As a new broom, Brighton and Hove City council chief David Panter is planning a clean sweep in more ways than one.

His most urgent task is to ensure the city council is successful in its street sweeping and refuse collection operation.

He has taken full responsibility for organising the trouble-hit services himself rather than delegate them to others. It means everyone knows who to blame or praise.

Mr Panter has not pussyfooted about. Knowing the main problem was getting the workforce on board, he immediately got in touch with the GMB union, not just locally but at the very top.

He installed the best team available, gave instructions for the ramshackle depot to be improved, and declared: "I have put my colours to the mast."

Mr Panter, 39, is as far removed from the old-style bewigged town clerk as it is possible to be. Openly gay, he has cropped hair and sports earrings. He looks fit and wears smart suits.

He comes to Brighton and Hove not from local government, but from the NHS in west London where he gained a reputation for modern management.

At Hillingdon he was no stranger to trouble as he oversaw changes at the controversial Mount Vernon hospital site in his role as the local health chief executive.

He also reduced management costs at Hillingdon from some of the highest in the NHS to among the lowest, an experience that could come in useful at Brighton and Hove.

Here he is faced with a possible £4 million deficit by the end of the financial year plus at least another £1 million caused by the refuse changes.

It is going to be hard to make cuts in sensitive social care and homelessness budgets, which account for the bulk of the overspend.

Mr Panter has looked at the way the council, with its 7,000 employees, works and has said he can already see some wasteful duplication.

He wants to look at everything the council does, both by itself and in co-operation with other agencies such as New Deal for the Communities in East Brighton and the health trusts.

The chief executive does not necessarily want to make cuts in obvious places such as culture. Some critics ask why the authority is spending money there when it has problems with basic services such as keeping the streets clean.

Mr Panter said: "We have to strike a balance to ensure we keep the mixture that makes Brighton and Hove what it is as a city."

One example he gave of that is the annual festival, supported by the council.

At the same time, Mr Panter does not regard the city as the bit of Brighton between the two piers and the station.

He said: "I want to make sure we look after the whole city. That is not just the centre but includes Moulsecoomb, Whitehawk and Portslade."

The next problem Mr Panter faces is on Friday when the city will have decided on either a directly-elected mayor or a reinvigorated committee system.

Either way means change because the present system of leader and Cabinet will not be an option.

Will he have problems in working with a high profile mayor? Not at all, said Mr Panter. "I am the professional manager and the mayor is the politician."

He is completely unfazed about Brighton and Hove's political complexities. It is one of the few authorities to contain four different parties and part of his job is to liaise effectively with the three opposition groups.

Mr Panter is not the shy, retiring type. He is on a mission to explain as well as a mission to manage.

He said: "I want to make sure people know why we are doing what we are doing."

Despite the problems, he regards running Brighton and Hove as almost a dream job, for he has lived in the centre with his partner for the past two years.

He knows Brighton well, having studied at Sussex University.

Mr Panter is not afraid of long hours but always ensures he has spent an hour in the gym first. His main problem was finding one that opened early enough for him.

In just two weeks, he has already made an impression. One Labour councillor said: "He quickly showed us the way in which he can lead."

A Tory said: "I'm not too keen on his appearance but he is remarkably bright."

That opinion is shared by his former boss. During the Labour conference, Mr Panter was dining in the Terre Terre restaurant in East Street with colleagues, including council leader Ken Bodfish.

On another table was Health Secretary Alan Milburn who leaned across and said: "He's only on loan. We want him back."