Senior Executive To Leave Council After 20 Years' Service
18th November 2021
Carron McDiarmid, Executive Chief Officer Communities and Place is retiring from The Highland Council after 35 years of public service and 20 years as a senior officer in the Council.
Carron was previously the Council's Head of Policy for many years and led the first phase of Council Redesign. She also undertook a secondment in the role of the Chief Operating Officer for the Scottish Police Authority during 2018/19, prior to taking up her current post of Executive Chief Officer.
Carron said: "It has been a privilege to work with so many committed and talented staff and Members over the years in the Council. Establishing and leading the new Communities and Place Service since 2019 alongside a great team has been especially fulfilling.
"Their response over the past 20 months has been outstanding; adjusting all our frontline public services for waste, environmental health, amenity, registrar, customer services and bereavement services. Key achievements have also been supporting the visitor management plan and initiating over ten vital COVID-19 projects ranging from running helplines, providing mobile vaccination and testing units and other support for NHS Highland's public health team. We have engaged with over 300 community groups, distributing community grants, and providing food and other support throughout the pandemic.
"I've been fortunate to have had a Lochaber focus too, chairing the Fort William 2040 Board of partners and have been inspired by the communities in Muck, Rum, Eigg and Knoydart from recent engagement visits in the west.
"All of these experiences show there are many ways to be active in community and public life and I am keen to explore new opportunities."
She added: “I'm glad to have been part of a dedicated senior team under Donna Manson’s dynamic leadership."
Donna Manson said: “Carron has been a high performing chief officer in the Council’s Executive Chief Officer team. She is a very experienced, talented and able leader, with a huge amount to offer in any walk of life. She will be very much missed by her colleagues and I know she will stay connected."
Cllr Allan Henderson, Chair of the Communities and Place Committee said: “It has been my pleasure to chair the Communities and Place committee since its inception under the guidance of Carron. She is an exceptional officer with a cool and clear head which works strategically for the whole of the Highlands, along with her brief for Lochaber. This has all been delivered through the Covid period. Carron will be a great success at whatever she chooses to do post council."
Carron leaves her post early in the new year. Applications have been invited internally for an interim post pending permanent recruitment to be arranged.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
Households across Scotland have received £4.1 billion in relief since the Council Tax Reduction scheme was introduced in 2013. People on low incomes are eligible for the benefit if they live in Scotland - there is no equivalent in England where most councils require each household to contribute a minimum amount of council tax, irrespective of ability to do so.
The Highland Council is preparing to carry out improvement works in Thurso at Ormlie Road and at The Mall riverside path adjacent to Janet Street. The scope of works on Ormlie Road will include junction improvements between Castlegreen Road and Juniper Drive with new drop kerbs and tactile paving and some surface repairs.
A Highland-wide partnership launched earlier in 2024 to support people on their journey towards, into and within employment is looking forward to a New Year in 2025 full of exciting opportunities designed to help hundreds more people across the Highlands unlock their work potential. Work.
The Highland Council is delighted to share that its Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme has won the Outstanding Project Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards. Described by Scottish Renewables as a "pioneering clean power scheme", this £7 million project demonstrates the incredible impact that can be achieved through combined public and private sector investment.
The ambitious yet focused ‘Highland Investment Plan' is committed to addressing our asset challenges over the next twenty years. By using a place based approach, to ensure a more integrated community offering through the creation of new community facilities.
Applications to the Inverness Winter Payments Scheme, which is fully funded by the Inverness Common Fund, have already been awarded to 1,035 eligible households within the 7 specified Inverness Wards. Leader of Inverness Area, Councillor Ian Brown said: "Since the Scheme was opened to applications for this winter, already £114,885 has been awarded to people who live in the eligible Wards of Aird and Loch Ness, Inverness West, Inverness Central, Inverness Ness-side, Inverness Millburn, Culloden and Ardersier and Inverness South Wards.
The first Highland-wide virtual jobs fair held last month has proved to be a hit with participants and businesses. The week-long virtual event, which was delivered by the Local Employability Partnership for the West - The Highland Council, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Department for Work and Pensions, Developing the Young Workforce and UHI North West and Hebrides was timed to coincide with Scottish Careers Week 2024.
