Two new leaders are joining Nottingham City Council’s senior team to support the authorities improvement journey.
Jill Colbert has been appointed as the new Corporate Director for Children and Education Services, whilst Vicky Murphy will take up the role of Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health.
The appointments come as the council delivers its Improvement plan to find new ways of delivering vital local services efficiently and effectively.
Jill Colbert OBE, the new Corporate Director for Children and Education Services will start at the end of September. She joins the council from her current role of Chief Executive of Together for Children, the operating company that delivers all children’s services for Sunderland City Council. Within her Chief Executive position, Jill has held the statutory role of Director of Children’s Services (DCS) for Sunderland City Council.
Over the past six years, Jill has led Sunderland through a sustained improvement journey to make the leap from Ofsted ‘inadequate’ to ‘outstanding’ in a complex environment with limited resources. As Chief Executive for Together for Children, she has also held direct accountability for the related services such as legal, finance, HR, commissioning, data systems and customer services.
Prior to Sunderland, Jill worked for Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, as the Corporate Director for Children, Families and Wellbeing. Here she held the roles of statutory Director of Adult Services and Director of Children’s Services, with responsibility for the Director of Public Health and integrated Commissioning for Adults and Children’s services. She was also responsible for Transformation Programmes overseeing a comprehensive innovation and efficiency programme with stretching savings targets.
As well as eight years as a Corporate Director in two Councils, she has had a brief spell as an interim Chief Executive at Trafford MBC during a time of rapid change and has extensive experience of local government, the NHS and the community and voluntary sector through a career built successively from delivering services to leading them. Jill was awarded an OBE in the late Queen’s Platinum Birthday honours list for services to children.
Jill said, I’m delighted to have been appointed by NCC to lead children and education services through their ongoing improvement journey. I know that the Council have a very earnest desire to do their very best for families in Nottingham city, which was part of the appeal for me.
“I know the team are already working exceptionally hard and it’s great to see that recognised by Ofsted. I hope that by bringing my previous experience, my determination and of course, my commitment to work hard, that we’ll create formidable positive change.”
Vicky Murphy will start in November as the new Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health. She joins the council from her current role asService Director of Adult Social Care and Deputy DASS at the London Borough of Haringey managing all social care operations, commissioning and integrated health.
As a registered and qualified mental health social worker, Vicky brings over 28 years of experience to her role, including leading national initiatives through the Kings Fund and regional projects for the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS). She currently holds a national role with ADASS as Co-Chair for both the National Social Care Partnership Board and the National Care and Justice Network.
Vicky is a highly experienced transformation lead, known for her ability to transform services across various local authorities and health organisations. Her efforts have significantly improved performance and outcomes for residents while achieving and exceeding agreed savings targets.
Before her tenure at Haringey, Vicky held senior management positions whilst at Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and for the last 6 months stepped up as the interim Director of Adult Social Care. Her portfolio included directing all adult social care operations, commissioning and integrated care.
Vicky possesses in-depth knowledge of the Council’s statutory responsibilities within a financially constrained environment.
Vicky said, “I am thrilled and incredibly privileged to join Nottingham City Council and I am really looking forward to meeting everyone and working alongside colleagues, elected members and partners across the council to deliver the very best services to our residents”.
Commenting on the appointment, City Council Chief Executive Sajeeda Rose, said: “I am delighted to welcome Vicky and Jill into these two very important roles.
It is a crucial time of change for the council, where we need to look to develop new approaches and innovative ways to best deliver our core services for our citizens
“Both Vicky and Jill have been instrumental in driving forward the rapid transformation of services in their current roles and I am confident they will both bring a huge amount of experience, insight and innovation for the benefit of Nottingham.”
Nottingham City Council’s Leader, Neghat Khan, said: “We’re making huge strides in putting our council back on track – we have a new political leadership, new Chief Executive and now a refreshed team of senior officers with a clear plan to improve the services we offer to our citizens. We must get this right for the people of Nottingham, and we must do this quickly. I look forward to working closely with Jill and Vicky who will play a key role in improving the way we support young people and our most vulnerable residents.”