Chief executive post - 'Edinburgh must have a strong leader'

DAVID McLetchie's intervention in the debate about Edinburgh's new top official is timely. Exactly a week before the first interviews take place for the job of council chief executive, the Tory MSP says that in an era of massive public sector cuts, we shouldn't replace the retiring Tom Aitchison.

On the face of it, he has a point. The city council is facing a 90 million budget black hole and the 160,000 a year the successful candidate could take home would go some way towards filling it.

McLetchie's is not a voice in the wilderness either. Eric Pickles, England's communities minister, has told authorities to share chief executives and, after he described the top role as a "non job", Rugby Borough Council combined theirs with that of council leader.

It did so in spite of warnings that it dangerously combined political and non-political roles, but as every public body adapts to the age of austerity, further drastic measures will be needed.

Tempting though it may be to agree with McLetchie, he is wrong to suggest that Edinburgh dispenses with a chief executive.

Rugby employs 400 staff and has a 15m budget. With 20,000 workers and a near 1 billion budget, Edinburgh is Premier League compared to this Southern League tiddler.

Budget cuts mean that now, more than ever, this city needs strong leadership - a big man or woman who can take on the vested interests to find real cuts worth not hundreds of thousands but tens of millions of council tax pounds.

McLetchie is absolutely right to demand savings, especially among the big salaries, but these will be best found by cutting the number of nine-to-five senior officials.

Does the council really need 340 staff earning between 50,000 and 100,000? The cuts should start with a streamlined structure of fewer directors who earn six-figure sums and a smaller number of departments for them to manage.

The new chief executive must be able to force that change. The News has acknowledged the credentials of some internal candidates, including directors Mark Turley and Dave Anderson.

But the shortlist leaked a few weeks ago showed a lack of options from the private sector or runners with experience of cost-cutting or merging services. The interview panel next week must look for such skills.