John Bland to Become Treasurer and Deputy Clerk at GMWDA
Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) today announced the creation of an additional senior post of Treasurer and Deputy Clerk to the Authority, and also that Oldham Council’s Director of Finance and ICT (Information and Communication Technology), John Bland would be filling this post.
John Bland has been heavily involved in the procurement of the Greater Manchester PFI Contract due to his post at Oldham Council, which includes being Treasurer to GMWDA. John has been Treasurer at GMWDA since September 2002 (Oldham Council is lead district to GMWDA) and to date, has had to combine responsibilities to Oldham with those of Treasurer to GMWDA, together with a leading role in the contract procurement. The contract being procured by GMWDA is the largest and most complex waste management contract of its kind in Western Europe, and will see a major capital investment by a consortium headed by preferred bidder, Viridor Waste Management and John Laing Investments (Viridor Laing).
With John Bland in the new role, there will be transfer of knowledge from the Director of Procurement on the details of the contract negotiations leading up to contract signing, within the Authority. As a result the Authority will improve its position in managing the implementation and transitional phases of the contract, as well as providing the capacity for the Authority to position itself appropriately in the emerging sub-regional governance agenda, and respond to the growing national importance of environmental and climate change issues.
Councillor Neil Swannick, Chair of the Authority commented: “We are very happy to be welcoming John into the post of Treasurer and Deputy Clerk to the Authority. John is a highly valued member of the team and it will be great for us to take full advantage of his expertise on a full time basis as the contract is signed and becomes operational.”
Oldham Council Leader Howard Sykes said: “John has given sterling and dedicated service to the Council as man and boy, literally. By any measure his is a great success story of hard work and personal achievement having joined the Council as a teenage trainee and ending up as its top financial officer.
“His challenge now is to take financial charge of the biggest waste disposal contract in Europe worth billions of pounds to help make possible Greater Manchester’s ambition to become a world centre for environmentally sustainable solutions to waste disposal. It is a big challenge but given John’s ability and depth of experience I have no doubt he will make a success of his new role and I wish him well for the future, “ said Councillor Sykes.
Oldham Council Chief Executive Andrew Kilburn, who is also Clerk to the Waste Disposal Authority, said: “John’s appointment as Treasurer and Deputy Clerk is an excellent move, given his wealth of local government financial expertise and his close association to the Waste Disposal Authority as financial advisor over many years.
“He has been a key player already in his joint role of Director of Finance for Oldham Council and lead finance officer for the Waste Disposal Authority over many years and in putting together the multi billion pound PFI contract that will shape waste disposal management in our region for the next decade and a half. John’s track record speaks for itself and he moves to his new job with a long list of major achievements as Oldham Council Director of Finance under his belt. These include the establishment of the strategic service delivery partnership, several PFI schemes involving Council services and the Building Schools for the Future initiative. To cap it all his peers recently named him Local Government Finance Director of the Year which he should rightly feel very proud,” said Mr Kilburn.
John is expected to take up his new position in September this year.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1.GMWDA is the largest of six English waste disposal authorities that were created under the Local Government Act 1985. GMWDA provides waste disposal services for over 958,000 households in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford. It handles around 5% of national municipal waste.
2.The Authority is in the later stages of a procurement of a 25 year waste services contract using the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). In January 2007 the Authority appointed the Viridor/Laing consortia as its Preferred Bidder. The Authority has subsequently provided details of the emerging technical solution and new infrastructure (see Press Related Press Releases at: www.gmwda.gov.uk).
3.John Bland was awarded Finance Director of the Year in November 2007, at awards run by the Local Government Chronicle which recognises outstanding performance and achievement in the world of Local Authority finance. He has personally led a number of successful partnerships and Private Finance Deals to conclusion and locally, he has been recognised for the work on Oldham’s successful Strategic Service Delivery Partnership - the setting up of the Unity Partnership, and other external funding initiatives.
For further information please call Anna Figgins-Barrett, Communications Manager on 0161 770 1721.