Alex Hopkins, currently DCS in Northamptonshire, is expected to take control of children’s services in July.
He will become chief executive of a community interest company being established to try and turn services around. The new organisation will be similar to Achieving for Children, a community interest company set up by Richmond Council which went on to take responsibility for provision in Kingston as well.
The new organisation in Sunderland is expected to run in shadow form from September and be fully operational by April 2017.
The decision to establish a community interest company followed discussions between the local authority and Nick Whitfield, who was appointed children's services commissioner at the authority by the Department for Education as part of efforts to improve standards.
Whitfield is also chief exective of Achieving for Children, and director of children's services in Richmond and Kingston.
Hopkins, who spent eight years at Northamptonshire in various roles and is currently working to establish an independent trust at the local authority, is set to be replaced by Leicestershire County Council’s director of children’s services, Lesley Hagger.
Chief executive of Northamptonshire County Council, Paul Blantern, said: “In Alex we are losing a hugely talented individual with a strong and self-evident track record in delivering profound improvement in children’s services. It is precisely because of his talent that we have had to find the very best individual to replace him.
“I have been speaking with key figures on our independent improvement board to find the right person and we are delighted that Lesley is joining us and have every confidence that she will continue our excellent work in this area.”
An Ofsted inspection of children’s services at Sunderland published last July found that there was "corporate failure" by senior leaders and managers that potentially left children and young people at risk.
As a result, Nick Whitfield, who is chief executive and director of children's services at Achieving for Children, a social enterprise providing children's services in the London boroughs of Kingston and Richmond, was appointed as commissioner for children’s services in Sunderland.
The new standalone organisation for children's services in Sunderland is expected to be operational by September.
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