Successor announced as Chief Executive stands down
The Chief Executive of Epping Forest District Council, Georgina Blakemore has stepped down due to ill health.
The announcement was made to councillors in private at the meeting of Epping Forest District Council on Thursday 21 February. Ms Blakemore will also step down from her associated roles on the boards of the council’s wholly-owned companies TVS and Qualis.
Successor announced
Strategic Director Andrew Small has been appointed as the council’s new Acting Chief Executive. The council’s Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Gould was also appointed Acting Deputy Chief Executive at Full Council.
Dedicated service to council and residents
Georgina has been suffering from ill health for some time. While we always hoped Georgina would be able to return to work, our Strategic Directors Jen Gould and Andrew Small have been doing a terrific job in Georgina’s absence. We are fortunate to have such strength and depth of skill and experience Andrew and Jen lead a fantastic senior leadership team, all of whom have worked hard to compensate in Georgina’s absence.
I would like to thank Georgina for her dedicated service to our council and our residents. We will certainly miss her and wish her the very best for the future.
The recent announcements on devolution and local government review has given me some pause for thought. At this time, continuity is especially important. Andrew and Jen have demonstrated qualities of strong and effective leadership that I feel are especially necessary as we negotiate the tricky waters of reorganisation.
In consultation with other members of the cabinet, and group leaders, I am therefore pleased to confirm that Andrew was appointed by Full Council as our new Acting Chief Executive and Jen was appointed to a new role of Acting Deputy Chief Executive. They in turn, will now conduct a review of the wider leadership team to fine-tune the new responsibilities of our senior management.
Councillor Chris Whitbread, Leader of Epping Forest District Council
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