THE chief executive of Ryedale District Council is leaving the authority.

Janet Waggott, who has led the council's executive for more than 10 years, is taking up the role of chief executive of Selby District Council, and will also be assistant chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council one day a week.

Ms Waggott is leaving the Ryedale authority amid a period of change.

In response to funding cuts from central Government over the last seven years, she has recently overseen a cost-cutting programme at the authority designed to save more than £1m over the next three years. The 'Towards 2020' programme resulted in a staff restructure, which the union Unison estimated removed about 40 posts from the council.

These cuts were praised by some councillors as reducing costs while protecting services, though other councillors said the full impact of the programme is not yet being felt.

Ms Waggott has also had to formulate a 10-point improvement plan recently after a peer review criticised some of some of the council's operations.

The future arrangements for leadership of the Ryedale executive will be decided by members over the coming months.

Councillor John Clark, leader of the Liberal group in council, said there are several options open to the council going forward and any decision should be made "properly rather than quickly".

He said: "The council needs to decide its options and what it wants to achieve in terms of management and administration of the council. It then needs to look at how they can be delivered."

The new role was ratified by Selby District councillors at a meeting on Thursday. Final arrangements are now being made for her to start in the new role full-time.

Ms Waggott, who will start the role in "early September" after a three-month notice period, has already been working as interim chief executive at Selby over recent months at the same time as working for Ryedale.

She said: "What I’ve seen at Selby over recent months is a huge ambition to drive growth and support the area to be a great place to do business. Sustainable and targeted business and housing growth is vital if we’re to continue to thrive and there are some fantastic opportunities on the horizon for the Selby district.

"The joint role with the county council will help to achieve this and to strengthen ties between the two councils which are integral to delivering great value for money."

Councillor Linda Cowling, former Conservative leader of the council who recently defected to the Independent group, paid tribute to the outgoing chief executive.

"I don't think we could have wished for a better chief executive," she said. "She's moved the council forward, and the council is now in a much better position. I wish her all the luck in the world with the new job."