by political editor Paul Francis

Kent County Council is paying a temporary schools chief £3,300 a week, it has emerged.

The authority has appointed Lorraine O’Reilly for five months to cover the vacant job of director of school standards and planning.

One of her key tasks will be to act on primary school standards across Kent, where results have not kept pace with national improvements.

The post was not filled when it was first advertised and KCC said it was now reviewing the role before recruiting a permanent appointment.

The recruitment is the latest in a series of interim management posts at County Hall that has attracted controversy because of the costs.

The KM Group revealed in March how the county council was paying £165,000 for an interim manager brought in for ten months to oversee a shake-up in the way the authority is run.

Ms O’Reilly comes to the council following the departure of former children’s services director Rosalind Turner, who left in March.

She was most recently the national director of the Commissioning Support Programme, a government initiative aimed at improving children’s services. She has previously worked with a number of councils including Brighton and Hove, where she was responsible for introducing a contentious lottery admissions system.

She has also worked at Harrow council, where she led five directorates including children’s and adult services and was in charge of 4,500 staff and a £205m budget.

In a statement, county council leader Cllr Paul Carter (Con) said:

"Lorraine is being paid £3,300 per week, which is an inclusive salary meaning that no additional payments are made for National Insurance or pension, nor is there any paid annual leave or sick leave. We are currently reviewing the most appropriate structure for the education, learning and skills directorate and will re-advertise the role when the job description is finalised."

He defended the use of interim directors, saying:

"I am in no doubt that we get value for money from our interim directors. In every case, they have been set stretching, measurable, ambitious targets to achieve. In many cases they have delivered outcomes that could not have been achieved by substantive members of staff due to the nature of the work. Interims by definition are used to coming into an organisation and achieving quick outcomes."

Is this a fair salary for a senior position, or is it too high when other council jobs are at risk? Join our debate below.