Officer leading set up of Northants' new unitaries to leave before job finished

The officer leading the task of setting up Northants’ two new unitaries is to retire – six months before the job is finished.

After 12 months in the role of programme director of Future Northants Paul Helsby is leaving the position at the end of this month. The job will be taken on by newly appointed officers transformation directors Lisa Hyde and Jane Carr. The news was given to councillors via email on Friday (Oct 9).

The new unitaries are to be up and running next April, but the local government reform has already been delayed largely because of the pandemic.

The plan now is to have a ‘safe and legal’ council, with the two new councils in the west and north joined for a few years, with some shared services.

Mr Helsby said: “I’ve had a fantastic experience working with everyone here in Northants, and have absolutely loved every minute of it. This team couldn’t be more committed or more talented, and has been a real pleasure to be part of. While deciding when to retire rarely provides an obvious answer, concluding the pre-implementation phase of the most ambitious project in local government, under exceptional circumstances that have really challenged us all feels the perfect end chapter to my 34 years working in it.”

Mr Helsby first came to Northamptonshire in November 2018 as director of transformation as part of the Trafford trio led by chief executive Theresa Grant to shore up the finances of the Conservative-led county council after it ran out of money as a result of years of financial mismanagement.

Then in September 2019 he applied for the role of programme director to lead the closing down of Northamptonshire’s eight councils, which had been ordered by central government as a consequence of NCC’s failings.

Labour’s Cllr Julie Brookfield, who represents Corby West ward, was surprised to hear the news of his retirement.

She said: “From a councillor perspective I thought the people appointed to oversee the local government reorgansation would be there until vesting day.

“I also think that the local government reorganisation is being dominated by Northamptonshire County Council, which is a council that has failed. Covid has also messed things up somewhat. I’m extremely concerned about the local implications of the track and trace being shifted over to local authorities. In Northamptonshire we are already struggling to cope and I feel this is one step too many.

“If we are transforming our local services we want that to happen well. The transformation has been very expensive and I think residents expect improvements in services from these new councils.”

The two Government-appointed commissioners who are overseeing the county council, Tony McArdle and Brian Roberts, have paid tribute to Mr Helsby.

They said: “Paul has been an incredible asset for Northamptonshire over the last two years. He has been pivotal in enabling the authority to deliver consecutive balanced budgets for the first time in recent history and has been a central figure in driving forward the local government reform programme. He has been an excellent member of Northamptonshire’s senior leadership team and we wish him all the very best for his retirement.”

The task of shutting down the councils and creating two new ones is a mammoth one. At last week’s scrutiny meeting of the North Northamptonshire shadow council Cllr Jim Hakewill questioned whether it would not be better to put on hold the separation of the county councils services to the new authorities, due to the pressures that covid is putting on officers’ time.