Previous People Moves

John Legg

The latest appointments in the social care
sector

John Legg has been appointed as director of the
Royal National Institute for the Blind in Scotland. He was
previously at Glasgow Council as head of service for strategic
management in the social work department.

Cumbria Council has appointed Jill Stannard as new
corporate director for adult services.  She will join Cumbria from
Hampshire Council, where she is assistant director of social
services.

Susan Elan Jones, former director of the Christian
Action & Response Society homeless families project in
Haringey, has been appointed as the new fundraising executive at
homeless charity Housing Justice.

Sarah-Jane Armitage is to be therapy manager at
Caldecott Foundation, a Kent charity running residential homes and
schools for abused and neglected children.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection has appointed former
social services director at Wandsworth Council in London
Peter West as acting head of data and market
analysis.

Patrick Vernon is new chair of the Westminster
Partnership for Racial Equality.

Sarah Richards has joined the Poppy Project,
run by the Eaves Housing for Women charity, as counter trafficking
development worker.

ASRA Greater London housing association has appointed
Richard D’Cruz as head of development.

Enver Solomon, former senior policy officer at
the Prison Reform Trust, has joined the charity Revolving Doors as
head of policy and research. His brief encompasses mental health as
well as criminal justice.

Amanda Embleton has been appointed as regional
director in the north east of England by Four Seasons Health Care,
the largest operator of care homes in the UK.

Archie Stoddart is joining Shelter Scotland as
director. He currently works for the Scottish Executive’s private
sector and affordable housing policy division.

Moira Swann has been appointed as new corporate
director for children’s services at Cumbria Council.

Andrew Kerr is to be new chief executive at North
Tyneside Council. He is currently director for performance
improvement at Birmingham Council.

Karen Croan has been appointed human resources
director at Quarriers, a charity providing services for vulnerable
children, families and adults in Scotland.

Paul Roberts is new director of strategy,
information and development at the Improvement and Development
Agency.

Jenny Goodall has been appointed as director of
community and children’s services by the Corporation of
London.

Eric Robinson is to be corporate director for
social care and health at Staffordshire Council. 

Sir Christopher Kelly is new chair of the
Compact working group, which aims to improve relationships between
government and the voluntary sector.

Children’s charity NCH has promoted Darren
Johnson to deputy director of its London region.

Kent Council has appointed Oliver Mills to the
new post of managing director of adult services.

Richard Webb has been appointed corporate
director of adult social care at Telford & Wrekin Council.

Henry Mathias has been appointed as the new
manager to oversee care services across the south west of Scotland
for the Care Commission.

Kathy Brown is to head HFT’s services in
north Oxfordshire. The charity, previously known as Home Farm
Trust, supports adults with learning difficulties.

Moira Dunworth is to be head of education at
the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland. She will train
staff working in children’s palliative care.

Rachel Whale has set up management consultancy
Vanilla Freelance, specialising in development of people and
organisations. Whale was previously operations director with mental
health charity Rethink.

Lincolnshire council has appointed Tony
McArdale as chief executive. He is currently
Wellingborough Council’s chief executive. He will join
Lincolnshire in September.

Polly Neate

The editor of Community Care
Polly Neate
is leaving the magazine in November after six years in the role.
Neate has worked on Community Care for 15 years and will
take up her new post in the children’s charity NCH  as executive
director of business strategy and communications later this
year.

Martin Narey has taken on the role as chief
executive of Barnardo’s. Narey was formerly the chief executive of
the National Offender Mangement Service and prior to that he was
director general of the Prison Service. He takes over from Roger
Singleton who is retiring. 

Former MP Hilton Dawson has been appointed
chief executive of children’s residential care provider
Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa. Dawson stood down as MP last month
to resume social work and take part in the transformation of
children’s services on the ground.

Simone Aspis is the new parliamentary and
campaigns worker for the British Council of Disabled People
(BCODP). She was previously parliamentary and campaigns worker for
People First.

Lin Homer has been appointed the new Director
General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), Home
Office Permanent Secretary. Homer succeeds Bill Jeffrey who left to
take up the post of Security and Intelligence Coordinator and
Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office. Homer, who is currently chief
executive of Birmingham Council, is expected to take up her post in
August.

The Fostering Network has appointed Hazel Halle
as the new director of services England. Halle has 25 years
experience working in local authority childcare and was a service
manager for fostering and adoption at Nottingham Council for eight
years.

A new permanent board has been appointed to take forward the
work of the Children’s Workforce Development Council for
England. The Board consists of Steve Alexander,
chief executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, Elaine
Box, chief executive of Children’s Links,
Vic Citarella, consultant with the LGA and
Sir Brian Follett chair of the Teacher Training
Agency. In addition, John Harris, director of
children at Hertfordshire Council and James
Kempton executive member for children at Islington Council
join the board. Other members consist of the chief executive of the
National Childminding Association Gill Haynes,
chief executive of Lifelong Learning UK David
Hunter, chief executive of Connexions Humber John
Papworth, chief executive of Coram Family Dame
Gillian
Pugh, chief executive of
Children’s Society Bob Reitemeier, chief
executive of National Day Nurseries Association Purnima
Tanuka and chief executive of the Fostering Network
Robert Tapsfied. Vicki Lant, head
of service care and education at Cambridge. Sherry
Malik corporate director of Strategy and Performance at
Cafcass, Roger Morgan, children’s rights
director at CSCI and Emma Phillips, operations
director of Child Base join the group. The final members of the
board are Charles N Rice director of training at
the NCA, Jon
Richards, senior
national officer of UNISON, Bridget Robb
professional officer of BASW and Tom Starkey
director of Clifford House.

The Scottish Care Commission has created three new posts to
oversee regulations and standards in each of the main categories of
care in Scotland, services for children, services for adults and
independent healthcare. Ronnie Hill has been
appointed as the new director of children’s services
regulation. He was formerly the regional manager of the Care
Commission’s South East region. Liz Norton,
formerly the regional manager for the South West, has been
appointed director of adult services regulation and Susan
Brimelow, previously manager of the Care
Commission’s independent healthcare division, has become
director of health care regulation.

Addie Stevenson has joined the Aberlour Child
Care Trust as director of children and family services. She was
previously working at the Association of Directors of Social Work
for two years where she developed a framework for good staff
support and people management in the social care sector. Aberlour
runs 44 projects that provide specialist care, support and advice
to children and young people across Scotland each year.

Hampshire Council has appointed Rea Mattocks as
its new director of adult social services. She had been responsible
for adult social services at the London borough of Merton since
2000 first as director or housing and social services and then from
February 2005 as director of community and housing, following
structural changes at the authority.

Nancy Platts has joined The Maternity Alliance,
a charity for new parents and children under one-year-old, as its
new director. She was formerly head of policy and campaigns at
childcare charity Daycare Trust.

Former Southampton teacher Clive Webster has
been appointed as the council’s new executive director for
children’s services. He will lead a single children’s
service across education social care and health. Webster was
previously acting assistant chief executive of Surrey Council.

Susan Crane has been appointed as the new chief
executive of childcare charity Daycare Trust. She has recently
worked as an international development consultant advising British,
European and International NGOs.

Mary Wilmont has retired as director of social
services at the Northern Health and Social Services Board, the
largest of the four health and social services board in Northern
Ireland. She has worked in social services for 39 years and started
her career as a trainee social worker with Antrim Country Welfare
in 1966.

Rachel Whittlestone has joined the National
Children’s Bureau as training development manager. She will
be responsible for the development and delivery of NCB’s
training packages for professionals working with children.

Roger Singleton

Roger Singleton, the chief executive of
children’s charity Barnardo’s, is to retire in
December. Singleton joined Barnardo’s in 1974 as deputy
director of childcare and became chief executive in 1984.

The first director of adult social services at Islington Council
in London is Gwen Ovshinsky, previously director
of strategy and commissioning in a joint post for Islington social
services and Islington Primary Care Trust.

Julie Mellor, chair of the Equal Opportunities
Commission, is also to chair the board of campaigning charity
Fathers Direct.

Trafford Council’s new chief executive is David
McNulty, currently executive director at Walsall
Council.

David Reed has joined the board of trustees at
disability charity Leonard Cheshire, with specific responsibility
for oversight of communications. He recently retired as director of
corporate affairs at Whitbread.

Jim Coulter, chief executive of the National
Housing Federation and Sir Thomas Legg, chair of
Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, have been appointed as
commissioners to the Audit Commission’s Board by the Deputy
Prime Minister.

Michael Burton, a trustee of the Royal
Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR), Christopher
Holmes OBE, Britain’s most successful Paralympic swimmer and
Philippa Russell CBE, director of the Council for Disabled Children
have all been reappointed as commissioners to the Disability Rights
Commission.

Gordon Jeyes, formerly director of
children’s services for Stirling Council has been appointed
as the deputy chief executive of the Children and Young
People’s department at Cambridgeshire Council.

Nick Danagher

The National Centre for Independent
Living has appointed Nick Danagher as its new
executive director.

Jan Tallis has taken up her appointment as
chief executive of children’s charity School-Home
Support.

Karen Houghton has been appointed as a new
regional manager for West Midlands by Four Seasons Health Care.

Haringey Council has announced the management team for its new
Children’s Service. Sharon Shoesmith has been
appointed director, Cecilia Hitchen will be deputy
director, children and families, Janette Karklins,
has been appointed deputy director, school standards. David
Holmes will be deputy director, service delivery and
performance.

Rosalind Turner

Suffolk Council’s has appointed Rosalind
Turner as the first Director for Children and Young
People.

Michael Clark has been appointed Head of
Commercial Services at Clouds, the Wiltshire based substance misuse
charity.

Ian Bruce has now left the post of chief
executive of older people’s charity Abbeyfield Scotland. 
Michael White has taken over as acting chief
executive.

Professor Al Aynsley-Green

Professor Al
Aynsley-Green has been appointed as the children’s
commissioner for England. Aynsley-Green is currently the National
Clinical Director for Children within the Department for
Health.

Jo Hobbs has been appointed as the national
development manager of London-based children’s mentoring
charity, Chance UK. She will work across the UK supporting the
development of mentoring programmes based on the Chance UK model.
She has been working in the voluntary youth sector for the past
five years, including roles at London Youth and Girlguiding UK.

Karen Houghton has been appointed as a new
regional manager for the West Midlands by care home owner and
operator Four Seasons Health Care. Previously she has been the
manager at two different Four Seasons homes in the past few
years.

North Yorkshire Council has appointed John
Marsden as its new chief executive. He will take up the
post after the council elections in May and replaces Jeremy
Walker. Marsden is currently chief executive of North
Tyneside Council.

Michael Boyall has been appointed to the board of
trustees for the Independent Living Funds .There are two such funds
operating in the UK paying grants to people with high support needs
who want to live independently. They are discretionary trusts
created and funded by the Department for Work and Pensions and
Department for Social Security (Northern Ireland) but operate at
arms length to the government. Boyall was previously an ombudsman
at the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Peter Gilroy

Mike Pitt has decided not to renew his contract as Kent
Council’s chief executive when it expires later this year.
Prior to his time at Kent, Pitt was chief executive of Cheshire
Council and he has served as national president of the Society of
Local Authority Chief Executives. It is likely the post of chief
executive will be taken by Peter Gilroy, the director of social
services at Kent and ADSS lead on asylum and immigration.

Bristol Council has appointed Annie Hudson as an
acting director of social services and health to lead the
department through the forthcoming budget setting process after
learning that director Bill McKitterick will be
off sick for at least a month. Hudson is currently divisional
director for children’s services at the council.

Gordon Jeyes has joined Cambridgeshire Council, as
its deputy chief executive – children and young people. For
the last five years Jeyes has been director of children’s
services at Stirling Council and for the four years prior to that
he was director of education at the same council.

Jonathan Crossley-Holland will take up the role of the
first executive director of children services at Sheffield Council
from the end of July. Crossley-Holland has been executive director
of education at the council for seven years.

Following Penny Thompson’s move to London to
take up the post of chief executive at the London Borough of
Hackney, Cath Roff has been appointed acting executive director of
social services at Sheffield Council.

Newcastle Council has appointed Catherine Fitt
as its first executive director of children’s services. She
is likely to take up the post at the beginning of April. Fitt is
currently change leader of children’s services at Redcar and
Cleveland Council.

Ponniah Rasanesan

The chief executive of Ujima Housing Association, Ponniah
Rasanesan, is taking early retirement after 13 years of
service. He has held this position for two years and the board has
asked Qadeer Kiani, the association’s
housing services director, to take up the role of acting chief
executive

Judith Ellis has been appointed as a senior
development officer at the Family Support Unit at the National
Children’s Bureau. She will take forward a project to improve
outcomes for vulnerable children by improving practitioners’
communication skills.

Dawn Warwick has been appointed as deputy chief
executive, community and cultural services at Slough Council. She
was previously director of social services at the same council.

Paul Snell has been appointed as the head of
learning disability charity Walsingham following Mark Snell’s
announcement that he wished to retire from the position. The
appointment will start in mid-February.

Malcolm Philip has joined the Sainsbury Centre
for Mental Health as its new director of workforce development. He
has worked as an independent consultant in human resources since
1999 and before then he was director of human resources at the
Bethlem and Maudsley NHS Trust for five years.

Jane Atkinson has been appointed as the chair
of the North East London Mental Health NHS Trust. She is chief
executive of First Premise Ltd, a company she founded 18 years ago,
which specialises in urban renewal and joint venture projects.

Maggie Jones is set to become the new chief
executive of the National Council of Voluntary Child Care
Organisations this month following the retirement of Erica
De’Ath at the end of last month. Jones is currently policy
and practice development manager at the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation.

Sir William Utting, formerly the chief
inspector of social services, has become chair of the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation’s trustees. He replaces Kenneth Dixon,
who retired from the board at the end of December.

The English Community Care Association has appointed
Mike Padgham and John Burton in
two newly created regional manager posts. They will ensure better
representation of the association’s members across the
country.

Susan McIntosh, communications officer at
Surrey Council, has been appointed as the new chair of the
Association of Social Care Communicators.

The Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has announced the
reappointment of Margaret Ford as chair to the
board of English Partnerships for a second term. She was first
appointed in April 2002 and has been re-appointed from April 2005
to serve a further three years. 

The director of the Daycare Trust, Stephen
Burke, is to leave the national child care charity to
become chief executive of Counsel and Care, the organisation that
promotes better housing and care for older people.

Jane Atkinson has been appointed as chair to
lead the North East London Mental Health NHS Trust.

Paul Osburn, executive director of People First
at Harrow Council, has retired after 18 years with the authority.
He will be replaced by Lorraine O’Reilly,
currently director of education at Southend-on- Sea Borough
Council.

The Cabinet Office has announced three new appointments to the
Better Regulation Task Force. Adrian Askew,
general secretary at the trade union Connect, Lynne
Berry, chief executive at the GSCC, and Simon
Murphy, chief executive at Birmingham Forward, will
contribute towards trade union, consumer and European regulation.
Victoria Younghusband, partner at law firm
Lawrence Graham LLP, has been reappointed to the taskforce.

Education specialist Ty Goddard has been
appointed as the new managing director of the educational advisory
organisation, School Works.

National mental health charity Maca have appointed Anne
Beales as their first ever director of service user
involvement.

Dr Ute Navidi, former head of policy at
Childline, has been appointed director of London Play.

Professor Bob Fryer will take up a new post in
the Department of Health as national director for widening
participation in learning as part of the new NHS institute for
learning, skills and innovation.

Ann Raybould, previously head of international
finance for Oxfam, joins Parkside Housing Group as Resources
Director.

Anna Coote will take up the post of head of
engaging patients and public at the Healthcare Commission in
February.

Pauline Young has been appointed as Wales
Trustee of the Family Fund.

Fiona Green will take up the post of the first
chief executive for the new mental health and learning disabilities
NHS Trust for Surrey and North East Hampshire in 1 April.

Director of social care and strategic housing at Herefordshire
Council Sue Fiennes has taken up the post of
children’s director at the authority.

Lord Christopher Haskins, Arshad
Javed, Jan Wilson, Linda
Pollard, Aiden Rave and Laura
Moynahan have taken up appointments at the management
board of Yorkshire Forward.

Alan Burns, chief executive of Trent strategic
health authority, has been seconded to a new role leading the
service implementation of the national programme for IT into the
NHS.

Lord Victor Adebowale CBE, chief executive of
Turning Point, has been appointed chair of the stop and search
action team community panel at the Home Office.

Linda Barker has been appointed as the new head
of the homelessness implementation division at the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister. She was formerly on secondment from
Leicester City Council to the homelessness and housing support
directorate.

Head of operations at Cumbria Care Majorie
Smyth has joined Somerset Care as operations manager.

Dr Wendy Thomson has been appointed as the
chief executive of the local government leadership centre. She took
up the post on secondment from her present role as the Prime
Minister’s advisor on public services reform.

Peter Davidson has been appointed as the new
head of social care at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS
Trust.

Solihull Council has appointed Bindi Nagra to a
new post of head of community care services. He was previously head
of adult care for the council.

Brian Harty has been appointed as the director
of services and Andy Taylor the director of development at Action
for Blind People.

The new chief executive of Stonham housing association is
Andrew Painton.

Barbara Herts has taken up the post of director
at children’s mental health charity Youngminds. She was
previously with the Department of Education and Skills.

Lana Morris has been appointed as chief
executive for long-term medical conditions with the Cheshire and
Merseyside Strategic Health Authority. She was previously chief
executive of the commission for patient and public involvement in
health care.

Sarah Pickup has been appointed as director of
Hertfordshire Council’s adult care services. She is the
Association of Directors of Social Services spokesperson on
carers.

Andrew Purkis OBE has been elected as the new
chair of the Empty Homes Agency.

Shan Nicholas has been appointed chief
executive for The Princess Royal Trust for Carers.

North Yorkshire Council has appointed Derek Law
as the new director of social services. He replaces
Rosemary Archer who left the authority to join
Leeds Council.

Dr Husna Ahmad, operations director at Faith
Regen UK, has been appointed as a specialist adviser to the
Equalities Monitoring and Review Group at the London Development
Agency. Faith Regen UK’s chief executive Saif
Ahmad has been appointed by the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister as part of a new advisory group to examine how the
allocation of social housing affects black and m