Elmbridge council to appoint acting chief executive ahead of Adam Chalmers' departure

• Elmbridge Borough Council's Extraordinary Meeting on 3 September 2026 is due to appoint Kim Tagliarini as Acting Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service.
• Current Chief Executive Adam Chalmers is leaving on 7 September 2026 to become Chief Executive of the newly formed East Surrey Council.
• The acting appointment is recommended to run until 31 March 2027, the final day of Elmbridge Borough Council before Local Government Reorganisation takes effect.
• Tagliarini would also assume Chalmers' statutory electoral roles, including Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer.
• A permanent recruitment process and a shared arrangement with another authority were both considered and rejected as inappropriate given the council's imminent abolition.

Elmbridge Borough Council is due to appoint Kim Tagliarini as Acting Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Council on 3 September 2026, following the departure of current Chief Executive Adam Chalmers.

Chalmers is leaving Elmbridge on 7 September 2026 to take up the position of Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service at East Surrey Council, a role secured through a recruitment process conducted by the Shadow Authority for East Surrey.

The council is recommending that Tagliarini be appointed on an acting basis from the date of Chalmers' departure until 31 March 2027 — the final day of Elmbridge Borough Council's existence before Local Government Reorganisation takes effect and East Surrey Council is created on 1 April 2027.

In addition to the Chief Executive role, Tagliarini would take on the statutory functions currently held by Chalmers, including Electoral Registration Officer, Returning Officer for local elections, and Acting Returning Officer for parliamentary elections.

The Head of Paid Service is a legally designated statutory role, and the council is required by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 to have one in place at all times. The appointment of a person to the role is, by law, a decision for the full council.

The report presented to the Extraordinary Meeting sets out that a permanent recruitment process was considered but ruled out as disproportionate given the short period before the council ceases to exist. Sharing the role with another local authority was also examined and rejected, on the grounds that it would introduce complexity and capacity risks during a critical transition period, and that chief executives across Surrey are already under significant pressure from reorganisation within their own authorities.

The cost of the interim appointment is stated to be contained within existing budgets. The appointment of Tagliarini was recommended following discussions with both Deputy Chief Executives and Strategic Directors, the Leader of the Council Councillor Mike Rollings, the Monitoring Officer, the Head of Policy and Performance, and the HR Manager.

The meeting will be held at 7.00 pm in the Council Chamber at the Civic Centre, Esher, and will be webcast via the council's public portal.