West Berkshire

Long serving West Berkshire Council Chief Executive retires

West Berkshire Council's Chief Executive, Nick Carter, has retired after 16 years leading the organisation.

Mr Carter retires having spent 38 years working in local government, including nearly 24 years spent with West Berkshire Council.

He joined in January 1998, shortly before Newbury District Council became a unitary council and was renamed West Berkshire Council.

Appointed Chief Executive in 2005, he has been at the helm ever since.

During his tenure as Chief Executive, Mr Carter has been the driving force behind the Newbury Vision 2025, which has included the successful delivery of the Parkway shopping centre, cinema and the town centre pedestrianisation.

Mr Carter has also steered the council through significant events, including the widespread flooding in 2007, budget challenges during the period of austerity and most recently the local response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In his role as Chief Executive, he has also overseen the effective delivery of around 400 different council services to 165,000 people.

Mr Carter leaves the council in a strong position, with a review by other councils shortly before the pandemic recognising good quality local services, a good track record of delivering savings and increasing income.

Commenting, Mr Carter said:


"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in West Berkshire. It a great place with great people and that's the reason I have stayed.

It has not always been an easy journey, but I hope I have been able to make a difference and play a part in making the district an even better place to live, work and visit.

I will miss all of my colleagues, but now feels like a good time to let someone with new ideas take the council forward.

My sincere thanks to all those that have worked with and supported me here in West Berkshire over the past 24 years and I wish everyone all the very best for the future."

West Berkshire Council Leader, Councillor Lynne Doherty added:

"Nick has served West Berkshire well over the past 24 years and leaves behind him a strong legacy for our communities.

His vision for the district has led to the council being awarded over £100m of funding for infrastructure improvements, including the construction of three new schools, the rollout of £40m worth of new highways schemes and 6,000 new homes being built.

"He has helped shape the district, whilst also supporting the delivery of essential services and of course the staff delivering those services.

I am incredibly grateful for everything Nick has done for the council and the district and wish him the very best for his retirement."

A new Chief Executive, Nigel Lynn, has been appointed and will take up the post in October.

In the meantime, Susan Halliwell, the authority’s current Executive Director for Place will take over as interim Chief Executive.

PSE Mag

PSE February/ March 2024

Digital Infrastructure - the key to shaping the future of our rural communities

Dive into our latest edition for February/March!

 

Videos...

View all videos
Online Conference

Presenting

2024 Online Conferences

In partnership with our community of public sector leaders responsible for procurement and strategy across local authorities and the wider public sector, we’ve devised a collaborative calendar of conferences and events for leaders of industry to listen, learn and collaborate through engaging and immersive conversation.

All our conferences are CPD accredited, which means you can gain points to advance your career by attending our online conferences. Also, the contents are available on demand so you can re-watch at your convenience.

Public Sector Executive Podcast

Ep 51. Diversity, equality and representation with Stuart Love, Chief Executive of Westminster City Council

It is the role of local government leaders to make the decisions that will best deliver for the communities that they represent. That much is obvious.
 

How can they do this, however, if they are not accurately representative of those very communities?
 

Great strides have been made in ensuring that everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, or social class is represented in some way within local government. Chief Executive of Westminster City Council Stuart Love joins host Dan Benn to talk about why this work is important, the different work that is being done in Westminster, and how his background influences his stance on equality and diversity.

More articles...

View all