Former chief executive of Northamptonshire County Council Katherine Kerswell has been appointed as the director general for civil service reform.
Mrs Kerswell, who was paid £197,000 during her time at County Hall and famously pocketed a £500,000 ‘golden goodbye’ after quitting her subsequent post at Kent County Council less than half way through her contract, will be paid £142,000 in her new role.
She said she is “particularly keen to make change take root and really happen with urgency and pace”.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said Kerswell would help to sharpen accountability, collect consistent management information and improve how government runs its major projects.
Mrs Kerswell started work with the county council in 2007 and only a few months after her appointment launched the infamous Taste the Strawberry campaign, which was designed to represent the overall ‘flavour’ of the council’s services.
The campaign was lampooned by some pundits and even became the subject of a comedy song.
But Mrs Kerswell inistsed it had been a success. A week before she left her post she said: “As you walk around County Hall, people are always going on about strawberries, there’s a real buzz about it.”