THE man charged with one of the most onerous tasks in Scottish local government – charting a way out of Aberdeen City Council's financial crisis – was named yesterday.
Robert Coomber, a local authority finance expert from London, has been appointed interim chief executive.
He will take over at the troubled council while authority leaders seek a permanent successor to Douglas Paterson, who is due to leave his po
st next week after taking early retirement.
Mr Coomber, who has decades of experience in senior posts at four London councils, will also act as financial adviser to the council.
A "hit squad" of figures in local government, including council leaders and chief executives, has already been appointed to help the council address the need for almost £50 million in budget cuts.
Mr Coomber said: "This is an interesting job in an interesting place for a period of time that works for me and Aberdeen City Council."
The leaders of the four political groups on the council welcomed Mr Coomber's appointment in a joint statement.
Mr Coomber, 57, will take up the post on Monday, 18 August. He is a former chief executive and director of finance at the London Borough of Southwark, where he served for 12 years. He has also worked for the City of Westminster, the City of London Corporation and the London Borough of Croydon.
The five applicants short-listed for the permanent chief executive's post are to be interviewed on 22 August.
The full article contains 248 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
