Manchester City Council have announced that Paul Marshall will be recommended to Full Council for appointment as Deputy Chief Executive.
As Deputy Chief Executive Paul will become a part of the Council’s core leadership team, helping to set a strategic direction for the organisation and guide it not only on a local, but an increasingly global stage.
He will also be responsible for key pillars of Council policy – delivering on our Zero Carbon ambitions, running corporate services, as well as leading on Digital Strategy and transformation of services.
Prior to his appointment Paul served as the Council’s Strategic Director of Children and Education Services, a position he has held since 2016. Since then Manchester’s Children Services has transformed from one that was judged by Ofsted in 2014 to be failing children to being judged as ‘good’ for the first time in 2022.
Guided by Paul’s leadership this has been a collaborative effort which has included key partners across the city; along with staff, partner agencies including schools and voluntary organisations as well as the council’s senior leadership team.
In 2022 the Council was also accepted onto UNICEF’s Child Friendly Cities and Communities programme – the city’s first step on the journey to being awarded Child Friendly status.
Paul is the Council’s Armed Forces Lead, a fitting role considering his status as a veteran, having served in the Royal Artillery. In addition, as part of Paul’s wider responsibilities he is actively engaged with Government Departments and leads the Greater Manchester Youth Justice Transformation Board.
Paul has more than 30 years of experience working in the field of children’s services, starting in 1991 when he began work as a residential social worker. Over the following three decades Paul has worked across children’s services departments for Councils across the Northwest and the Midlands. This includes Head of Service for Children’s Social Care and Knowsley Borough Council, Assistant Director of Children’s Services at both Birmingham City Council and Rochdale Borough Council.
In the interim Sean McKendrick, Deputy Strategic Director of Children’s Services, will serve as the acting DCS until a full-time successor is appointed.
Paul Marshall said:
“I am incredibly privileged to have worked for the Council for so many years and am truly proud to be taking up this new role as Deputy Chief Executive.
“In my time as Manchester’s Director of Children Services I have met some truly exceptional people, dedicated to challenging inequality, improving the lives and experiences of children, who together are committed to building a safe, happy, healthy and successful future for the city’s children.
“I believe that there is huge potential in Manchester that if harnessed, will provide significant benefits from everyone who calls it home. I am now eager to take up a new challenge and play my part in realising this ambition.”
