From commissar to auctioneer? The changing role of directors in managing children’s services in a period of austerity

• Published in: Educational management, administration & leadership Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 77 - 91
• Main Authors: Hulme, Rob, McKay, Jane, Cracknell, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2015; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Administrator Attitudes; Administrator Role; Administrators; Change; Children & youth; Decision making; Economic Climate; Economic crisis; Education reform; England (Northwest); Foreign Countries; Integrated Services; Perceptions; Politics; Public Policy; Qualitative Research; Semi Structured Interviews; Social Services; United Kingdom (England); directors of children’s services; integrated services; leadership; austerity
• ISSN: 1741-1432; 1741-1440
• DOI: 10.1177/1741143213494886

This article explores the impact of changing policy priorities on the role of director of children’s services, before and after the economic crisis of 2008 and the election of the coalition government. The role of director of children’s services from 2003 to 2010 was driven by the New Labour imperative to deliver regionally based integrated services, as called for in Every Child Matters (Department for Education and Skills, 2003). Changing political and economic priorities since the election of 2010 have recast the notion of ‘integrated services’. The Conservative-led coalition has instead emphasised the importance of localised decision-making at institutional level in education and social services. This article reflects on the perceptions of directors, drawing on empirical data gathered from two sets of interviews conducted with directors of children’s services in North-West England between 2007 and 2012. Concerns are expressed about this changing political and economic landscape which has left the role of director of children’s services open to question. Recent reforms in education and health have devolved responsibility for coordinating public services to institutions, potentially marginalising broader agendas about welfare, rights, and so on for children and young people.