New appointments are setting a stronger management structure at Gloucester City Council.

Since the chief executive post was deleted in 2013 the city council has been looking at its internal structure.

Last month (February) the city council appointed a second Corporate Director, Ross Cook, who is now responsible for street care, public protection, the Rugby World Cup and other front line services. Ross has recently completed a local government programme in Strategic Leadership and achieved the Masters level qualification making him well placed to step up into the role. Ross joins Martin Shields to give the council two Corporate Director roles.

A new Head of Neighbourhood Services, Lloyd Griffiths, has also been appointed and both positions have been filled from good internal talent giving opportunities to existing members of city council staff.

As announced last week, a new shared post has been created working in partnership with the Local Government Association who supported the recruitment campaign. The new joint role, managing director (MD) – head of paid service – for Gloucester City Council and commissioning director for Gloucestershire County Council will be taken up by Jon McGinty in the summer.

Mr McGinty is currently deputy chief executive of Aylesbury Vale District Council, where he has led on business transformation and many major regeneration projects. He is also experienced in multi-agency partnerships and has a background in finance – all attributes needed to take on this new and exciting role. He was also deputy director for local government finance and head of profession for statistics at the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Ross Cook, Corporate Director said, “With so many great things going on in the city this year, this is a really exciting opportunity for me to help shape the services we provide, but also to ensure that we work with residents and communities to help them to improve the area that they live, work and socialise.”

Lloyd Griffiths, Head of Neighbourhood Services said, “I look forward to contributing to the future direction of the Council in my new role and ensuring that the development and sustainability of communities is integral to our work.”

Cllr Paul James, Leader of Gloucester City Council said, “We’ve recognised the talent that exists in our organisation and rewarded our hard working professional staff. These appointments have been made for a six month period and then we’ll take a look at how the arrangements have been going.”