New Peterborough council chief executive says city has ‘huge potential’

Matt Gladstone will join the council at the end of January, when he will take over from the existing chief executive Gillian Beasley who announced her plans to retire earlier in the year.

Matt has held a number of roles in central and local government, including four years with the Audit Commission.

He is currently Executive Director for Place at Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and his previous positions include Assistant Chief Executive and Director of Commissioning, Policy and Performance for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

In these roles Matt has held responsibility for services such as economic development, culture, housing, environment, transport, legal, finance and HR.

Matt said: “I am really proud to have been given this opportunity as chief executive to lead Peterborough City Council. The city has huge potential and is already one of the fastest growing cities in the country. It has strong ambitions, including a new university in 2022.

“I am excited to be working with the team in Peterborough and am looking forward to helping guide the council in strengthening its financial resilience and in delivering services for the people and businesses of Peterborough.”

Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, Leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “We are delighted to be able to announce that Matt will join the council early next year as Chief Executive. He joins us at a time of great challenge yet enormous opportunity to take the council forward into the future where we will continue to grow and prosper.

“In his career Matt has been responsible for a considerable breadth of services, providing him with a sound appreciation of the workings of local and central government. His time with the Audit Office has also given him a very good understanding of finance, which of course will put him in good stead to lead our drive towards financial sustainability which is our number one goal.

“I look forward to working closely with Matt on our plans to make Peterborough a better place to live, work and visit. Matt will of course continue to work with our neighbours at Cambridgeshire County Council on the services that we share and will work closely with their newly appointed chief executive.”

The decisions to seek separate chief executives for Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council were unanimously agreed at both Peterborough’s Employment Committee and Cambridgeshire’s Staffing and Appeals committee in August.

This followed the announcement by outgoing chief executive Gillian Beasley of her plans to retire from a role leading both authorities which she has held since 2016.

The salary scale for the Peterborough City Council role is £166,846 - £203,923.

Salary scales for senior officers in local government are set by members based on national comparisons (Hay scale), and reflect the size and complexity of the organisation, the area covered and the size of the authority’s staffing complement and budgets for which the chief executive is ultimately responsible.

PCC employs a total of 1,299 staff (non schools) and has a gross annual budget of £423m.