Hundreds interested in mission (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Hundreds interested in mission

HUNDREDS of people are interested in the new top jobs at Swindon Council.

A week after the five group director posts were advertised nationally 600 people have asked for application forms for the jobs.

And today the advert with the slogan 'Five individuals, one mission' appears again in The Guardian.

Sir Mike Pitt, interim chief executive, is delighted with the response.

"This is a tremendous response to the adverts which proves there are plenty of people who are inspired by our challenge to transform the services we deliver," he said.

"The interview process will be rigorous and I look forward to meeting some exceptional candidates."

The five posts are being advertised with salaries of £120,000, plus up to 15 per cent performance-related pay after the council decided to reduce its departments from seven to five.

Currently directors are paid between £85,000 and £105,000 but the council says the reduced number of posts covers the cost of the new higher salaries.

The new posts are group directors for children's services; environment and leisure; housing and social care; partnerships and performance, and resources.

The £30,000 advertising campaign includes two adverts in The Guardian and two in the Local Govern-ment Chronicle.

Council leader Mike Bawden said the interest in the jobs showed people knew Swindon was improving.

"This underlines the interest within local government about the progress which Swindon has made to date," he said.

The deadline for applications is Friday, July 1 with an announcement due on July 29.

Isabel Field