The proposal to bring back a chief executive has been mocked by the Conservative opposition at Harrow Council.

Under Councillor Susan Hall's Tory administration, the council initiated a sequence of events that led to Michael Lockwood, the then-CEO, to step down , with Ms Hall claiming she was a 'strong' leader and could take on many of the responsibilities herself.

Speaking after the consultation with staff by the council's Labour administration was launched, Ms Hall said: "It says a lot about Labour, and particularly [council leader] Councillor David Perry, that they consider potentially bringing back a chief executive to be priority.

"It's a sign of their inability to make decisions, their constant need for reassurance, and their lack of decisiveness at the top level - a problem made worse by Councillor Perry only working two days a week as leader of the council."

Since the council has been without a CEO, Paul Najsarek has taken the role of interim head of paid service.

A council source insisted that Mr Perry is 'always contactable' and that his full-time job which he balances with being leader of the council is 'not an obstruction to the day to day running of the council'.

They added: "He is here on evenings and working on weekends too."

The consultation ends on July 31.

A council spokesman said: “It is utterly fatuous to suggest you cannot combine working part of the week with being a highly effective council leader.”