A council in crisis as children suffer

Shockwaves rippled through Tameside council as the chief executive quit amid a children's services fiasco. Last month, the government was told the authority doesn't have the 'capacity or capability' to improve the directorate 'without oversight and support'.

"Children's services in Tameside have been too weak for too long," a commissioner wrote. Following the latest meeting of the full council on Tuesday (October 8), it emerged chief executive Sandra Stewart had stepped down from her £184,767-a-year job after nearly two years. She will become chief executive of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, she announced.

Town hall bosses insist finding her replacement will not detract from the 'main job at hand' - improving the children's services department. The council received an 'inadequate' rating from Ofsted in February - the second in five years. Some children were described as being 'at risk of harm'.

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The ongoing debacle was the main issue at Tuesday's meeting. A private discussion was held, before it was announced director of resources Ashley Hughes would cover for Ms Stewart while a replacement was found.

Council leader Ged Cooney told the Manchester Evening News candidates will need a track record of turning around failing town hall departments.

He said children's services in the borough have been failing since 2011, when Ofsted said the department 'required improvement'. Coun Cooney - who promised change under his leadership - added: "We would certainly thank Sandra for the work she has done for this borough. It is her choice to stand down and we accept that, and now we have to move on.

"We recognised last night that things have got to be about the children. Our endeavour is to make it better for this borough.

"For too long, since 2011, we have been at the bottom. This is not about throwing stones, it's about a collective working together for the children. It's no longer acceptable to be where we are."

A commissioner's report to the government published in September - prompted by the 'persistent inadequacy' of children's services - was scathing.

It called for better leadership, recruitment and training. "The council has neither enabled good services nor had mechanisms in place to spot service failure," the report read.

It added: "There is... a reluctance to accept responsibility collectively and corporately for the long-term service failure.

"A review of previous Ofsted recommendations and areas for improvement highlight weaknesses in political, corporate and senior leadership and weaknesses in social work practice and the leadership of practice as recurring themes since 2016.

"The council, corporate and political, is quick to blame for failure: individuals, frontline staff, partners, advisors, government departments. There is far less reflection as to its own role to enable successful service delivery, know how services are performing, deliver tailored corporate support, or recognise its collective accountability.

"Children's services failure does not happen in a vacuum: high-performing councils deliver strong services."

Hyde and Stalybridge MP Jonathan Reynolds; Ashton-under-Lyne MP Angela Rayner; and Gorton and Denton MP Andrew Gwynne released a joint statement in the wake of the announcement, 'welcoming' Ms Stewart's resignation.

"The recent commissioner's report into TMBC's children's services revealed unacceptable working practices and conditions for staff at the council," it read.

"In our view this has been to the detriment of delivering the services our constituents need and expect. Since the publication of the report we have made clear that a change of corporate leadership was required. Tameside now has the opportunity to move forward and we embrace the chance to do so."

Ms Stewart said in a letter to council members: "I have been proud to work for Tameside for 30 years and have put my heart and soul into delivering the best outcomes for the borough.

"As many of you will be aware I stepped into the chief executive job whilst we were at a challenging time in our improvement journey across the council, whilst retaining my director of pensions role.

"Since that time we have collectively delivered a great deal, a new corporate plan, and a new plan for growth including the Places for Everyone Housing Growth Plan as well as dealing with the post pandemic and the ongoing cost of living impacts on our most vulnerable.

"Many of the projects across our towns are now starting to take shape and will provide new opportunities for growth and development benefiting residents and local businesses alike. That said, we still have some big challenges ahead of us, with the recent publication of the Children’s Commissioner report, the appointment of a new long term commissioner and a strategic partner to help drive forward the children’s improvement journey.

"I am pleased that we are in the final stages of recruiting a permanent director of children's service, which is a key appointment for the council.

"Given all these complexities, I have agreed with the leader that both the chief executive and director of pension roles are together now too big for one individual and cannot be given the full undivided attention needed.

"Therefore, the leader and I have agreed that I will become the chief executive of the £32bn Greater Manchester Pension Fund to deal with the national agenda that the government is currently setting, and we will search for a new chief executive to lead the council through the next phase of improvement."