NEWS

Former Exeter City Council CEO appointed as Plymouth City Council growth director

New job title created for ex-CEO Karime Hassan eighteen months after Exeter councillors voted to terminate his employment.

Martin Redfern

Former Exeter City Council CEO Karime Hassan has been appointed as Interim Strategic Director for Growth by Plymouth City Council, just over eighteen months after Exeter city councillors voted to “terminate” his employment in December 2022.

Plymouth City Council changed the job title for the role, which was held by his predecessor Anthony Payne as Strategic Director for Place, at a meeting in August. Its salary is within the band two range of £136,920-£163,904 pending a 2024-25 pay review.

Bindu Arjoon was appointed to replace him as Exeter City Council CEO in March last year. A report presented to the city council’s audit and governance committee the preceding week confirmed that Karime Hassan received a total of just under £370,000 in pay and benefits in his final year as CEO.

His full Exeter job title had been “Chief Executive and Growth Director”. A 2017 Local Government Association report concluded that his dual role, for which he was paid an enhanced salary, should be separated into two because of the difficulties of fulfilling both parts at the same time.

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