Susan Halliwell will run the council that replaces Waverley from April 2027, on £236,485. Nine people applied and 147 chief executives were approached.

The council that takes over Farnham’s bins, planning and council tax in 2027 now has a chief executive. Susan Halliwell was appointed unanimously by the West Surrey Shadow Authority on Thursday evening, on a salary of £236,485.

She will be the first chief executive and head of paid service of West Surrey Council, the unitary authority that replaces Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council in this area on 1 April 2027.

The vote was taken at an extraordinary meeting in the council chamber at Guildford Borough Council, which started at 7pm and finished at 7.35pm. Councillor Lance Spencer moved the appointment on behalf of the Senior Officer Employment Sub-Committee. Councillor Vanessa King seconded it. (Minutes, West Surrey Shadow Authority, 10 September 2026)

The salary, and why two different figures are in the papers

The appendix put to councillors gives the agreed range for the post as £214,986 to £236,485. It says plainly that the preferred candidate “will be appointed at the top of the salary scale, at £236,485”. (Appendix to Item 6)

The main report, cleared for publication in mid-August, quotes a lower four-point scale of £208,118 to £228,930. It explains the gap. The scale was always going to be uprated once the Joint Negotiating Committee for chief executives had settled its 2026/27 pay round, and at the time the report was written the employers’ side had offered 3.3 per cent, which the trade union side had not accepted. (Item 6 report, paragraph 10.1.2)

£236,485 is 3.3 per cent above £228,930, so the published range already carries that offer.

Nine applications, 147 approaches

The Shadow Employment Committee approved the recruitment approach on 28 May, and the search firm GatenbySanderson was engaged to run it. The appendix sets out what the campaign produced:

  • the role was advertised in The MJ, on the Surrey LGR Hub, on localgov.co.uk and on the GatenbySanderson site, and promoted through LinkedIn
  • GatenbySanderson directly contacted 147 serving chief executives and others with experience of leading unitary or upper tier councils
  • nine applications were received by the closing date
  • six candidates were longlisted and given a technical interview with a serving unitary chief executive who had been through reorganisation elsewhere
  • five went through to a full assessment day on 3 September at Millmead House in Guildford

Those five faced three separate panels before the formal interview:

  • a partnership panel including the police, the fire service, the NHS, Citizens Advice, a parish council and the University of Surrey
  • a panel of political group leaders
  • a wider panel of councillors, for a presentation on their first 24 months and how they would measure whether the new council was working

The Senior Officer Employment Sub-Committee then held a competency interview of about an hour and reached what the minutes describe as a unanimous cross-party recommendation.

Who she is

Susan Halliwell is currently chief executive of Bracknell Forest Council and lead chief executive of South East Strategic Leaders. Before that she was executive director of place at West Berkshire Council, and she has held senior roles at Oxfordshire County Council.

The sub-committee’s reasons record that she has run an organisation with more than 2,300 staff and a budget of over £400m, and that she showed “a strong understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with establishing a new unitary authority”. She was also appointed returning officer for West Surrey Council, which means she will be responsible for running its elections.

Andy Brown stays on as interim head of paid service until the handover date is agreed. The papers expect that to happen before 31 December 2026.

Why it had to be done by Christmas

This was not a discretionary appointment. Article 33(2) of the Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026 requires the shadow authority to appoint a head of paid service before 31 December 2026. Section 4 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 requires every council to designate one, and the process has to follow the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) Regulations 2001.

The report warned that missing the deadline would put the new council’s readiness for 1 April 2027 at risk.

The warning buried in the finance section

The most striking passage in the report is not about the salary. It is the section 151 officer’s commentary on what the new council inherits.

West Surrey will operate in a very challenging financial environment, with significant budgetary pressures and limited financial resources from 2027/28 (Vesting Day), coupled with increasing demand and costs of services, and reducing government funding. West Surrey Council will be increasingly reliant on Council Tax as the primary source of income.

The same commentary notes that this appointment sets the pay structure for the top three tiers of the new organisation, and that this will feed into the first budget.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. Waverley Borough Council still collects your bins, decides your planning applications and bills you for council tax until 31 March 2027. Our council tax page explains how the current bill is put together.
  • From 1 April 2027 there is one council. West Surrey Council takes on everything Waverley does now plus everything Surrey County Council does here, covering Guildford, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley and Woking.
  • The person appointed this week will write the first budget. The finance warning above, and the reliance on council tax it describes, is the backdrop to every decision that follows.
  • She will also be the returning officer, so she is responsible for the elections to the new council.

Decisions Waverley takes between now and abolition are already being shaped by this. The borough’s purchase of land by Farnham Park needs the shadow authority’s written consent before it can complete, as we reported when the Hale Road deal was approved.

Sources