By political editor Paul Francis

Mystery has deepened over reports that Kent County Council’s most senior officer is to leave the authority.

The county council has responded to the reports with a statement saying that its group managing director Katherine Kerswell "is and remains" in the post.

The statement also denied that she had been dismissed or put on gardening leave.

However, the council said it would not be responding to further questions on the issue amid speculation the authority has been discussing the future role of the managing director and is considering moving to a model that involves no longer having a chief executive.

In its statement, KCC said: "Since joining Kent County Council in May 2010, Katherine Kerswell has been an outstanding managing director. In a very tough financial climate and against a background of severe budget cuts, she has done a great deal to relieve the financial burden on Kent council tax payers and has implemented Paul Carter and the cabinet’s strategy for reshaping the council. Significant savings have been made possible through the continuing restructuring process and the new operational framework presided over by Katherine Kerswell and the corporate management team so far."

"We would like to make it clear that Katherine Kerswell is and remains the managing director of Kent County Council. It is completely untrue to suggest that she has been dismissed or put on garden leave. Neither the council nor Katherine Kerswell will be making any further public statement."

County Hall sources say that Katherine Kerswell, who joined KCC from Northamptonshire county council in 2010, has been in discussions about her future with the authority.

Mrs Kerswell was appointed to KCC in March 2010 following the departure of Peter Gilroy.

She initiated a wide-ranging re-organisation of the way the authority was run, with the shake-up leading to the departure of a string of senior directors. A number of temporary interim managers had to be recruited to plug the gaps.

She was behind the controversial "Change To Keep Succeeding" programme, which saw a restructuring of the council under five new directorates.