CYP Now - Working in the Midlands: Interview - Colin Tucker, Sandwell Council- The battle for success

In 2005, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council was one of only five authorities to receive a zero star rating in the Commission for Social Care Inspection's annual assessment of councils, so it was inevitable that staff morale in children's services took another hit this summer after the area's first joint review judged almost half of outcomes as inadequate.

But Colin Tucker, director of children's services at the authority, isbullish about the prospects for the borough's children's services - thefact that the joint area review said the authority's capacity to improvewas adequate and performance indicators are on the up both indicate thatthe council is turning a corner, he claims.

Dragging a council out of the bottom of the league tables is no meanfeat for any professional, but with a career spanning 24 years workingfor several high-performing authorities, the role has presented newchallenges for Tucker, both in terms of addressing service failures andworking with some of the most deprived communities in the country.

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