The interim chief executive of a crisis-hit New Deal for Communities (NDC) partnership in Nottingham has left his post prior to a permanent replacement being found, Regeneration & Renewal has learned.
Stephen Lord was appointed in May to take over from Sam Tarff, who was suspended by the NDC board in 2007 pending an investigation by the partnership. Tarff’s suspension was later lifted but he did not return to his post.
Lord told Regeneration & Renewal: “I have completed the work I was asked to do. The new board is a credible and professional team … so I can leave it in safe hands.”
A spokesman for the Neighbourhood Development Company that runs the NDC programme in Radford and Hyson Green in Nottingham said Lord was appointed for three months, “which he exceeded, but personal commitments meant that he could not continue his role”.
The spokesman added: “He did stay in post to oversee the appointment of the new trustees and to take part in their first board meeting. The new board will shortly be making an announcement on the new arrangements.”
But a source close to the NDC said Lord’s departure had been “abrupt” and those working at the body did not have a “collectively clear understanding about where the organisation is going”.
In July, Narinder Sharma, chair of the NDC board, stood down. The board was overhauled as part of changes recommended in a governance review ordered by the Department for Communities and Local Government (R&R, 18 July, p2).
Other recommendations included replacing the NDC board’s chair with a council representative (R&R, 23 May, p1).
Joan Toovey, former chief executive of South Kilburn New Deal for Communities (SKNDC) in London, will take over Lord’s post in an interim capacity.