• Newham shortlisted for three prestigious Municipal Journal awards
Newham Council has been nationally recognised for its improvement in Children’s Services, including an individual nomination for Corporate Director of the Year for Tim Aldridge.
Tim, who has led the Newham’s Children’s Service since October 2019, joined the Council just six months after an Ofsted report deemed the service inadequate. By Autumn 2022 Tim had turned the service around, with the team achieving an overall “Good” rating with an “Outstanding” judgement for leadership and management.
The Ofsted report said: “Children are now receiving good and effective help, protection and care that are making a significant difference to their lives. The highly effective senior leadership team, led by the director of children’s services, has worked diligently to continuously strengthen the quality of practice, from what was a very low base.”
In response Tim Aldridge, Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services said: “It was a delightful surprise when I found out I had been nominated and shortlisted for this award. Particularly given I know how many brilliant people there are working in local government. It’s wonderful to be recognised as a DCS alongside the positive changes that have taken place in Newham. This nomination is a tribute to all of those who have supported me and worked as a team to develop a relational approach to children’s services in Newham”
Alongside the individual nomination, Newham has also attracted praise, and is shortlisted for the Innovation in Children’s and Adults’ Services award. A key model developed to support the transformation from inadequate to good is “Circles of Support” – which enables social workers to work more closely with families to develop closer and more positive relationships.
Newham’s Interim Chief Executive Colin Ansell, said: To receive 3 nominations in one year is a testament to the extraordinary hard work and dedication of everyone who works at Newham. There is no better example of this than in Tim’s nomination – to be recognised on such a national scale is fantastic and highlights the incredible journey we have been on under his guidance, and delivered real life positive impacts for local people."
The Council is also shortlisted for the Community Engagement Award for its People Powered Newham programme. We are on a mission to become a beacon of best practice for participatory democracy that puts power in the hands of residents through our Community Assemblies. This will fund community projects to the tune of £3.2 million over the next 4 years. Our submission also includes our ground breaking work on establishing the UK's first permanent Citizen's Assembly, youth engagement and empowerment and TRID programme.
Councillor Charlene McLean, Cabinet Member for Resident Participation and Experience said: “I am delighted to see the work of the Council recognised in these prestigious awards. It is a huge vote of confidence in all our staff who have made this programme work alongside Newham residents, volunteers and community organisations who have committed to work with the Council to improve their local communities.”