Crisis-hit Doncaster Council's chief executive quits with £60,000 pay-off deal

Tim Leader, who is to be replaced by another interim appointment, this time from the Local Government Association, is to leave the authority with immediate effect.

Mr Leader's departure – which followed a breakdown in relations with elected English Democrat Mayor Peter Davies – was confirmed by a meeting of the council's chief officer appointments committee yesterday.

The committee also agreed the terms of a financial package, which will cost the council a total of 68,508, and accepted a recommendation to appoint Jo Miller, the deputy chief executive of the Local Government Association, as a short-term replacement.

Ms Miller, a former deputy chief executive of Bradford Council, will be in charge for up to two months, amid increasing expectation the Government will then intervene to appoint a longer-term successor to the beleaguered authority.

The Audit Commission is due to release the findings of an emergency inspection into Doncaster Council in a fortnight.

The Commission launched the inspection because of "serious concerns" about the council's performance in the last two years and a "threat to public confidence" caused by the chronic failings revealed in the

wake of the Edlington child torture case.

Recommendations are expected to include Government intervention in the management of the council, one potential option being the imposition of a new chief executive. It is not known whether Ms Miller, who has already been involved in advising the council on an informal basis, may take on the role longer-term.

The council said Ms Miller's appointment would cost 3,365 a week.

Mr Leader was appointed interim chief executive in January following the sudden resignation of former chief officer Paul Hart, who cited "personal reasons" for his decision to go.

Within two days, Mayor Davies, who had wanted another candidate, demanded he resign but Mr Leader won the backing of councillors who voted to keep him in place.

The appointment of a new interim chief from the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents the interests of councils across England and Wales, may present Mayor Davies with another challenge as he believes the LGA is not worth Doncaster's annual 60,000 membership fee. One of his first decisions on being elected last year was to withdraw the council from the LGA, though membership will only lapse in April next year.

Mayor Davies declined to comment on his stance on the LGA but in a statement said: "I am really pleased that the chief officers' appointments committee has decided to allow the council to move forward in this way having taken account of all the circumstances and I welcome the appointment of Jo Miller on an interim basis. I would also like to thank the LGA for the help it has given to Doncaster.

"I look forward to welcoming Jo Miller to Doncaster for the coming few weeks. The council needs to move on from this now and work together in the challenge of meeting any recommendations arising from the recent inspection."

Ms Miller said: "Doncaster Council has asked me to step in for a short period of time to help put the processes in place that are needed in order to drive forward improvement and ensure that the authority delivers the best possible services for local people.

"There are no quick fixes or easy solutions but I am determined to help Doncaster go from strength to strength in the coming months and set a course of improvement in the coming years for both staff and the people of the borough."