Media notice - for immediate dispatch
Carlisle & District Green Party have expressed major concerns at the appointment of Gillian Steward as the new chief executive of Cumbria County Council. This is crucial time for Cumbria as council services begin to merge into two unitary authorities.
The party says that her previous track record as Chair of the Lampton Group, the London Borough of Hounslow’s conglomerate, and as CEO of the London borough of Bexley raises serious concerns as to her suitability for such a high-profile role.
The announcement that Steward would become the new Chief Executive of Cumbria County Council in 2021 was met with enthusiasm from the Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems. The Green Party is however demanding that this appointment is given further scrutiny after concerns raised in a recent Private Eye article on 6th August (p.21):
“Since 2019 she has been chair of the Lampton Group, the London borough of Hounslow’s “arm length” conglomerate, which runs a plethora of services on the council’s behalf. Curiously, her two-year stint at Hounslow has been scrubbed from her Linkedin profile, although the masters in public administration she never completed is still there. She arrived in Hounslow after a brief stint as interim chief exec for the London borough of Bexley in 2018 after a “change in her personal circumstances”. She left behind a reputation for divisiveness and took with her a payoff of £94,000. Under Steward, the Lampton Group at Hounslow went through a major a chaotic restructuring as more and more services were brought under its umbrella…”.
This costly restructuring saw Hounslow housing and maintenance division morph into ‘Lampton Facilities Management 360’ and then into ‘Coalo’. Private Eye added that:
“When Steward joined the board of Coalo on 1 January 2021, four non-executive directors resigned. One felt “behaviors have crossed the boundaries of inappropriateness and unprofessionalism” and complained of bullying. A recruitment drive for replacement directors promoted an organization with a “warm and supportive culture. A Company Group that has the feel of a Family Firm” – which was news to several departing directors”.
Gavin Hawkton, Chair of Carlisle Green Party said:
“This is the key strategic role in the county at a time that is going to have a lasting legacy for council services. The information in Private Eye raises significant alarm bells and yet she has just been proposed by the CEOs of the six district councils to take on the role of Senior Responsible Officer as council services begin to merge into two unitary authorities”.
“Steward’s role in restructuring Hounslow has been described as chaotic with four non-executive directors resigning due to inappropriate and unprofessional behavior. This leads to questions as to whether we are going to face similar issues in our Cumbrian reorganisation. She has come to us before the changes have even bedded in at Hounslow. This is particularly concerning given the Cumbria council reorganisation has an incredibly tight time scale and is taking place whilst council services are still being impacted by covid and its impact on staff”.
“At the very least Ms Steward’s appointment and suitability for the post needs to be examined in light of the concerns raised by Private Eye.”
ENDS
For further information please contact Carlisle Greens
