Highland Council has appointed Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn as assistant chief executives as part of a major management shake-up at the local authority.
Under the new council structure there will be what has been described as three service clusters managed by one of the new assistant chief executives and report directly to the chief executive Derek Brown.
Highland Council says its bid to change its ‘operating model’ could save £24 million
Ms Lackie will take charge as the assistant chief executive of People, this cluster combines Health and Social Care, and Education and Learning.
Ms Lackie was the interim chief executive from February to September 2023, and before that she was acting depute chief executive and since 2019 she was the executive chief officer for Performance and Governance.
For over 10 years she was the chief executive’s business manager and parliamentary officer, prior to which she was Private Secretary to two Secretaries of State before relocating to the Highlands to join the council.
Mr MacLeod has been appointed as the assistant chief executive of Place, this combines Community and Place, Housing and Property, and Infrastructure, Environment and Economy.
Mr MacLeod – originally from Stornoway – was previously the executive chief officer for infrastructure and environment and had a spell as the interim depute chief executive from February to September 2023. He has been the head of planning and environment for the last seven years and worked in the Highlands for over 20 years.
And finally Mr Gunn is the assistant chief executive for Corporate, taking charge of the Depute Chief Executive Service, Performance and Governance, and Resources and Finance.
Mr Gunn – from Kingussie – was the executive chief officer for Communities and Place. His previous roles included executive chief officer for Transformation and Chief Officer Resources (Care and Learning) from 2019-2020.
He was also the head of service with the Council from 2011 to 2019 in three roles of Business Support, Revenues and Customer Services.
Convener of the Council, Councillor Bill Lobban said: “I am delighted to say that Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council. I wish them every success in this next stage of their careers with The Highland Council.”
Council leader, Cllr Raymond Bremner added: “Congratulations to Kate, Malcolm and Allan. The new senior management structure will initially deliver savings of £310,000, as part of the budget savings agreed by Council in February.
“It is anticipated that savings will eventually equate to around 20% of senior management team costs as part of a more streamlined management structure.”
