SIMON Birch, the man currently acting as chief executive of Swindon Council, has been approached to take on the post full-time.
Mr Birch, formerly head of the council's environmental services department, was one of three short-listed candidates from more than 70 who expressed an interest in the £125,000 job, which became vacant when Paul Doherty resigned last July.
He will now decide whether he wants to take on the position, which involves deciding how the council's £180 million budget is spent during the next year.
During the final round of interviews headed by council leader Kevin Small (Lab, Western) on Friday, Mr Birch had to give a presentation on how he would instigate the borough's recovery plan - a massive document aimed at raising the authority's profile in the light of two damning Government reports on the council's social services and education departments.
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