Birmingham names new director of children’s services

Birmingham City Council has appointed a new director of children’s services following Bernadette McNally’s decision to quit before she even started work for the inadequate-rated council.

Her replacement is Alastair Gibbons, who was part of the senior management team hired in 2012 to turnaround children’s services in Essex County Council.

“I am very honoured to be offered this key post to lead Birmingham children’s social care,” said Gibbons, who is currently director of local delivery in Essex. “This will be a challenge and an opportunity to build more effective social work services that will meet the needs of children and support families.

“I am very much looking forward to that challenge and opportunity, working with and building on the progress social work staff have made over the past year.”

Gibbons, who gained his social work qualification from Birmingham University, will start work at Birmingham on 2 February next year.

Councillor Brigid Jones, the city’s cabinet member for children and family services, said: “I am pleased to be welcoming Alastair back to Birmingham as we move forward in our improvement journey. He has done excellent work improving children’s social care in Essex and he is ideally suited to the job here in Birmingham.”