Northamptonshire children's commissioner calls for 'hope' in overhaul

Andrew Christie started as Northamptonshire's children's commissioner five weeks ago

The new head of Northamptonshire children's services expects the public to be "a little cynical" of his hopes of overhauling the failing department.

Andrew Christie started as children's commissioner five weeks ago following the resignation of Malcolm Newsam.

The position was created after a string of high-profile child safeguarding failures at the county council.

But Mr Christie, who reports back to government, urged people to look at the council's new approach "with hope".

Last year the government took over children's services at Northamptonshire County Council - labelled England's "worst-run" council - after a report found people in its care were at "potential risk".

Evelyn-Rose Muggleton and Dylan Tiffin-Brown were victims of separate murders while being monitored by Northamptonshire children's services

Mr Christie, who has been in social work for 40 years, will set up a new trust with an independent leadership team to run the county's children's services from next summer.

He told the BBC: "I absolutely understand why people are worried and why people, frankly, will probably be a little cynical about whether this is going to make the step-change that Northamptonshire children and their families require."

With "commitment and energy", support from the council and the new arrangements "there's a good chance we'll be able to make the changes that are necessary", he said.

Mr Christie said the county had good social workers and foster carers, but suggested they had not received adequate support.

A shortage of permanent social work staff has, at times, seen more than 200 children in need of an allocated social worker and though the number has fallen, recruitment remained a challenge, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"It is a common feature of inadequate children's services and is often to do with a loss of confidence and a feeling by social workers that it is going to be too difficult to do the job well in that setting. So they will go to other places," he said.

"Part of the solution is building confidence in the service."