Council boss who sat on ‘incompetent’ housing company board is leaving the authority

Rebecca Purnell, board member of Northamptonshire Partnership Homes is leaving her assistant chief executive job and the council says the departure is her decision.

By Sarah Ward

Rebecca Purnell was on the board of NPH when issues were occurring. WNC image.

West Northamptonshire Council’s assistant chief executive, who was on the board of its scandal-hit social housing company, is leaving.

Rebecca Purnell, who was appointed to the board of Northamptonshire Partnership Homes (NPH) in 2021, will depart the authority next month after five years of working in Northants.

This week the sheer mess made by NPH of three social housing schemes was revealed, with millions wasted, projects abandoned, millions of government grants handed back and just 24 homes provided for an outlay of £25m so far.

There have been calls for a public inquiry into the mess, which has links back to the former Northampton Borough Council, as two of the flawed schemes were begun during its tenure.

The key worker scheme in the centre of Northampton has been abandoned with millions already spent.

However, alongside the building scheme scandal, the housing company has been failing in its duties as a decent homes review last year found thousands of homes were not up to standard, fire safety assessments were worthless and so WNC had to refer itself to the housing regulator. The new Reform UK leadership decided this week to take the housing company back under full council control.

WNC chief executive Anna Earnshaw informed staff of her assistant’s departure. LDRS image.

In an email sent to staff on Friday, chief executive Anna Earnshaw said that Purnell was leaving as part of a ‘senior review and restructure’.

She said:

“I wanted to let you know that our assistant chief executive Rebecca Purnell will be leaving us at the end of July.

“Many of you will know Rebecca as she has had a wide and varied remit across many areas, initiatives and council partnerships. She has been an integral part of our Executive Leadership Team, since joining in January 2020, working with colleagues, councillors and partners to support the successful creation of our council, our covid response, the continued journey of improvement for children’s services and the delivery of over £115m of savings while improving services for residents.”

Anna Earnshaw went on to say her senior officer had built ‘an organisational culture we can all be proud of’ referencing the LGA peer review that mentioned the ‘tangible upbeat energy of staff’.

“Rebecca will be missed by all of us and whilst we are sorry to see her go, I’m sure you will join me in giving her our very best wishes for the future and exciting new opportunities ahead of her.”

Purnell has been a background figure in council meetings over the past few years. NN Journal has not in five years seen a report to council written by the assistant chief executive. According to the most recent published accounts for 2023/24 she was paid a salary of £110,000 with a £20,000 pension contribution on top.

NN Journal asked the council this morning whether Purnell had been dismissed and whether her departure is linked to her role in NPH. At 4pm (two hours after the first edition of this story was published) the council said it was Purnell’s decision to leave the authority.

The chief executive said the senior structure review continues and the next phase of a ‘resources directorate review’. Earnshaw said:

“I appreciate that change can create uncertainty, but all organisations evolve and change. These changes are natural steps as we move into the second term of our existence as a unitary council.”

Before their election Reform UK had made a big deal of senior salaries of officers in the West Northants authority. They pointed out that the chief executive earns more than the prime minister and more than two dozen senior officers are on salaries of six figures or more. They said they were not against officers earning these sums as ‘long as they deserve it’.

Reform UK’s new WNC cabinet. LDRS image.

The authority will hold its second full council meeting tonight. This could be the first test of the new administration as they will be asked to agree to a 2.5 per cent increase to their allowances to match those of staff. This would take the basic allowance claimable by all councillors to £16,454 a year. The council has the option to vote against the recommendation.