Moore was an outstanding chief executive for Bradford Council. Awkward, but he would tell you the truth.

"When chief executives come in from other authorities you can find that three or four top officers are replaced with officers from the chief executive's previous authority. I think that's highly dangerous and demotivates other senior officers."

Bradford Council leader, Labour Councillor Dave Green, who took part in the interviewing process at the Midland Hotel, readily agreed with Mr Farley's main points, saying he wasn't looking for a yes man. He wanted somebody who wouldn't hesitate to advise and criticise when necessary.

He said: "I am looking for somebody with management and leadership skills who can negotiate this district through one of the most challenging times in the next five years in terms of budget, relationships with other local authorities in the Leeds City Region and the growing devolution agenda.

"We have seen it in Manchester and Sheffield and we will get it in West Yorkshire. I think we will have an announcement within weeks. I don't think we will have a metro mayor because none of the five West Yorkshire district authorities nor York wants it.

"My sense of what will happen is that the combined authority, which we formed six months ago at the request of the Coalition Government, will develop into a strategic body that will deal with transport, highways, economic development (68,000 people commute daily between Bradford and Leeds).

"We already have joint ventures in things like trading standards, the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation, archives, transport. There is a Combined Authority Investment Panel which has invested in Bradford's Growth Zone, and Bradford shares internal auditing with Wakefield District Council.

"The new chief executive will have to understand all this and develop it, and understand how the NHS works because there is talk in Westminster and Whitehall about integrating social care and health, which could mean taking social care out of local authority control and putting it into the NHS. I think Bradford should be at the forefront of looking at this argument."

The new chief executive will need more than a bit of experience in the private commercial sector. Knowledge of government at all levels - european, national and regional - allied with commitments to public service in general and to the Bradford district in particular are regarded as essential requirements.

The search for a new chief executive resumes in a couple of weeks. In the meantime city solicitor Suzan Hemingway is Bradford's acting chief executive.

Couldn't Bradford save a bit of brass by sharing a chief executive with another West Yorkshire council, the way auditing services are shared with Wakefield?

Coun Green said: "I did consider that when Tony Reeves told me he was leaving. But most chief executives I know are working 60 to 70 hours a week running their own authority.

"I think the savings would be minimal because deputies would be needed in both local authorities. I don't think a shared chief executive in a place as big and as important as Bradford would work, but it has been considered."

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