Birmingham City Council appoints interim CEO

Following the departure of its current chief executive, Birmingham City Council has announced Clive Heaphy will step up to take the helm as Interim CEO of the authority.

Currently serving as chief financial officer, Heaphy will serve in the interim role until a new permanent chief executive is appointed, subject to approval by full council on 10 September.

Birmingham City Council is set to begin the recruitment process for the new permanent chief executive in September, and comes about after current CEO Dawn Baxendale announced she would be stepping down from the role to take up a position as chief executive of Christchurch City Council in New Zealand.

The new appointment will mark the Birmingham authority’s fourth chief executive since 2017 – though two of these were on an interim basis too.

In a statement, they said: “A precise departure date will be agreed once Dawn’s arrangements for her move to New Zealand have been finalised.”

Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority in Europe, with a population of 1.2 million residents within its scope of operations.

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