Clackmannanshire Council Online

Chief Executive's Responsibilities and Remuneration

Chief Executive's Responsibilities and Remuneration

Nikki Bridle,
Chief Executive

Clackmannanshire Council's Chief Executive is Nikki Bridle who was appointed to the role in July 2018.

The Chief Executive is the senior manager who leads and takes responsibility for the work of the staff of the Council, who run the local authority on a day to day basis. The role of Chief Executive is a full time appointment. The Chief Executive provides leadership, vision and strategic direction, and effective management of the Council. She provides advice and guidance to the Council on major policy options, fosters and encourages a culture of corporate working, continuous improvement and innovation and promotes and monitors performance in the implementation of Council policies and service delivery.

Post holders are selected on merit, against objective criteria, following public advertisement. The authority to appoint our chief officers (the Chief Executive and directors) is delegated to an Appointments Committee which is set up as and when needed. 

By law, senior Council staff are not allowed to participate in any party political activity and are expected to advise and assist all councillors irrespective of their political affiliation.

As head of the paid service, the Chief Executive works closely with elected members to deliver the following:

• Leadership
  • Working with elected members to ensure strong and visible leadership and direction, encouraging and enabling managers to motivate and inspire their teams.
• Strategic Direction
  • Ensuring all staff understand and adhere to the strategic aims of the organisation and follow the direction set by the elected members.
• Policy Advice
  • Acting as the principal policy adviser to the elected members of the Council to lead the development of workable strategies which will deliver the political objectives set by the councillors.
• Partnerships
  • Leading and developing strong partnerships across the local community to achieve improved outcomes and better public services for local people.
• Operational Management
  • Overseeing financial and performance management, risk management, people management and change management within the council.

The Council

The Council is a large organisation, with over 2,500 staff and a budget of £125.549 million a year. It is responsible for providing or commissioning services including education, housing, social services, planning and many more.

Remuneration

The Chief Executive's salary is £111,297 and is set nationally based on Council area population.

Benefits

In addition to her salary the Chief Executive can join a contributory career average pension scheme. The Local Government Pension Scheme is a contributory scheme; this means that the employee contributes to the scheme from his or her own salary. Employees contribute 5.5% - 11.2% of their salaries. Employers' contributions to the LGPS vary depending upon how much is needed to ensure benefits under the Scheme are properly funded, and are set independently. The rules governing the pension scheme are contained in regulations made by Parliament.

Expenses

The Chief Executive is able to reclaim a restricted range of legitimate and evidenced business expenses, including business travel.

Working arrangements

The Chief Executive is expected to work such hours as are necessary to ensure the job gets done. This routinely involves evening work as well as the standard Monday to Friday business week. Occasional weekend working is required. The postholder is 'on call' at all other times, particularly to cover emergency planning requirements. No extra payments are made for such extended hours.

The Chief Executive is entitled to 35 days leave and 7 fixed holidays each year.