Linda Fisher appointed Acting Chief Executive of Rochdale Borough Council

Linda Fisher

Linda Fisher has been appointed Acting Chief Executive of Rochdale Borough Council from 1 June and will lead the organisation until a recruitment process is undertaken to appoint a permanent Chief Executive.

The move follows the announcement of the departure of Jim Taylor later this month to take up a new role in Salford.

Council Leader Colin Lambert said: “Linda is an extremely capable and experienced individual and I am very confident in her abilities to manage these new responsibilities. She has a significant amount of experience and local government expertise, particularly over the last five years. I have every confidence she will play a critical role in helping the Council move forward while we appoint a new permanent chief executive.”

Ms Fisher, who has worked at the council for five years and has been Deputy Chief Executive since March 2013, said it is a real privilege to be taking on the role of Acting Chief Executive: “The council is already performing well so my job, working alongside the leadership team, elected members [councillors], staff and partners, is to ensure that we continue to improve for the benefit of our residents. We should all take any and every opportunity to spread the word about how the borough is a great place to live, work, invest in and visit.”

Ms Fisher has 20 years of local government experience including working for councils in Stockport and Shropshire. She has held the role of Chief Legal officer in other councils and was previously the Executive Director over Planning and Regulatory Services at Rossendale Borough Council.

During her time in Rochdale she has led major projects including bringing Highways, Property and ICT Services back into the council from the Impact Partnership, leading the first three phases of council savings programmes, leading on the legal work for the Building Schools for the Future Investment programmes, Town Centre Regeneration and the Housing Stock Transfer.

Ms Fisher moves from her current role managing HR, Legal, ICT, Coroners and Registrars, Community Safety, Libraries and Customer Services.

Recruitment for a new Chief Executive is due to commence after a meeting of the full council on 4 June when the plans will be agreed.