New group managing director starts at KCC
5th July 2010
Source: Your Canterbury
The new group managing director of Kent County Council started her job today.
Katherine Kerswell – the former chief executive of Northamptonshire County Council – succeeds the retired KCC chief executive Peter Gilroy.
Mrs Kerswell will earn £197,000 per year and will publish her expenses every month.
She said: "Life as we know it is changing rapidly.
"The government has announced very big budget cuts for the whole of the public sector and we’ve had the first taste of that with the £50 million reductions we’ve got to make this year, and we will know more this October when the Comprehensive Spending Review announces its reductions for the whole of the public sector.
"We know some headline figures at the moment and we think we are facing about 25 per cent reductions over the next four years, and that is an enormous challenge.
"What it requires from each and every one of us is to play our part in that.
"I have to say I’m not daunted about that challenge because I’d rather be in Kent County Council than any other local authority at this very time."
Mrs Kerswell is the former chief executive of Northamptonshire County Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Redditch Borough Council.
Her career has also included working for the London Borough of Merton and Leicester City Council.
During her 23 years in local government, Katherine has specialised in customer focus and leading transformational change.
She holds a Joint BA Honours Degree from Leicester University, an MSc in industrial relations from Strathclyde University and an MBA from De Montfort University, Leicester.
She is currently a non- executive Director of the Department of Education, and is the President of SOLACE – the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers.
