Maurice was engaged by this Council when it was undergoing a complete restructuring exercise in Children’s Services. He was instrumental in driving forward a corporate improvement agenda to promote modernisation and improve integration of the Children’s Social Services and Education departments.
Maurice was pivotal in establishing this integration, a challenge the London Borough had unsuccessfully spent two years trying to overcome. He restructured the department and implemented a unified approach ensuring alignment to the ‘Every Child Matters’ agenda, achieving better outcomes for children and young people. Furthermore, the service is benefiting significantly from improved and efficient use of resources.
Managing 220 staff, and a £15 million budget, Maurice took responsibility for transforming the department’s culture by helping staff use proactive planning. He designed new reporting structures and management techniques around support and direction. As a result of empowering the staff, performance and motivation has been improved resulting in a much stronger and fit for purpose department.
Maurice was also instrumental in prioritising budget management and resolving problems related to the departments’ previous overspend. He quickly assigned responsibility and established transparency to budget management throughout the department, implementing a clear framework for producing significant cost savings and efficiencies. The London Borough now operates within its allocated budget.
Impressed with Maurice’s contribution, the Group Director for Children’s and Adult’s Services said, “Without question, his time here has been both constructive and positive. I am able to strongly recommend him to others and confirm that I would be very happy to re-engage him.”
Maurice has worked through Practicus on three assignments. To demonstrate the high esteem the sponsors of the two other initiatives hold him in, I have included short excerpts from their testimonials:
The Director for Children, Young People and Families of a large County Council said, “Maurice has been highly effective in delivering against all of our contractual requirements. It has to be said that he has gone beyond that in terms of the legacy he has left. He’s established a foundation for children’s social care that others can build on to secure a sustainable and high performing future for the service. His commitment to the work has exceeded all reasonable expectations and this has been matched by his effectiveness. His team has a genuine affection for him. As Director, I have complete faith in his judgements and capacity as our social care strategic lead. Maurice was exactly what we needed and I commend him to you.”
The Director of Children’s Services at a large Unitary Authority stated, “Maurice certainly impressed senior officers and elected members with his competence and commitment. He is an able and committed professional and I would be happy to recommend him.”
