How we organise Council services
How the council organises the teams that provide services is called the Corporate Structure. In Dudley we group services into directorates which are responsible to a director. The Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive, Directors and other senior leaders make up the Strategic Executive Board and make collective decisions about how to implement decisions and policies made by the council cabinet. We have eight directorates in Dudley.
Chief Executive, Kevin O'Keefe
The Chief Executive has overall responsibility for corporate management, performance and policy/strategy development. The role also has overall responsibility for human resources and organisational development as well as promoting high ethical standards for members and officers.
About the chief executive
Kevin joined Dudley Council as Chief Executive in June 2019. He is passionate about delivering excellence in public services and leads the Council’s 5,000 staff - all of whom are dedicating to serving the borough's third of a million residents and its world-class business.
With a professional background in law and qualified as a solicitor for over 30 years, Kevin has spent the last two decades of his extensive career in senior roles at Unitary Authorities in the West Midlands. He has significant experience in leading at local, regional, and national levels.
Kevin is a member of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE), the Association of Local Authority Chief Executives (ALACE) and the Law Society of England and Wales.
Deputy Chief Executive, Balvinder Heran
The Deputy Chief Executive has overall responsibility for:
- Digital, Customer and Commercial Services
- Regeneration and Enterprise
- Housing and Communities
- Environment
Additionally, they deputise for the Chief Executive, carrying out any duties or actions needed due to the absence or inability to act of the Chief Executive.
About the deputy chief executive
Balvinder joined Dudley Council as Deputy Chief Executive in March 2021. Her previous role was as Joint Strategic Director of Information Assets and Digital Development across Buckinghamshire (Council, CCG and Healthcare NHS Trust) as well as the Senior Responsible Officer (digital and information) for the Berkshire West, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire (BOB) Integrated Care System (ICS).
As a non-Executive Director for NHS Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust and before that a Strategic Director at London Borough of Hounslow and non-Executive Director at Bromford Housing Group, health, digital, integration, housing and regeneration are a real focus for her.
On joining the council Balvinder said: "I am passionate about supporting communities to enable people to thrive, supporting local initiatives to deliver improved health outcomes and wellbeing. Post-pandemic, the role of modern public services is to lead everyone to work in partnership, to reset our economy, and accelerate plans to take us quickly from recovery to prosperity. It is vital to ensure we take our communities and business with us and enable their full participation."
