She said yes!!

Dear readers

Today’s article is not revisiting an old Del Monte advert. It takes a close look at the appointment of a new s151 officer at Somerset Council. In a thinly veiled swipe at Somerset Confidential Bill Revans was recently quoted as saying: we confirmed the appointment of a permanent chief financial officer – others said this was a "job that no one wanted”…. he was quoting from our headline article of April 14 this year (which you can read here )

Well yes and no. As our article reveals below, things are not always entirely as they seem. Not all of the facts were revealed to full council when they were asked to agree the appointment of the new s151 officer.

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Thank you

Andrew Lee - Editor

Finally it seems that Somerset Council have acquired an s151 Officer (effectively a Finance Director). The long series of temporary officers, costing the council nearly double the price of a full-time, permanent post, will come to an end.

But there are curiosities about the appointment which was voted through at the July Full Council meeting, with the motion to approve proposed by Liz Leyshon (LibDem) and seconded by Dawn Denton (Conservative).

But behind this outbreak of cross-party harmony are some interesting questions.