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Richard Carr has begun his new role as Woking Borough Council’s Chief Executive (Tuesday 2 April 2024).
Appointed Managing Director Commissioner by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities in December 2023, Richard fulfils the role of Chief Executive following Julie Fisher’s decision to step down.
Richard brings with him a wealth of local government experience having worked for seven unitary, county, district and London borough councils, including East Cambridgeshire District Council, Aylesbury Vale District Council, Wolverhampton City Council, and between 2009 and 2020, Chief Executive at Central Bedfordshire Council.
Between 2017 and 2020, Richard was also Senior Responsible Officer for the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care System (ICS).
In 2020, Richard supported the Department of Health and Social Care’s response to the Covid pandemic, which he did until 2022 as Regional Convenor for the South West. The region managed to deliver the fastest roll out of the vaccination programme in the country.
Since 2022, Richard has undertaken several interim management and coaching assignments, including with the City of Edinburgh Council and most recently, Colchester City Council where he has led the authority’s group of wholly owned trading companies as Managing Director.
Speaking about his appointment, Richard said: “I am excited to bring my knowledge and experience of working across the public sector to this role at a crucial time for Woking Borough Council.
“My primary focus is to enable the borough council to get back to discharging its statutory responsibilities in a way that is sustainable and focused on the needs of residents and communities in Woking. To achieve this, a huge amount of work lies ahead of us and there will be no shortage of challenges.
“There can be no illusions about the scale of the challenges facing the council, which is why it finds itself under Government intervention. However, with the support of committed staff, elected members and my fellow commissioners, together with partners and communities, I am determined that we will continue Woking’s recovery. Local people deserve nothing less.”