News, Politics

Nottingham City Council appoints new children’s services director to drive improvement

By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter

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Nottingham City Council has appointed a new director of children’s services – a role seen as critical in its drive to improve vital departments.

Sarah Nardone has taken on the role after the previous director, Jill Colbert, left the post after four months.

Ms Colbert left the post at the end of January due to personal reasons, the Local Democracy Reporting Service was told.

The authority’s children’s services were rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted in 2022, and the watchdog has been conducting a series of visits over the past two years to monitor improvements.

Ms Nardone will now continue the work to improve the department.

According to the council, she joined as interim director for children’s services in June, on secondment from Lincolnshire County Council, which had been partnered with the authority to speed improvement.

She then began work as interim director of children and education services in December, before taking up her previous role again following the resignation of Ms Colbert.

Ms Nardone has almost 25 years of experience in children’s services, having qualified as a social worker in 2001.

Cllr Cheryl Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, said: “We’re making huge strides in putting our council back on track – we have a new political leadership, new chief executive and now a refreshed team of senior officers with a clear plan to improve the services we offer to our citizens.

“We must get this right for the people of Nottingham, and we must do this quickly. I look forward to working closely with Sarah, who has already made great strides in bringing about the transformation needed to support our children and young people.”

A recruitment campaign took place in January, and a job listing revealed the salary for the role was between £142,950 and £166,434.

In total 12 applications were received and four candidates were selected for interviews.

Following Ofsted’s sixth and final monitoring visit towards the end of last year, the watchdog said progress to improve the city’s children’s services is being sustained despite severe financial challenges.

However it said there are still too many young children living in children’s homes, including ‘illegal’ unregistered children’s homes, due to a lack of suitable foster carers and residential placements.

A final inspection is due to take place later this year.