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Caerphilly County Borough Council’s former director of social services has taken on the new deputy chief executive role.

Dave Street was formally appointed to the role Thursday May 18 and will work alongside the current chief executive Christina Harrhy, on a salary of £140,969.

According to the council, Mr Street will “help deliver an exciting programme of change and improvement across the organisation” in his new role.

Mr Street said he was “delighted” to be offered the position. The council has not disclosed how many candidates it had for the role.

Mr Street added: “I’ve worked for Caerphilly for over 27 years and my experience in social care means that I know our county borough very well and I’m passionate about delivering quality services for all our local residents.

“I’m really looking forward to hitting the ground running and continuing my work with the senior leadership team to deliver positive change in order to meet the complex needs of our community.”

Interim arrangements to fill the director of social services role are currently being considered by the council.

The controversial introduction of a deputy chief executive and a deputy section 151 officer was approved by the council’s cabinet in October 2022, despite opposition councillors criticising the amount of money being spent.

The cost of a deputy chief executive is estimated at £189,000 and the cost of a deputy section 151 officer is £108,000 – the council is yet to appoint someone to this role.

Following the announcement, both Plaid Cymru group leader Councillor Lindsay Whittle and the leader of the Independents Cllr Kevin Etheridge congratulated Mr Street.

Cllr Etheridge, who represents Blackwood, sat on the appointments panel and said the procedure was “fair, open and transparent”.

Cllr Whittle described Mr Street as a “very competent officer”. But, the Penyrheol councillor added: “Considerable finance has now been incurred with advertising and several appointment panels to get to this stage.

“No doubt we will now spend considerable finance on another advert to replace the director of social services.”

Chief executive Christina Harrhy said: “This is great news for the council and the wider community as Dave has a wealth of experience and knows our organisation, our people and our county borough inside out.

“This appointment ensures the council has sufficient capacity at the top of the organisation to deliver positive change, but I am also focusing on recruiting and retaining staff at all levels across the organisation so that we have enough ‘boots on the ground’ to deliver key services and support our residents.”