Childcare Changes Starting To Take Effect - Part2

Wokingham Borough Council has appointed Andy Couldrick as the new head of it's children's services department.

Mr Couldrick currently occupies a similar position for Oxfordshire County Council and will start his new job in September. The overhaul of the service is currently being overseen on an interim basis by Steve Liddicott, a respected childcare profession, with assistance from Gerald Meehan on secondment from Halton Borough Council.

Wokingham Borough Council, along with Reading Borough Council, was one of nine councils across the nation criticised for 'fundamental' weaknesses in the service provision. Problematic safeguarding, including high staff turnover and limited management capacity in children’s social care resulted in poor child protection work and poor case recording, leading to "significant risk".