Council seeking permanent chief bean-counter
SHETLAND Islands Council is advertising for a permanent new head of finance, with the post commanding a salary in excess of £70,000 a year.
After previous finance boss James Gray left the local authority in 2014, an arrangement was put in place with Aberdeen City Council for a year whereby staff from its finance department were seconded to Shetland.
That has seen Steve Whyte serve as senior financial officer in a dual role with both local authorities, while Jonathan Belford has effectively been running the SIC’s finance department’s day-to-day affairs.
The arrangement with Aberdeen has been temporarily extended while the post – banded at between £71,169 and £74,738 a year – is being advertised. The closing date for applicants is Monday (18 January).
SIC corporate services director Christine Ferguson said: “The arrangement with Aberdeen City Council was for a year, which has now come to an end. We’re now seeking to recruit to the post on a permanent basis, and in the meantime the arrangement with Aberdeen City has been extended.”
Gray left the council to much acclaim from elected members in late 2014 after playing a major part in getting the SIC’s finances back on track following a string of scathing reports from finance watchdog Audit Scotland.
Since then the finance chief’s role has reverted to the lower-key profile that might be expected for a local government accountant.
The local authority is due to set its 2016/17 budget on 10 February. In Scottish finance secretary John Swinney’s pre-Christmas local government funding announcement, the SIC learned it would have to find a further £3 million in spending cuts.
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