ANGER is growing about the estimated £3,000-a-week cost to City of York Council of appointing a new interim director of city and environment services.

Independent councillor Mark Warters has written to chief executive Kersten England to request a full breakdown of the costs of appointing Neil Taylor in the wake of the retirement of Bill Woolley.

The Press revealed last week that Mr Taylor’s recruitment, through executive recruitment firm Gatenby Sanderson, was expected to cost the authority about £3,000 a week.

Coun Warters said taxpayers in Osbaldwick had raised the matter with him.

Green councillor Andy D’Agorne has also raised concerns. He said: “When posts lower down are going unfilled or being deleted, and other staff expected to cover the work, this sends all the wrong messages to the workforce.”

Mrs England said she would ask Mr Taylor to meet group leaders so they could “get a sense of the scale of work which he will be handling.”

She said that given the scale of reduction in the senior management group – from 28 to 17 – she did not feel it was advisable to cover the workload from existing resources and put major important schemes for the city, such as Access York, at any risk.

Labour council leader James Alexander said Coun Warters had not raised any issues when group leaders were sent an email about the matter from Mrs England.