Barry has been a Director of Finance (Section 151 officer) in the local government sector over the past twenty years at eight different councils. Barry was appointed by the Government to be the last S151 Officer at Northamptonshire County Council before it became a Unitary authority in 2021, based on his previous experience of working with Council’s under intervention. He has since spent time at Liverpool City Council as interim s151 which was also under intervention.
Barry also specialises in Children’s Services having been involved in the setting up of three Children’s Trusts and providing support to authorities in addressing funding challenges around the provision of Children’s Services and SEND.
Paul has extensive experience in leading business change in both private and public sectors, especially in local government and the NHS.
He is a long-standing associate of West Midlands Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (WM-ADASS) where he has contributed to the regional sector-led improvement programme since 2009, delivering a portfolio of projects related to adult social care policy and reform. AS WM-ADASS Associate, he represents the region’s fourteen Directors of Adult Social Services in NHS regional groups, ensuring an appropriate focus on social care within the context of an integrated care system.
Paul is a passionate advocate for the use of data and evidence to drive change and supplies insightful analysis of care and health data to help inform social care policy and decision-making. He acts as “design authority” for the WM-ADASS ASC Data Hub and is a member of the DHSC reference group helping to inform the design and development of a national data access solution.
Paul represents WM-ADASS as a member of the national ADASS Improvement, Innovation and Assurance policy network and the recently formed ADASS/LGA strategic national data and intelligence forum.
Jill has extensive knowledge and experience of strategic management and leadership in a range of public and voluntary sector roles. Jill’s professional background is in human resources and organisational development at a corporate management level. Jill has worked on a range of national programmes around culture change and workforce development in the public sector. Since 2011, Jill has worked across the UK providing challenge and improvement support to senior leaders across a range of service areas including children’s services. She has experience of all tiers of local government.
Jill is a qualified Executive Coach and Mentor (ILM Level 7) and is a Professional Member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). She has coached senior leaders to support organisational change, career development, redundancy and retirement.
