KERSTEN England, the former chief executive of City of York Council, has announced that she will retire this Summer after eight years in her current local government role.

Ms England, who left York to take on the chief executive post at Bradford Council in 2015, will stand down in June, shortly after the May local elections.

As well as her role as chief executive, Ms England acts as returning officer for any elections held in Bradford.

Although her tenure at the top of Bradford Council has seen a number of successes for the city, such as the district being awarded City of Culture 2025, it has also seen the children’s services taken away from council control after years of underperformance.

Meanwhile, the murder of Star Hobson, a Bradford toddler who was found to have been failed by social services, led to calls for Ms England to resign.

Her work was also featured on prime time television last year. BBC’s Bradford on Duty regularly featured Ms England discussing issues such as regeneration, poverty and crime in the district.

A council chief executive is appointed, not voted in like councillors. Their role is to head up all council services, and liaise between councillors from all parties and council officers.

They are usually the highest paid employees for any authority.

Announcing her retirement on Monday evening, Ms England said: “After 33 years in local government and eight years as chief executive of Bradford Council I have decided to retire in June. 

"It’s been a privilege to work with so many brilliant people in the district who are so dedicated to its success. 

"I want to hand the baton over to the next chief executive to give them a great start.  We are working hard to support councillors to set a budget in February, to get the Bradford District Children and Families Trust up and running from April and to run a set of local elections in May. There’s also important work to be done to ensure we are ready to deliver a fabulous year of culture in 2025.

“Though I will step away in June I will never stop being a champion and advocate for Bradford district, not least because I’ve made my home here for over 30 years.”

The daughter of Scottish writer Joan Lingard, best known for her Belfast based novels, Ms England first started working for Bradford Council from 1993 to 2005.

She then took on roles including director of local government for Yorkshire and the Humber, director of communities at Calderdale Council, and the top roll at York Council for almost six years.

She returned to Bradford Council to take the role of chief executive in 2015.