COUNCIL chief Barry Keel is to leave the authority after seven years in charge having helped it to achieve "major goals".

Mr Keel, pictured right, plans to leave Plymouth City Council after its Annual General Meeting in May to pursue other personal objectives.

Since joining the authority in 2005, chief executive Mr Keel, has been instrumental in transforming its performance from a position when some of its services were rated among the worst in the country to now being rated among the best.

The city council has also addressed a number of major issues, including the performance of its services for children and young people, serious shortfalls in its budget and the need to find a solution to disposing of the city's waste in the future.

A spokesman for the city council said the quality of many of its services are now being recognised regionally and nationally.

The city council will now set up a cross-party appointments panel to discuss the recruitment of a new chief executive.

Mr Keel said he will be "sad" to leave the authority.

"The council has achieved a number of major goals and after a lot of thought, I feel now is the right moment for me to pursue other interests, although I have no immediate plans," he said.

"I will be sad to leave the council as I have very much enjoyed working with the superb team we have here.

"I think we can be proud of what we have all achieved together and the work we have done with our partners to improve services in Plymouth and raise its reputation nationally.

"We have faced many challenges but there has been a huge amount of support and commitment to address them.

"The public sector as a whole will continue to face big challenges but I am confident that Plymouth City Council is now in a strong position to meet them."

The Audit Commission's final assessment of the council was that it was 'performing well', and in 2010 the authority won the 'Best Achieving Council of the Year'.

In December 2010 Mr Keel took 10 weeks off work to undergo routine heart surgery.

The council has recently had an 'excellent' rating from Ofsted for its services for children and young people.

Its fostering and adoption services have recently been rated as 'outstanding'.

In recent years Mr Keel has overseen the transfer of the council's housing stock to Plymouth Community Homes, unlocking investment for improving housing in Plymouth as well as plans for a new energy from waste plant to dispose of the city's waste.

The council has recently completed a restructure of its senior management team which will save up to £1million over three years.

Vivien Pengelly, city council leader, said: "We will be very sorry to see Barry go.

"He has made a huge difference to the council and to Plymouth and he has helped deliver lasting improvements.

"Barry's senior management team has worked well with elected members and I believe that has been our strength.

"It has enabled us to deliver so much in such a short space of time and to address the considerable challenges we have faced.

"We will miss Barry and I wish him the very best for the future."

Shadow council leader, Tudor Evans added: "One of the best decisions I made the last time I led the council was to hire Barry Keel.

"He joined us at a time when the council was in a great deal of difficulty and he's done an excellent job in turning things around.

"He's going to be a very tough act to follow.

"Barry has achieved the objectives he set for himself when he took the job on and not everyone in local government is able to say that.

"He's built a formidable organisation that can compete with the best."