West Midlands council names Director for Legal, Compliance and Assurance

Aftab Razzaq has been appointed the Director for Legal, Compliance and Assurance at Dudley Council and becomes its monitoring officer.

Razzaq joins from Derbyshire Dales District Council where he was the Director of Governance and Corporate Services.

He has sixteen years’ experience working in local government and has served as a monitoring officer for the last seven years.

His previous roles include being Chief Officer – Legal and Governance at Rugby Borough Council for four years.

Razzaq said: “I was born and bred in the borough, and I have a real sense of place.

“The opportunity to be part of your ‘home’ borough at such an exciting period is a unique privilege, one which I am very much looking forward to.”

Razzaq’s appointment is one of four to Dudley’s leadership team, including its next Director for Children and Young People (John Macilwraith), its Group Director for Housing and Assets (Kathryn Jones), and its Group Director for Communities and Growth (Nick McGurk).

The four will work under new chief executive Balvinder Heran in a new streamlined management structure established as part of this year’s budget, the local authority said.

Cllr Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said: “Aftab and John are the first two appointments to work with our new chief executive as part of the council’s new operating model. They both have proven track records and great experience, and I am confident they will be fantastic additions to the authority.

“I’m incredibly pleased to be retaining some of our existing talent in Kathryn and Nick, who have been with the council for some time and will continue to serve our borough with their strength and commitment,

“More appointments will follow in the coming weeks as we develop a strong new leadership team to drive the council forward and forge an exciting future for our borough and our residents.”