Chief executive to stand down in latest blow for Sandwell Council

David Stevens is leaving the £147,500-a-year role after 18 months, having previously served as the authority’s interim chief executive.

Sandwell Council has not yet confirmed Mr Stevens’ departure, saying only that he is currently “on leave”.

His exit will leave the Labour-run council’s senior management structure in tatters, with both chief executive and deputy chief executive roles vacant and six out of the other nine top positions held on an interim basis.

Council sources told the Express & Star that Mr Stevens felt senior officers were being unfairly blamed for turmoil surrounding the authority.

He was previously executive director for adult social care, health and wellbeing, and was appointed chief executive in January 2020 to replace Jan Britton, who had resigned six months earlier.

A Sandwell Council spokesperson, said: “David Stevens is the chief executive of Sandwell Council. His employment status has not changed. He is currently on leave.”

Mr Stevens’ appointment had been questioned by councillors after it emerged he was the only candidate to apply for the role, which was not advertised nationally.

Then council leader Councillor Yvonne Davies said at the time that a “lengthy recruitment process would have taken up valuable time and resources and would be an unnecessary distraction for the council”.

It comes as the authority remains embroiled in controversy over plans to award a £20 million school transport contract to firms run by a former employee who was named in the 2016 Wragge report into council land deals.

The issue is set to undergo an independent investigation after a review by the council’s internal audit team found “no initial evidence of financial wrongdoing or impropriety”.

The authority is also facing possible industrial action over bin collections and leisure centres.

Councillor Rajbir Singh took over as Sandwell Council’s fifth leader in the last two-and-a-half years after May’s disastrous local elections, which saw Labour lose nine seats to the Conservatives.

Nicola Richards, Conservative MP for West Bromwich East, said: "I have been calling for a culture change at Sandwell Council for quite some time.

"We all know in order to fix the council’s many major issues we need a strong team of directors and officers steering the ship in the right direction alongside decent, honest and hardworking councillors who put no one but the communities they represent first.

"I think the Labour leader needs to be honest about the reasons for yet another chief executive having to leave if we’re ever going to regain trust in this local authority."

Mr Britton held the chief executive position for 13 years. He quit in July 2019 after a period of extended leave for reasons that have never been made public, saying only that it was time for a "new challenge".

He is now managing director of a company delivering services for a number of councils.

Of Sandwell Council's senior leadership team, the directors of finance, regeneration, economy, housing, adult social care and education are all currently held on an interim basis.

Governance director Surjit Tour, public health director Lisa McNally and business strategy director Neil Cox make up the other positions.