Finance director signed up as shared services scaled back

Richmondshire District Council is due to approve plans next week to appoint a senior finance director from North Yorkshire County Council on a three-month secondment.

The move comes as the Richmondshire authority looks to separate a wave of key services which it had shared with Hambleton District Council and led to £2.6m in savings over the last three years.

But both district authorities have decided to scale back the pioneering initiative after Hambleton announced it was ending an arrangement where a chief executive oversaw both councils.

The county council’s assistant director of procurement and finance, Sian Hansom, is now due to begin a three-month secondment on August 1 to head the finance department in Richmondshire. She is expected to spend up to two days a week in Richmondshire while also continuing with her job at County Hall.

One of her main objectives will be to help unravel the finance services currently shared between Hambleton and Richmondshire before the arrangement comes to an end next April. Her secondment is costing the Richmondshire authority a five-figure sum, although the exact cost has not been disclosed.

Richmondshire District Council’s leader Coun John Blackie said: “We are extremely fortunate to have someone as experienced as Sian coming on board. But there are a lot of challenges ahead.”

A new management team will be dedicated solely to Hambleton after the former chief executive, Peter Simpson, stood down following complaints over his “abusive and dominating” behaviour. Philip Morton has been appointed the chief executive for Hambleton while Richmondshire District Council’s deputy chief executive, Tony Clark, is overseeing his authority in the interim.

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