News

The Local Government Association has decided to scrap the Employers' Organisation amid a catalogue of changes designed to trim costs and centralise accountability at the LGA, writes Mithran Samuel.

The EO's policy and negotiations role over council employment issues is now under direct LGA management, while its workforce development arm has been transferred to the Improvement and Development Agency.

John Ransford, formerly director of education and social policy, has been appointed deputy chief executive and will take interim charge of employment policy and negotiations, with EO executive director Rob Pinkham taking redundancy.

The move reflects the growing political sensitivity of local government pay and, in particular, pensions policies. The latter triggered a row between ministers and unions over proposed reforms this year.

An LGA insider said: "The EO was too separate from the LGA and perhaps not as accountable as it should have been."

All the LGA's policy functions are now officially under a single directorate, headed by former economic policy director Sarah Wood, though this has effectively been the case since October, when Ransford's old empire came under her control.

Children's and adult services policy will remain the responsibility of Stephen Meek and Jeni Bremner respectively, with both reporting directly to Wood.