THE chief executive of the council is to retire, it has been announced.

Aubrey Fawcett, who is in charge of a staff of 4,500 and a budget of £203m, is set to step down from his £118k post in late September.

Mr Fawcett joined Inverclyde Council in 2006 and was the director for environment, regeneration and resources prior to taking the top job in September 2016 following the departure of John Mundell.

He'd previously worked with North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council, Clackmannanshire Council, Fife Regional Council, North Yorkshire County Council and Aberdeen City Council and has 35 years of service in local government.

During his stint as chief executive the council has gone through a number of positive external evaluations.

These included reviews of social work services, education and a 2017 'best value' audit into the council which concluded there had been a ‘sea change’ in how local services were run.

The report described Inverclyde Council as the most improved in Scotland.

Mr Fawcett has also led the council’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and charted its route through recovery.

He said: “I have very much enjoyed my time with Inverclyde Council since arriving here in 2006.

"It has been an enormous privilege serving the people of Inverclyde and working with all members and staff both past and present.

"I would like to thank them all for their support over the years and in particular over the past year, which has thrown up so many challenges about how we deliver public services during a pandemic and the many restrictions in place.

"Inverclyde has made its mark on me and I am proud of the strong reputation we have built, the levels of teamwork right across the council and the commitment to working together as partners across many agencies and organisations focused on the needs of the community.”

Local authority leader Stephen McCabe today praised Mr Fawcett for his work and said he would be missed.

Councillor McCabe said: “I am naturally disappointed Aubrey is leaving but I fully respect his decision.

"Aubrey has delivered real success during his time at Inverclyde Council both as corporate director and more recently as chief executive.

"He has made a huge contribution to the progress made in the last 15 years and the success of the council has been highlighted repeatedly during his tenure, with a number of highly positive inspections, not least the Audit Scotland report which highlighted Inverclyde’s reputation for sound financial management and good working relationships, particularly with trade unions and partners.”

The search for Mr Fawcett's replacement will get under way this month, with a report going before the full council meeting to set out recruitment process.