WAVERLEY Council may have laid itself open to action being taken over the enforced redundancy last year of former chief executive Christine Pointer, councillors were warned on Tuesday. The shot across the bows came from Ms Pointer's husband, Bryn Morgan, as Waverley's executive considered whether Waverley's newly appointed managing director, Mary Orton, should instead take the title of chief executive. Mr Morgan, who was elected as a Conservative councillor in May, pointed out that the post had become redundant under a brief given to officers by the former council leadership for a cost-cutting restructuring of senior management. With Ms Pointer seated in the public gallery, he suggested: "The redundancy was not redundancy at all, but merely a political act to remove a chief officer for political reasons." The councillor was stopped in mid-flow as the council's deputy leader, Pat Frost, ruled press and public should be excluded from the debate. They were called back in to hear the executive vote to recommend that the full council redesignate the role as chief executive. A report to the executive stated that the vast majority of heads of paid service in local government have the title of chief executive and there was a risk that the title 'managing director' could be misinterpreted. "For the avoidance of doubt, this does not amend, in any way, the responsibilities of the post," it was stressed.
