No dual director for Northamptonshire

A local authority currently advertising for a permanent director of
children and family services has decided against making the
successful candidate responsible for education as well as social
services, despite the children’s green paper proposals.

Northamptonshire Council said the role envisaged by the government
was “too big a job” for one person and would make it impossible to
keep tabs on what was happening on the ground.

Instead, it is appointing a director of schools as well as the
director of children and families services as part of its wider
integration of education and children’s social services.

Clive Danks, interim director of children and families services,
said: “We support the green paper, but I think it would be very
difficult for one person to oversee all that unless it was at a
very strategic level.”

Danks said he was not sure whether the proposals would work in
every authority. “For example, Birmingham has 500 schools. That
would be a massive job.”

More from Community Care

Comments are closed.