Mr Harbord’s appointment was agreed at the Full Council meeting last night, Monday 27 July, following the recommendation from the Chief Officers Employment 
Panel.
Leader of Boston Borough Council, Cllr Richard Austin said:
“I’m delighted to welcome Richard Harbord as the interim Chief Executive. He has a wealth of experience and that will be a great value to our borough in the months ahead.”
“This is a crucial time for the Council and to have somebody with Richard’s experience both in finance and local government, who can look independently at merged services and market testing, will be crucial.”
Mr Harbord has a wide experience of Local Government, working in 8 Local Authorities in London and the South East.
He has been Chief Executive and Director of Finance at the London Borough of Richmond and Managing Director of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. He has also served as an interim Chief Executive at the National Union of students and Interim Section 151 officer at Watford Council, Dacorum Council, and Barking and Dagenham Council.
Mr Harbord is a qualified accountant (FCCA CIPFA) and is also a qualified member of The Institute of Rating, Revenues and Valuation, Institute of Management Information systems and the Institute of Management Consultants.
He also has two Master of Philosophy research degrees and is on the Council of Cipfa (5 years) and IRRV (25 years).
He lectures and writes widely on Local Government issues, mainly on management and finance but he also has worked extensively on emergency planning and business continuity and is the Architect of the current Resilience arrangements in London. He worked on the Civil Contingencies Act at the Cabinet Office.
Mr Harbord is very widely known and respected in Local Government and in Central Government Departments. He is a past president of the Society of London Treasurers, Society of Metropolitan Treasurers and Institute of Rating Revenues and Valuation.
