A director general at the Department for Education has been unveiled as the preferred candidate to become Rotherham Council’s next chief executive.
John Edwards is currently DG of DfE’s Regions Group, a position he has held since June 2022. Prior to that, he was interim chief executive at the Education and Skills Funding Agency.
Rotherham announced yesterday that its cross-party Senior Officer Appointments Committee would recommend Edwards as the authority’s next chief exec. The move requires the backing of councillors and will be the subject of a vote at a meeting on 21 May.
With the support of councillors, Edwards is due to take up his new role in June. The job was advertised with a salary of £188,000 earlier this year.
Edwards’s appointment will mean that two of South Yorkshire’s four unitary councils are run by former senior civil servants. Ex-Cabinet Office director general Kate Josephs has been chief exec of Sheffield City Council since 2021.
Additionally, senior civil servant Katharine Hammond is due to start as chief executive of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority next month. The former Home Office, Cabinet Office and Foreign Office official is in line for a £220,000 salary for that role.
Chris Read, leader of Labour-run Rotherham Council, said Edwards’s significant experience, strategic vision and strong public sector leadership background made him “ideally suited” to take the authority forward.
“I look forward to working closely with him to build on the progress we’ve made and continue delivering for our residents,” Read said.
Edwards said he was “absolutely delighted” to be recommended as the council’s next chief exec.
“If confirmed, it will be a privilege to serve the leader, cabinet, elected members and residents of the borough, and to work with great colleagues right across the council,” he said.
Edwards began his career as a maths teacher and subsequently spent 14 years in local government, latterly as director of education and skills at Manchester City Council.
At DfE, Edwards served as regional schools commissioner for the East Midlands and Humber from 2017 to 2020, then as ESFA’s director of funding from 2020 to 2021. All of his DfE postings have been based in Sheffield.