Camden upheaval as member resigns

Camden social services department has seen a second senior figure
leave just weeks after the shock resignation of director Jane
Held.

Penny Abraham, the council’s executive member for social services
and health, is expected to leave the council’s cabinet but will
stay on as a councillor.

Meanwhile, further speculation over the departure of Held in
December (news, page 6, 22 January) has centred on her work away
from the borough. Social workers were told by managers that one of
the reasons for her exit was that she had “taken her eye off the
ball at home due to activities outside”.

Andrew Cozens, president of the Association of Directors of Social
Services, said he had been told by both Held and Gibb that Held’s
work on the green paper as the association’s co-chairperson of its
children’s and families committee had not been a factor.