Crisis authority appoints temporary head in fresh acrimony

The appointment of Jo Miller, deputy chief executive of the Local Government Association, was approved for an eight-week period but councillors rejected a call for her term to be longer, amid accusations that the authority was already being controlled externally.

With speculation rife that Government intervention into the running of Doncaster Council will be confirmed on Monday, the leader of the Labour group, Joe Blackham, said Ms Miller's arrival had already been approved externally.

Coun Blackham described council control of the appointment of a chief executive as "a flight of fancy...because the determination will be made externally as, in fact, this determination will have been made externally".

He told a council meeting yesterday : "I don't like this authority being controlled and run by external people – that's exactly what's happening now and will happen.

"This authority requires Government intervention but not the wishy-washy kind suggested by Doncaster Council in response to the CGI (corporate governance inspection by the Audit Commission)."

He did not elaborate on what kind of intervention the council had proposed.

It is understood the findings of the Audit Commission inspection will be published on Monday along with the Government's expected confirmation of intervention in the troubled council.

Last night, the Department for Communities and Local Government acknowledged it had previously discussed with the Local Government Association the need for a credible and effective interim chief executive but said confirmation of the appointment of Jo Miller was a matter for the council.

The Audit Commission said it had "taken no role in enabling or endorsing" the appointment.

Ms Miller and Doncaster Council declined to comment. The authority also declined to comment on Coun Blackham's assertion that it had recommended "wishy-washy" intervention in response to the Audit Commission's findings which are expected to be damning.

Councillors rejected a Tory proposal that Ms Miller should be appointed until a permanent successor to previous interim chief executive Tim Leader is found.

The meeting was told that Ms Miller's appointment, on a secondment basis from the LGA, would cost the authority approximately 19,700 per month, plus expenses.

Mr Leader left Doncaster with a 60,000 pay off earlier this month, less than three months after he took up the post.

His appointment had been approved by councillors despite objections from elected English Democrat Mayor Peter Davies who said he could not work with him.

Mayor Davies did not speak during yesterday's council meeting but has previously said he is happy with Ms Miller's arrival despite his decision to withdraw Doncaster from membership of the LGA because he believed it didn't represent value for money.

The previous chief executive, Paul Hart, resigned suddenly in January, citing personal reasons for his departure.

Later in the same month, the Audit Commission announced an emergency inspection into the council because of "serious concerns" about the council's performance in the last two years and a "threat to public confidence" caused by chronic failings culminating in the Edlington child torture case.

The inspection has concluded and the Audit Commission met earlier this week to decide what recommendations to put to John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

He has the power to order intervention in the management of the council, including the ultimate sanction of the Government running some or all of its functions.