Kate Josephs: Sheffield Council’s resources director to cover while chief executive remains on paid leave

Sheffield Council’s head of resources is taking over chief executive duties while Kate Josephs remains on paid leave.
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Eugene Walker, executive director of resources, will take over the reins while Ms Josephs continues on discretionary leave from her £190,000 a year role as investigations into her lockdown leaving drinks are carried out.

Councillor Terry Fox, leader of the council, said: “There’s no doubt this has been a challenging time for the council, but I’ve said before that our workforce have been fantastic and I want to thank them again for continuing to drive this city forward.

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Eugene Walker, executive director of resources, will take over the reins while Ms Josephs continues on discretionary leave from her £190,000 a year role as investigations into her lockdown leaving drinks are carried out.Eugene Walker, executive director of resources, will take over the reins while Ms Josephs continues on discretionary leave from her £190,000 a year role as investigations into her lockdown leaving drinks are carried out.
Eugene Walker, executive director of resources, will take over the reins while Ms Josephs continues on discretionary leave from her £190,000 a year role as investigations into her lockdown leaving drinks are carried out.
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"Eugene Walker will be stepping up as acting chief executive for this interim period, with support from the senior leadership team. We have so much to look forward to in Sheffield this year and together we will continue to deliver for this city.”

Mr Walker added: “It’s a big year for Sheffield, with exciting plans for the city centre, major events taking place and important work to be done on our budget and delivering on the administration’s priorities. We are as committed as ever to serving the people of Sheffield.”

Sheffield Council’s investigations into Kate Josephs’ leaving drinks

The council initially set up a cross party committee to decide what should happen after Ms Josephs admitted to gathering with colleagues in the Cabinet Office for drinks to mark her stepping down as head of the government’s Covid Taskforce during lockdown.

The committee then announced it was bringing in an external investigator.

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The council said this investigation is likely to take more than a month.

Speaking on this investigation, Coun Fox said: “I know there is understandably interest from people in Sheffield, and I have spoken before about the depth of feeling we’ve seen on this issue – I absolutely understand that.

“I have to be clear though that there’s a rigid process we need to follow. That is why we have put a committee in place to deal with this, and we will need to let them, and the independent investigator, do their work.

“In the meantime, I’m putting interim arrangements in place, and the council will continue – as it has been – to deliver for the people of Sheffield. There are fantastic things happening here in Sheffield and we have exciting times ahead. Our committed workforce have been fantastic, and together we continue to drive this city forward.”

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Coun Fox said he is not aware who the external investigator will be yet and said “people have got to look in the mirror” in relation to what happened.

The council said there is a rigid process that needs to be followed that forms part of the contract for any statutory officer and there is very little information it can share publicly, therefore it will not be commenting on the progress of the investigation while it takes place.

The investigator will report back to the committee which will then decide its next steps.