Haringey appoints Libby Blake as director of children’s services
Haringey Council has appointed a permanent director of children’s services. Libby Blake, who is due to take up the post in November, will join Haringey from the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, where she was acting executive director for family and children’s services.
She will replace Peter Lewis, who was drafted in by the government to lead the troubled council’s children’s services team after the death of Peter Connelly and the subsequent sacking of Sharon Shoesmith.
Blake said she is delighted to join the council’s children’s directorate at an important time for local public services.
“I look forward to working with what I know to be a talented team in shaping the future of children’s services in Haringey,” she said.
“The service has much improved under Peter Lewis’s direction and I aim to build on this firm foundation in the months and years ahead.”
Before joining Kensington & Chelsea in 2005 as director of family services, Blake spent 13 years at the London Borough of Lambeth in a variety of specialist child protection and management roles.
She qualified as a social worker in 1981 and worked in frontline social work roles at Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Kent County Council and the London Borough of Greenwich.
Haringey Council chief executive Kevin Crompton said: “Libby Blake is an exciting addition to Haringey’s senior management team. Leading children’s services at Haringey is an incredibly challenging role but Libby’s experience and career to date shows that she is more than capable of delivering the very best services for children and families in the borough.”
Lorna Reith, Haringey’s lead member for children’s services, added: “Key elements of our children’s services have made significant progress over the past two-and-a-half years as evidenced by successive inspector’s reports.
“We’re now looking to improve things further and I look forward to working with Libby Blake to deliver on our commitment to make Haringey children’s services among the very best in the country.”
