Chief executive Moira Gibb announces her departure from Camden Council

THE Town Hall’s chief executive has confirmed she plans to quit the top job at Camden Council after eight years in charge.

Moira Gibb told staff on Friday that she will step down at the end of the calendar year, giving the council six months to find a replacement. She does not have a new job to start at this stage and the council said she was looking for a new challenge.

Ms Gibb, known affectionately in some quarters of the council by the nickname “Big Mo”, has been in the Town Hall’s highest-paid job since 2003 and has worked under three administrations – two Labour regimes and one Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition.

Last year, it looked like she might be ready to cement her position at Camden by taking on the new role of being the “superexecutive” overseeing both Camden and neighbouring Islington. 

Ms Gibb was named as the likely person to take the job if the two local authorities pushed through plans to share a chief executive. Negotiations broke down with figures on both sides of the border privately bemoaning personality clashes and disagreements over future policy. 

As the New Journal revealed first on our website on Friday, Ms Gibb’s successor will be paid less than the salary – almost £200,000 – she earned at the Town Hall. Like other top-ranked officers, Ms Gibb also qualified for a performance-related bonus each year.

Labour councillors have insisted that chief officer wages need to be reduced as they make cuts to all areas of Town Hall services. 

Ms Gibb’s salary often put her name and face in national newspapers featuring on tables of the highest-earning local authority bosses.

But away from the headlines, she has been regarded as one of the top performers in local government by councillors of all political stripes. 

Under Ms Gibb’s watch, the council scored the best Audit Commission inspection report ever achieved by a local authority. She gave staff an extra day off to celebrate.

“Time has flown,” said Ms Gibb, as she admitted in her resignation letter that she had stayed in the job longer than she had intended to when she was first appointed.

Nevertheless, despite the high regard she is held in beyond Camden, there was a familiar tension among councillors elected to the Town Hall. It was often claimed in corridor briefings that she held too much of a say on the direction Camden took and that senior councillors were sometimes swayed by her advice rather than the opinions of colleagues. Ms Gibb was said to have been robust with her advice on HS2 and plans to build new council offices in King’s Cross.

A former social worker and teacher, she has written more than once of her concerns about the future of local government in the face of public service cuts. 

But Ms Gibb said in her resignation letter: “I believe I will leave the council well placed to handle the harsher times ahead. Camden also has the advantage of employing some of the most talented officers in the sector who, as well as running high-performing services, are delivering very significant efficiencies and driving up cost-consciousness across all departments.”

The gossip mill has  had it this week that Ms Gibb was despairing of the changes to the recent Labour group which saw Angela Mason, who had regular meetings with her, removed as deputy leader. The breakdown of the Islington deal has also been mentioned more than once. Others are convinced she simply wants a fresh challenge, Ms Gibb having seen the world outside of Camden by investigating social work on behalf of the government last year in the wake of the Baby Peter scandal.

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Keith Moffitt said: “I regard Moira Gibb as one of the best chief executives out there. 

“Camden has been lucky to have kept somebody of this calibre for eight years. She must have felt uncomfortable with some of he shenanigans in the Labour party in Camden recently and the changes that were made.” Conservative leader Councillor Andrew Mennear said he wished the chief executive “every success” but added that he wanted her replacement “not just to be a safe pair of hands”.

He added: “Camden’s Labour leadership must not fall into the trap of seeking a like for like replacement.”

Labour council leader Nasim Ali thanked Ms Gibb for her advice and guidance when he first came to office last year.

He added: “At a time when the public sector is facing unprecedented attacks, Moira has been indispensable steering the council through one of the most challenging periods of financial uncertainty and risk.

“Unlike some other local authorities, which planned to tackle the cuts from central government year on year, Moira and the senior management team she has assembled had the foresight to plan over the longer term. 

“Moira will leave Camden in a much stronger position to continue the delivery of services to our residents.”

Published: 14th July, 2011
by RICHARD OSLEY