A POLITICAL row has broken out over the search for a new chief executive for Kent County Council.

Opposition parties have criticised a decision to accept only internal candidates for a post that is regarded as one of the biggest in local government.

Interviews for the job are due to be held in the next few days but KCC has decided not to advertise the post externally.

But in an unusual move, the leaders of both the opposition Labour and Liberal Democrat groups have publically expressed "grave concerns" about the recruitment process.

They claim that it will result in "an extremely small pool of potential candidates, entirely disproportionate to the role, not to mention the salary it attracts."

County council leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart has defended the decision and says he is confident that those who are shortlisted have "exceptional ability."

He has also pointed out that both parties initially backed the decision to confine the shortlist to internal candidates when the question of a successor to Mike Pitt, the current chief executive, was debated by KCC’s Personnel Committee.

Labour leader Cllr Mike Eddy and Liberal Democrat leader Trudy Dean say in a letter to Sir Sandy: "The people of Kent deserve to have the very best person in the chief executive’s post. Any of the internal candidates may well be the right person but for this crucial post, we need to be sure that we have measured them against the best from outside Kent County Council."

Meanwhile, reservations were also expressed by Unison, the union that represents hundreds of council employees. Branch secretary David Buss said: "It is likely KCC will not be looking below chief officer level and that does mean they are likely to be all male and all white."

In his reply, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart (Con) says: "I believe we have excellent staff in KCC and I have confidence in their exceptional ability."