Brent Council names Nigel Chapman as the new Corporate Director of Children and Families

 Brent Council has named Gail Tolley's successorfor Children and Young People, now names as Corporate Director after senior management reorganisation LINK.

From Brent Council:

Nigel Chapman is to become Brent’s Corporate Director for Children and Young People, after nine years in the borough. He will assume the role in September, following the retirement of Gail Tolley. 

Beginning his career as a social worker in 1998, Nigel worked his way up through the ranks in a series of charity and London Council roles. In 2013 Nigel joined Brent from Hackney Council, as Head of Service responsible for fostering, adoption and looked after children. Nigel became an Operational Director in 2016, where he oversees social work, early help and inclusion services (SEND). 

During this time, Brent has significantly improved outcomes for children. This progress was recognised by Ofsted, who judged the council’s children’s social care services to be good with outstanding features for the first time in 2018. In 2019 the Youth Offending Service was judged to be ‘good’, and in the same year services for children with SEND in the local area received a positive inspection outcome.

Carolyn Downs, Chief Executive of Brent Council, said:

Colleagues and partners who have worked with Nigel know that he puts the interests of children and young people at the centre of everything he does.

 His experience, starting as a social worker and now becoming our new Corporate Director for Children and Young People means Nigel brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his new role, with both front-line and strategic skills.

Nigel has a deep understanding of Brent’s young people – their hopes, ambitions, as well as the barriers that need breaking down to help them achieve their full potential.

Nigel said:

 So much progress has already been made to improve outcomes for children in Brent, from those in our care to an impressive 97% of local state schools graded ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. I’m excited to build on this excellent work.

Times are tough for many families right now, with bills going up and continued fall-out from the pandemic. Whilst we’ll always deal with families in crisis and safeguarding those children most in need, I am passionate about the importance of early-intervention.

Our Family Wellbeing Centres already play an important role in supporting parents and young people, and it is  likely that this  innovative approach will soon be adopted nationally. We’ll continue to push new boundaries to give our children the best start in life.

Nigel will take up the post at a time when numerous national debates are playing out about the best way of designing and delivering services for children and young people, from the government’s Schools White Paper, SEND Review, and the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.