An interim director brought in to turn around Somerset County Council’s failing children’s services has been axed following poor results.
Chief executive Patrick Flaherty said the council had ‘invested heavily’ in a bid to bring about improvements over the last 18 months.
But this had failed to materialised, he said, culminating in the decision to terminate Peter Lewis’s contract.
The council recently announced the closure of two children’s homes due to due to ‘failings in the standards of care provided, poor management and safeguarding issues’.
Mr Lewis was hired on a temporary basis after an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted report in 2013.
‘There have been improvements over the last 18 months but not enough. I have been in post for six months and I have not seen the kind of progress I expected in light of our investment and the priority we have given the service.’
Mr Flaherty will take on the role temporarily while the council hunts for a new director of children’s services.
