£124,787 for each of the three new assistant chief executives at Highland Council
The annual salaries for newly appointed Highland Council assistant chief executives has been revealed - each earning £124,787.
According to the local authority, the new senior management structure will ‘initially deliver savings of £310,000’.
Highland Council has appointed Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn as assistant chief executives as part of a major management shake-up at the local authority.
Under the new council structure there will be what has been described as three service clusters managed by one of the new assistant chief executives and report directly to the chief executive Derek Brown.
Ms Lackie will take charge as the assistant chief executive of People, this cluster combines Health and Social Care, and Education and Learning.
Ms Lackie was the interim chief executive from February to September 2023, and before that she was acting depute chief executive and since 2019 she was the executive chief officer for Performance and Governance.
Mr MacLeod has been appointed as the assistant chief executive of Place, this combines Community and Place, Housing and Property, and Infrastructure, Environment and Economy.
Mr MacLeod – originally from Stornoway – was previously the executive chief officer for infrastructure and environment and had a spell as the interim depute chief executive from February to September 2023. He has been the head of planning and environment for the last seven years and worked in the Highlands for over 20 years.
And finally Mr Gunn is the assistant chief executive for Corporate, taking charge of the Depute Chief Executive Service, Performance and Governance, and Resources and Finance.
Council leader, Cllr Raymond Bremner said: “Congratulations to Kate, Malcolm and Allan. The new senior management structure will initially deliver savings of £310,000, as part of the budget savings agreed by Council in February.
“It is anticipated that savings will eventually equate to around 20% of senior management team costs as part of a more streamlined management structure.”
