- area, 3,754 Km2
- area within National Parks, 1,900 Km2
- population, 225,000
- living in rural areas, 34,000 (estimated)
- largest town, Barrow, population 55,000
- ageing population (65 plus) in 2020, 59,400
- ageing population (65 plus) projected 2040, 75,800
- working age population, 123,777
- primary schools, 122
- secondary schools, 20
- special schools, 3
- businesses and jobs, 11,815 businesses providing 114,000 jobs
- parishes, 136
- wards, 33
- town councils, 9
- parish councils, 107
- unitary Councillors, 65
Chief Executive
Join us on our Journey…
A warm welcome from Jonathan Brook, Leader of Westmorland and Furness Council
We are a new unitary council, just over 2 years old and in that short time we are proud of what we have achieved. As a new unitary authority, we set out with ambition and a clear vision and values, and we have delivered real impact against our ambitious Council Plan priorities. But there is still much to do and we are at an important point in our transformation journey.
We are now seeking an ambitious new Chief Executive, to help drive the council forward into its next exciting chapter.
As leader, I am pleased we have achieved so much, including an Ofsted ‘good’ rating for our Children’s Services, a fantastic outcome reflecting the huge skill and effort of our children’s teams. We have supported new bus routes to connect our communities, funded hundreds of community projects, begun our journey to transform waste collection services and switched on our very first new solar farm - a clear signal of our commitment to a greener, more sustainable future. These are just some of the many examples of our progress to date and you can find much more in our Annual Report.
That said I have no doubt that there is much more to be done. The public rightly expect our services to be consistently effective and offer value for money. Our staff need the right tools, systems and processes to be productive and make a difference.
We recently opened our doors to an LGA corporate peer challenge and as well as acknowledging our progress, they have helpfully highlighted the key areas we now need to focus on, to ensure we remain on track with our ambitious plans.
Personally, I am very excited about the future. Our transformation partnership with BAE Systems and the Government in Barrow-in-Furness is gaining momentum, with over £200m funding already agreed and we are developing a new Local Plan for the whole of W&F which will help us deliver ambitious housing delivery targets to enable our population and economic growth.
The Government’s devolution plans appear to offer even more opportunities for our area, and also for the wider footprint of Cumbria.
In addition, we must continue to focus on prevention and early intervention to ensure our adult social care services are high-quality, promoting independence and supporting people to live their best lives. We must make sure every cared for child grows up with the love, care and stability they deserve in homes that meet their needs and we must continue to work with our communities to understand, and help deliver, their ambitions for our places. These are all things that move us closer towards our vision for Westmorland and Furness to be a great place to live, work and thrive.
With all this in mind, we are now seeking an experienced, can-do, highly skilled and effective leader of people and place. Someone who has experience of delivering change and who looks for solutions and doing the best for our residents and our communities regardless of the pressures we face.
The successful candidate will be a visible leader who is committed and aligned to our core values. We need someone who works collaboratively and has a genuine commitment to partnership working. As our new Chief Executive, you will lead a committed workforce that is passionate, dedicated and takes great pride in working for Westmorland and Furness Council.
We are seeking a strong people leader as our next Chief Executive, someone who can listen, inspire and guide and who truly believes that putting people at the heart of every decision is the key to our continued success.
In short, we are seeking an exceptional individual for the role of Chief Executive someone who shares our passion for doing it the W&F way with our residents and community at the heart of all we do.
If you have the vision, the leadership, the values and the drive to take us forward, we would love to hear from you. This is your opportunity to be part of something special, to shape the future of a new council, and to help write the next chapter of our journey.
Westmorland and Furness – A brief overview of our area
Westmorland and Furness is truly a special place. Our area is well known for its beauty and rurality with 2 national parks (half the Lake District National Park and one third of the North Yorkshire National parks) popular with visitors from all over the world.
On our coast is Barrow-in-Furness, a busy shipbuilding town and a Royal port with cutting edge sub-sea technology industries which is set to benefit from significant national investment. Barrow has been recognised as a strategic national asset and key to the national endeavour as it plays a vital role in our defence and security thanks to the world class submarines it designs and builds for the royal navy. While inland South Lakeland and Eden have a rural, land-based economy with a strong visitor and cultural economy.
Every town, village and hamlet has its own unique community; welcoming, proud and resilient with ambitions for the future. Almost all have a town council, a parish council or a parish meeting which gives them a local voice.
Westmorland and Furness has national transport routes within its boundaries with the M6 and West Coast Main Line running north to south and the A66 and A590 running east to west.
Westmorland and Furness Council is England’s third largest unitary authority by geographical area. Collaboration is one of our core values, we can’t achieve all we want to achieve on our own. We are committed to building strong links with parish and town councils, local community groups, businesses, and other organisations.
Westmorland and Furness in numbers
Population challenges and opportunities
| Population segment | Population data |
|---|---|
| Children in need | 1,054 |
| Children looked after | 276 |
| Special education needs (SEN) support | 3,732 |
| People in residential nursing care | 1,180 |
| Receiving home care | 1,695 |
| Child poverty | 11.7% |
| Ethnicity | 6.8% schoolchildren from an ethnic minority |
| Not in education, employment or training | 169 (16 to 17 year-olds) |
| Gross disposable household income | Average (mean) for Westmorland and Furness £21,251, £24,303 in South Lakeland, £21,250 in Eden, £18,202 in Barrow |
| Number of second homes | Total 5,441 - Barrow 362; Eden 1,278; South Lakeland 3,801 |
| Holiday lets | Total 4,193 - Barrow 61, Eden 1,261, South Lakeland 2,871 |
Sparsity of population
We are England’s most sparsely populated local authority area. This presents challenges in terms of sustaining and delivering services, public transport, and connectivity.
Our environment, including natural resources and landscape, offers opportunities for the economy, for people, for the climate and for nature conservation.
We will prioritise innovation and continuous improvement as we look to deliver services to our sparsely populated communities. We recognise that transport plays a vital role in providing access to health services, education and employment, particularly in rural locations.
| Population data | |
|---|---|
| Area | People per square kilometre |
| Westmorland and Furness | 60 |
| Eden | 25 |
| Barrow | 864 |
| South Lakeland | 68 |
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Our Journey so far and our successes to date
We have delivered a balanced budget for the last 3 years and published our accounts on time – despite pressures and a difficult national funding picture.
We are in the process of developing our operating model – something unique to Westmorland and Furness Council - focusing on what matter to us most including community, easy access, effective services and the right processes, tools and foundations to support the organisation to deliver what we need to for our residents, communities and businesses.
We have a clear priority programme for 25/26 as well as an annual delivery plan and robust approach to corporate performance management.
We have enjoyed significant achievements over the last 2 years against our current council plan priorities including:
For our people
Children's Services being rated as good by Ofsted and a clear strategy and delivery plan for our 'Ambition for every child' agenda and the councils first major reshaping is now complete in Adults who have also enjoyed a range of success over the last 2 years as part of their promoting independence and wellbeing programme.
For the climate
We have made significant achievements in our journey to net zero – with a strong climate agenda and early achievements including our first solar farm and commitments to developing a net zero approach to our buildings and fleet. Our achievements have been recognised nationally with a long list of awards including Local and Public Sector net zero award, net zero strategy of the year and shortlisted for the LGC net zero category.
For our communities
We have a clear approach to our commitment to community power and have been working hard to embed this way of working across the whole organisation. Its an exciting opportunity to achieve the outcomes we want to see in a new and inclusive way – working alongside our communities to give them greater influence over their lives and places and the services they need and to ensure that W&F is a place where their voices matter.
For the economy and culture
Here in W&F we have a strong economic and cultural offer. A tri-party partnership between the Council, BAE Systems and Central Government has secured £220 million commitment from Government to support transformation Projected growth in Barrow has the potential to supercharge growth across W&F, Cumbria and beyond. Our unique strengths in the defence sector are nationally significant. A truly once in a life time opportunity. We are now at the start of Barrow Rising – a 10 year transformation plan to enable the delivery of the Defence Nuclear Enterprise, diversify the economy and significantly grow the population There are also opportunities in other areas including through the Borderlands Growth Deal and through the potential of Devolution and a Mayoral Combined Authority. We also have ambitious plans around affordable housing and culture for our area. The announcement to fund the duelling of the A66 also has the potential to drive growth in Penrith and the Eden valley.
For our customers
We have adopted a true co-production and customer centric approach that involves our customers and communities in shaping our services and placing them at the heart of services and service delivery. We are at the start of an exciting point of our journey. Embracing new technologies, including AI, to help us be even more accessible, effective and efficient and help us deliver even better customer services for all alongside a wider programme of work looking at our buildings and improving our face to face and telephony offer.
For our workforce
We have a clear approach as laid out in our people plan alongside a strong organisational brand and strapline ‘together we are.. Westmorland and Furness’ which has helped create a sense of belonging and galvanised a new commitment to ‘doing it the W&F way! Much of our success is down to our workforce. Our workforce is at the heart of our collective achievements. We also have an embedded set of organisational values and a clear commitment to creating and maintaining the right organisational culture. And we must be doing something right - as for the last 2 years our staff surveys have shown improvements across all staff indicators – and our work on internal comms and employee engagement has been recognised on a national stage being shortlisted for 2 National CIPR awards. Other recent employee initiatives include a volunteering policy, a leaders development programme ‘leading and managing the W&F way’ and life events approach.
What we are looking for from our new Chief Executive
So, as you can see … we are now at an exciting part of our journey and as we head into year three we are now seeking an exceptional Chief Executive who will bring visible, dynamic leadership, help us realise our ambitions and deliver lasting, meaningful change.
This is a role for a leader who can think strategically, act decisively, and work in close, constructive partnership with our elected members to deliver an organisation fit for the future.
In short, we are seeking an outstanding leader with a proven track record of leading and delivering change, at scale, in a complex environment.
You will
- Bring the credibility, confidence, and collaborative style to lead a talented officer team and build strong relationships across our communities and partners, locally and regionally.
- Be committed to, and have a strong track record, in delivering change and creating a positive organisational culture that is employee centric and employee driven
- Lead us through Devolution… we are one of only six areas to be selected for the Governments Devolution programme which could offer us exciting opportunities and a stronger voice at a national level. We expect to make a decision in autumn as to whether, with Cumberland Council, we want to progress to the next stage.
- Be a strong voice and key decision maker as part of Team Barrow– plans are gathering pace and the first major workstream known as the ‘Heart of Barrow’ is now getting underway as we look at the transformation of the town centre including plans for the theatre and market hall and significant housing delivery. Public sector reform to tackle some of the worst health inequalities and poverty in the country is also a priority
- Provide strong place based leadership for all of our places, settlements and communities from Alston to Walney and everywhere in between.
Crucially we want a leader who will build on what we have achieved so far and have the determination and skills required to lead us through our next exciting chapter
If you think you have what it takes to drive change, lead us with energy and commitment, while maintaining organisational stability and build on our successes to date, then please apply now.
How to apply
To register your details and to apply, please visit: https://starfishsearch.com/jobs/westmorland-furness-cex/
If you would like an informal conversation about this exciting role, please contact Tim Farr on 07756 293292 or tim.farr@starfishsearch.com.
Closing date for applications: 12th September 2025
Technical Interviews & Psychometric Assessment: W/C 22nd September 2025
Final interviews: W/C 6th October 2025
Our approach to recruitment
We are committed to building a diverse and skilled workforce that reflects the character of our community.
We believe in treating all applicants fairly and without bias. Our recruitment process is designed to be open, inclusive, and supportive, ensuring that you feel valued and able to demonstrate your strengths. We aim to make the process as transparent and equitable as possible for everyone.
For more information, please visit Working with us | Careers
Equality, diversity, and inclusion
Westmorland and Furness Council is committed to improving the diversity of its workforce to better reflect the communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone and work to promote an inclusive, supportive culture that values and celebrates our differences.
Safer recruitment
At Westmorland and Furness Council we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children, young people and adults at risk and expects all employees, volunteers and workers to share this commitment.
Our benefits
We are a caring council. We are dedicated to supporting your health and wellbeing while you are working for us. We have a variety of fantastic benefits that ensure you can achieve a healthy work-life balance.
If you want to find out more about our benefits and working for Westmorland and Furness, please visit the link below.
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