Essex county council’s director of corporate communications, Keith
Bradbrook, is to leave the council following a reorganisation which has
resulted in his job being downgraded.
He will be succeeded in a newly created top communications post by Local
Government Association chief press officer Mark Oakes, who was appointed
last week.
Essex, along with nine other county councils, will suffer a massive
budget cut as part of a general restructuring of local government across
England.
In April 1998, the county will lose control of two towns, Thurrock and
Southend-on-Sea, and suffer a corresponding 20 per cent cut in
budget.
Essex, like other counties including Berkshire and Devon, is cutting
back on staff in preparation for April. Its in-house corporate PR team
will shrink from nine to six people.
Bradbrook’s post has been downgraded and merged with the head of press
role, vacant since January. As head of communications Oakes, like
Bradbrook, will report to chief executive Stewart Ashurst.
Oakes has worked in local government since entering the PR
profession.
He joined the LGA at its inauguration in April this year. Previously he
worked at the Association of County Councils for six years, and at the
Association of District Councils before that.
Bradbrook has not yet decided on his next move, but told PR Week he was
considering returning to the charity sector. He was press and public
relations manager for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Children between 1985 and 1990, then worked for the London Docklands
Development Corporation as head of media and public relations until he
joined Essex in 1993.
