West Northamptonshire Council’s Chief Executive Anna Earnshaw has announced she will be leaving the authority later this year.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Arnull, today paid special tribute to Anna, who has been the unitary council’s chief executive since its creation four years ago, as “one of a kind” in local government who has achieved so much for public services and communities.
Anna, whose career in local government spans 37 years across a broad range of services in both the public and private sector roles, is intending to pursue new opportunities within the sector and spend more time with her family, having successfully established and led WNC through its formative years as the country’s fifth largest unitary council.
Anna was appointed as WNC’s first chief executive in 2021 amid major local government reorganisation (LGR) in Northamptonshire, playing an integral role in bringing together the services of the county’s eight previous local authorities into the successful creation of the two new unitary councils alongside the countywide covid response.
Her time in the role has seen the council deliver over £115 million of savings alongside many service improvements, with a recent independent peer review highlighting the ‘strong positive start’ of the young unitary authority with ‘much achieved at pace’, its positive culture and ‘tangible upbeat energy’.
It has been an absolute privilege serving West Northamptonshire’s communities and I’m extremely proud of everything we have achieved together. When we embarked on our journey as a new unitary council four years ago it really was a fresh start for everyone, and a chance to do public services differently and better across our area. There have been many challenges along the way but also real opportunities too and as both a local resident and public servant I have relished the role I’ve played in helping to make a difference.
Having made my decision to leave on a personal level some time ago, it was important for me to support our new administration through their first months in office and from my perspective they have established themselves as professional and committed to helping their communities. In the coming months I will work closely with them as they shape the council’s future priorities and budget proposals and prepare transitional arrangements.
It has been a pleasure to work with such committed, dedicated and professional council colleagues who have worked so hard over the years, and I’d like to thank them all for their support. That’s what’s made my decision to leave so difficult, but the time is now right personally for me to do new things.
Anna Earnshaw, West Northamptonshire Council’s Chief Executive
Anna really is one of kind in local government and an excellent, dedicated public servant who has achieved so much for services and residents in West Northants and will be greatly missed. Although I am saddened by her decision to leave, I fully understand her reasons for doing so and I am grateful for all the experience, support and guidance she has given to myself and the Cabinet since we came into office. She really has been instrumental in helping us get straight down to business for our residents and already achieve so much in our first 100 days.
Anna leaves a strong legacy of a young and ambitious council with firm foundations and positive culture which I am in no doubt will continue to evolve and help its communities to thrive in the years ahead.
Councillor Mark Arnull, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council
Anna joined Northamptonshire County Council in 2016 working with health in her first year before becoming the Director of Adult Social Services (DASS). She later went on to become the Deputy Chief Executive at the County Council playing a vital role in helping bring the Council back onto a stable financial footing ahead of LGR, including delivering £40m of savings in adult social care in the authority’s last 2 years and leading on the County COVID response, before becoming the chief executive of the new Unitary .
Anna is also a board member of the ICB in Northamptonshire and has worked closely with health colleagues across the system and region to transform services and create better integrated care, especially in the community and early intervention space and in the nationally acclaimed ageing well programme.
