Senior executives to retire

John O’Hagan, who is executive director of corporate services, will leave his post at the end of May while Christine Pollock CBE, who is executive director of learning and leisure, will retire in September.

Senior education official Jane Liddell, head of education quality and development in learning and leisure, has also announced her intention to retire.

Paying tribute to the contribution the three have made to the council, chief executive Gavin Whitefield said: “The services they all leave behind are in robust health and performing at a high level.”

It is expected recruitment for the three posts will begin shortly. Mr Whitefield added: “While we are, in a sense, seeing the passing of a generation of highly-talented officials, we have to look forward and ensure we have the right strategic management capacity in place to continue driving the organisation forward.”