Mark Riddell has been working to improve the lives of looked-after children and care leavers since he left care himself, aged 16, in 1984. After initially working for a number of care leaver organisations, Riddell trained as a social worker and in 2012 became manager of leaving care services at Trafford Council. Within three years, the council's leaving care service was rated "outstanding" by Ofsted - at that time, the first service to achieve the highest rating under the single inspection framework.
The achievement brought him to the attention of the Department for Education, and in September 2017 he was appointed national implementation adviser for care leavers. The two-year fixed-term DfE role involves him working with councils and government departments to ensure reforms to care leaver support included in the Children and Social Work Act are introduced successfully from April 2018 (see box).
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