New permanent Chief Executive appointed for Havant Borough Council

A new permanent Chief Executive with a vision of making the borough an even better place to live, work, visit and invest in, has been announced.

Havant Borough Council has appointed Steve Jorden as its new permanent Chief Executive.

Steve Jorden brings a wealth of local authority experience to the role and a firm commitment to do all he can to support communities.

Steve has a successful track record in managing customer-facing services, organisational change and transformation initiatives, and delivering substantial regeneration and development projects.

Prior to taking up the role at Havant Borough Council, Steve has worked with many other local authorities including district councils in the Devon area and Worcestershire. More recently Steve worked with Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council, where he oversaw their decoupling as a partnership.  

Mr Jorden will take up the role from April from Kim Sawyer who has been guiding the authority as the interim Chief Executive since February 2022.

Havant Borough Councils Leader, Councillor Alex Rennie, said: “I am delighted with Steve Jorden’s appointment to the role of Chief Executive of the Borough Council. 

“He brings with him a wealth of experience from other local authorities and elsewhere.  His credentials and impressive leadership qualities, as well as the great understanding he has of all the services this council provides, will undoubtedly lead us to achieve our corporate priorities.

Steve who is from New Zealand and has lived in the UK since 2003 said “I am thrilled to have been appointed as Chief Executive and I look forward to working with Councillor Rennie, members, officers and partners to build on the strong foundations already in place in the borough.

“Working to support our residents, and further improve the borough for the future.”

Joining Havant Borough Councils Chief Executive will be two new members of the management team, which have also been undertaken by an interim team.

Joanne McIntosh will become Chief Legal Officer, and Monitoring Officer.  

Joanne will be joining Havant from her current role as Director of Legal and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer at Woking Borough Council.

She has dedicated her working life to the public sector, starting her career at Arun District Council before moving on to Guildford and then Woking Borough Council.  

Jo believes that good governance is at the heart of the council’s business and should be focused to support and drive the core business and purpose of the organisation. It is about demonstrating accountability and transparency in all the council’s actions and decisions.  

Steven Pink, has been appointed as Chief Finance Officer, and Section 151 Officer

Joining the borough council from his current position within the NHS, Steven will bring a breadth of experience to support the growth and development of both the authority and the Borough of Havant.

Previously, Steven has also worked for Dorset County Council and as Finance Director for Tricuro Ltd, a local authority trading company set up by Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole Councils and has experience of delivering a successful joint venture.

Both newly appointed roles will start their new ventures with Havant Borough Council from April 2023.