Big interview: Ready to tackle transitions - Paul Clark, director of children's services, Harrow

But Paul Clark, director of children's services in Harrow, has been in the post for two years, and before that he was deputy director for children, schools and families in Hertfordshire. If anyone can give an overview of the process, it's him.

"Very early on the debate was, and still is, how anybody who has never been a teacher can engage with the schools and learning agenda, and how someone who has not been a social worker can engage with the child protection agenda," says Clark, who is a qualified social worker. "But they are both the wrong question." Clark says the skills needed for his job are the ability to offer leadership to a diverse group of workers. "You need to be able to respect the skills they bring, but to get more out of them from a partnership than they would if they were working alone," he says.