A local government official who has served nearly 40 years on English councils has been parachuted in to oversee the rescue of a struggling city authority in Scotland.

Robert Coomber, a former chief executive of Southwark council in London, is to join Aberdeen City Council as a financial troubleshooter, on the advice of the Accounts Commission.

Aberdeen City Council has been accused of mismanagement and has been the subject of one of the most damning reports ever into a public authority in Scotland.

A review by Audit Scotland this year said that there were “serious weaknesses in governance and accountability”, while multimillion-pound budget cuts have threatened services for the city's homeless, elderly and disabled.

The council has been told that it needs to make almost £50million in savings to balance its books, almost twice the amount previously indicated. It has received voluntary redundancy applications from hundreds of staff. Thousands of local people took to the city's streets earlier this year to protest at planned cuts.

Mr Coomber, 57, will take the role of interim chief executive and finance adviser until a successor is found for Douglas Paterson, who announced his retirement as the council's chief executive in May and leaves next week.

Mr Coomber will be employed as an outside contractor by the council. He stepped down from Southwark council in London in 2006 after 26 years with the local authority, the last 12 as joint chief executive and director of finance, during which time he transformed it into one of the fastest- improving councils in England.

Since beginning his career in 1969 he has worked for four London local authorities: Westminster council, the City of London Corporation, Croydon and Southwark.

Mr Coomber, who takes up the post on Monday, August 18, said yesterday: “I am looking forward to working in Aberdeen. This is an interesting job in an interesting place for a period of time that works for me and Aberdeen City Council.” He is expected to remain in the job at least until the next budget-setting round in February.

John Swinney, the Scottish Finance Secretary, told the council in June that it must make “swift and effective” improvements. A report by the Social Work Inspection Agency found that morale in the council was “very low”.

An all-party leadership board was set up in the wake of a scathing report from the Accounts Commission, which said that the council faced “extremely serious” challenges.

The four political group leaders issued a joint statement welcoming Mr Coomber's appointment.They said: “We are pleased that Mr Coomber has decided to work with us in a dual role of interim chief executive and external financial adviser. We are satisfied that he is the right person for the job during this significant time.”

A council meeting this week selected a panel of ten councillors to choose Mr Paterson's successor.

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