By How local are North East Lincolnshire Council’s Directors and Senior Officers
North East Lincolnshire Council have shared data with Gi Media that shows how many directors and senior officers live in the local area and how many are from other areas of the country.
Following Ofsted’s report which rated North East Lincolnshire Council’s Child Services as ‘inadequate’ Service Director Lisa Arthey, who joined from Reading Council in March 2020, announced that she was stepping down from the authority.
The report found widespread weaknesses across the service from risk assessment to quality of professional practice which left children ‘at risk.’
Ofsted’s report and Miss Arthey’s departure prompted concerns on just how local council directors and senior officers actually are.
Information obtained by Gi Media found that 81.91% of all council staff are local to North East Lincolnshire.
A further 14.3% live in Lincolnshire and Northern Lincolnshire while the remaining 1.29% live in East Riding of Yorkshire as well as North, South and West Yorkshire.
The council currently has one acting director and five senior directors. While four of those live in the area, two do not and live ‘within an hour’s drive.’
A spokesperson for the council said: “Prior to the Covid lockdown in March 2020, all senior members of the team were required to be office-based for the majority of their working week. We are currently operating within Covid guidelines and as a result, with reduced capacity within our buildings, we are taking a more flexible approach.
“However, the senior team members are required in the office for set week days and to attend meetings. All those who are working flexibly work from their home areas, and as you can see from the figures above all are either in Northern Lincs or within an hour’s drive.”
When asked if not living locally affects how senior officers and directors carry out their jobs the council said: “This is not the case as the vast majority do live locally, using Grimsby and Cleethorpes regularly as their main towns.
“What we wish to stress is that, where appropriate, we will always consider a number of factors when looking for the best possible people to take our organisation forward and support North East Lincolnshire. And that will always include skills and talent as well as consideration to location.”
