A new commissioner has been announced to oversee transformation at a troubled council’s children’s services.
Sefton Council was appointed a commissioner earlier this year to carry out a review into the borough’s children’s services following a dire Ofsted report detailing a catalogue of failings.
Following the report, released last month, it was recommended a new commissioner be appointed to oversee the council’s programme of change.
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The appointment of that new commissioner has now been announced as Paul Boyce.
Paul Boyce was previously corporate director for children at Wirral Council. Prior to that was executive director for children at Knowsley Council, earlier working for Cheshire West and Cheshire Council as head of strategy and transformation and Halton Borough Council, where he headed up operations.
In a letter released yesterday, further details of his appointment were included.
The letter states that following the previous commissioner Paul Moffat’s review the secretary of state for education is “satisfied that while there has been some improvement, the Council is still failing to perform to an adequate standard.”
The directive tells Sefton Council that it must: “comply with any instructions of the Secretary of State or the Children’s Services Commissioner in relation to the improvement of the Council’s exercise of its children’s social care functions and provide such assistance as either the Secretary of State or the Children’s Services Commissioner may require.”
The council is also required to cooperate by providing access to council premises, any documents relating to the council and to any employee or member of the council to enable Mr Boyce to carry out his responsibilities.
The directive also requires the council to “provide the Children’s Services Commissioner with such amenities, services and administrative support as they may reasonably require from time to time for the carrying out of their responsibilities.”
The responsibilities of the commissioner is also set out in the directive, and includes overseeing progress as well as providing guidance support and challenge.
The commissioner will provide a written update at least every two months, with the first to be provided by the end of December.
He will also ensure the effectiveness of the improvement board and either chair or it or support an independent chair.
The directive adds that Mr Boyce will “if progress is insufficient, bring together evidence to assess the Council’s capacity and capability to improve itself, and recommend whether this evidence is sufficiently strong to suggest that long-term sustainable improvement to children’s social care can be achieved should operational service control continue to remain with the Council.”
This means that the possibility of the children’s service being taken out of council hands remains if the commissioner is not satisfied with the progress being made.
There is no end point noted in the directive, and at a recent meeting held at Sefton Council which discussed the appointment of a new commissioner, the executive director responsible for children’s services Martin Birch said the commissioner was to be appointed “indefinitely.”
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