MIKE Siegal, director of Cumbria Social Services, has been named as the county council's deputy chief executive.

He will spearhead a drive to improve the council's performance and meet the challenges and changes facing the authority.

Council leader Rex Toft and chief executive Louis Victory said there had been "an exceptionally" strong field of internal and external candidates, and it was a "real tribute to Mr Siegal and to the quality of our in-house team as a whole."

The new post is seen as key to the authority's success in pressing forward its drive for service excellence.

"We aim to be one of the very best councils in the UK, and Mike Siegal's role in heading up performance improvement will make a big contri-bution to this," said the county council leader and chief executive in a joint statement.

Mr Siegal (pictured), 50, who is married with two children and lives in Kendal, said he was delighted with his promotion. "I've worked in Cumbria for 15 years and have a great love for the county and utmost respect for those who work for the county council.

"Most impor-tant, this post provides the opportunity to further improve performance and the quality of services delivered to the people of Cumbria on behalf of the county council.

"This new post presents an exciting challenge and of course continuing my career in both Cumbria and the county council will enable me to build on the many excellent working relationships I have developed."

Mr Siegal joined the county council in 1988 to manage disability and mental health services, and later lead the development and manage-ment of Cumbria Care.

May 9, 2003 11:00