New chief executive of Portsmouth City Council is named

Natalie Brahma-Pearl, who has held the same role at Crawley Borough Council for the last six years, was selected by a cross-party group of councillors last week and will be recommended to the full council on Tuesday (June 20). She said she was ‘very excited and honoured’ to have been chosen for the £180,000-a-year role which she is due to begin in late September.

The recruitment process, which included the contracting of executive search agency Starfish, was launched in February after the council’s long-serving chief executive, David Williams, announced his intention to resign from full-time work after 16 years in the top position.

Six candidates were initially identified before this was narrowed down to a three-person shortlist that also included the council’s finance director Chris Ward. An appointment sub-committee met last week and selected Ms Brahma-Pearl to go to the final vote at next week’s extraordinary full council meeting. She will not be chief executive of Gosport Borough Council, ending the dual role arrangement, with Gosport councillors selecting a replacement on Thursday (June 15).

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The city council said she was chosen due to her record in Crawley where she oversaw the construction of the new town hall and led an £80m regeneration programme. Councillors were also impressed by the number of affordable homes built in Crawley under her tenure. David Williams has agreed to stay in post until his successor can begin work in Portsmouth.

Ms Brahma-Pearl said she was looking forward to moving to the city.

‘I am passionate about improving public services, and this is therefore a really exciting opportunity for me to build on Portsmouth’s excellent reputation,’ she said. ‘I feel privileged to have the opportunity to lead such a progressive and ambitious council in one of the best and unique cities in the UK.

‘I am very much looking forward to working with councillors, staff and partners to take the many great opportunities forward for the city and build on the strong foundations in place.’

The council’s leader, councillor Steve Pitt, said her appointment had been unanimously agreed by the sub-committee, which was made up of him and the leaders of the other political groups as well as deputy leader councillor Suzy Horton.

‘Natalie has a wealth of local government experience, including six years as chief executive at Crawley and she impressed the recruitment panel with her clear and obvious commitment to – and ambition for – making a positive difference to our residents and communities in Portsmouth.

‘I am looking forward to welcoming Natalie to her new role in Portsmouth and to working with her to continue to take forward our projects and plans to improve the city and the lives of the people who live here.’

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