Tower Hamlets Council has appointed Tina Stankley as its interim Chief Finance Officer (s151 Officer) for a period of up to six months, commencing on September 4, 2026. This appointment is intended to ensure continuity of financial leadership while a permanent Corporate Director of Resources is onboarded.
The expected outcome is to provide the organisation with the capacity and capability to progress strategic plans and to ensure that the Council is able to fully discharge its statutory responsibilities pending the conclusion of the recruitment and onboarding to the position of Corporate Director of Resources (Section 151) on a permanent basis.
The council is seeking to mitigate regulatory and statutory risk by ensuring the discharge of its duties under section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972. The report states that Do Nothing this would expose the Council to regulatory and statutory risk and place the organisation in breach of the constitution as it is a requirement of all local authorities to appoint a Chief Financial Officer (s151).
Appointing to the role on a permanent basis is also noted to provide greater leadership stability which has a positive impact on risk management and performance delivery.
The decision was made during a Council meeting on Friday, September 4, 2026. Councillor Abu Talha Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Finance, Assets and Governance, introduced the report, emphasizing the critical nature of these statutory roles for the council's financial administration and governance. Councillor Maium Talukdar, Cabinet Member for Tackling Inequality and the Cost of Living, Improving Customer Services and Voluntary Sector Engagement, seconded the recommendation and thanked the outgoing Section 151 Officer, Richard Ennis, for his contributions. Councillor Talukdar described Mr Ennis as a very passionate and committed and dedicated professional
and stated, We all enjoyed working with him and we have learnt a lot from him.
During the meeting, Councillor David Edgar raised questions regarding the duration of interim appointments. Specifically, he asked, how long it is likely to be that we will have an interim person
for the Section 151 Officer role and why the interim appointment for the Monitoring Officer role was for 12 months as opposed to 6 months. The Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Halsey, clarified that the reference to up to 12 months is really a belt and braces approach if we are unable to appoint to the Chief Compliance Officer the first time round.
He also stated that he has delegated authority to appoint an interim for up to six months, and that the council structure would be published.
The typical process for appointing a permanent Corporate Director of Resources at Tower Hamlets Council involves a competitive recruitment process
overseen by the Human Resources Committee. Section 5.2 of the Employment Procedure Rules states that engagement of Chief Officers to permanent positions or interim appointments of over six (6) months, will be recruited through the normal recruitment process overseen by the Human Resources Committee.
The report also mentions that the Appointment Sub-Committees, which has a representation from across political groups, has had all of that information and has made an informed decision as a result of that recruitment process.
Further details of the meeting can be found in the Updated Agenda Pack and the Public Reports Pack.