Manchester children’s chief quits following ‘inadequate’ Ofsted report

After nearly eight years at Manchester City Council, the last three as Strategic Director of Children’s Services, Mike Livingstone has decided to move on.

His decision was largely influenced by a damning report from Ofsted which labelled children’s social work in the city as ‘inadequate’.

The report criticised management, a high number of caseloads across all social work services and the way in which poor practice was not challenged effectively.

The regulator also said as many as 500 children waited a ‘considerable’ time for a social work assessments and were left potentially at risk.

In a statement Mr Livingstone said: “My time as Manchester’s Director of Children’s Services has been one of both challenge and reward.

“Through a period of significant spending reductions imposed on local authorities we have protected services which safeguard the city’s most vulnerable children and reformed how these services are delivered.

“Our new approaches to early years and to helping troubled families are just two initiatives which I’m proud of. Also the creation of the Manchester Youth Council, and the enormous progress that has been made during this time on closing the gap between achievements in our schools and schools nationally.

“Despite this progress however it’s clear from the recent Ofsted judgement together with the ongoing budget challenges we face that changes are now called for.

“There is still much more to be done in the city and I think this calls for a fresh pair of eyes to take the helm of Children’s Services and see this work through.

“The time is now right for this and I have therefore decided to step down from my role and take a short career break before pursuing other avenues.

“I’d like to express my thanks to all those people who I’ve worked with and who have supported me during my time with the Council, and I wish them every success in the future.”

Councillor Sheila Newman, Executive Member Children’s Services, Manchester City Council, said: “Mike has achieved a lot during his time in Manchester and we wish him well in his future endeavours.

“We’re agreed however that the time is now right for someone else to take over, to build on the positive changes that have been put in place over the last few months.”

Gladys Rhodes White has been appointed to take over as Interim Strategic Director of Children’s Services when Mike Livingstone leaves at the end of this month. She is an experienced leader of Children’s Services with a track record of improving services for children, young people and families.