Anthony May: Corporate Director, Children Families and Cultural Services

Responsibilities

Anthony leads one of the largest departments delivering children, families and culturalservices in the country. Anthony has a specific responsibility to meet the legal requirements of the Children’s Act 2004.

The department provides a range of services for children and young people’s education and achievement, leisure, youth offending, child protection and safeguarding. 

The department also provides a cultural offer including libraries, arts, sports and three country parks at Rufford, Bestwood and Sherwood Forest. 

Anthony is responsible for a £649 million budget which includes the funding for all state maintained schools in Nottinghamshire.

Achievements

Like many other local authorities, the department is facing increasing challenges in children’s social care. For example, the trend over the last 4 years shows an approximate 38% increase in the number of children on child protection plans whilst over the same period the number of looked after children (children cared for by the state) has increased by approximately 62%. Despite continuing investment in social care, these trends have placed extra pressure on frontline social workers to ensure vulnerable children are protected.

Another important challenge for the department is to continue to champion the needs of young people in a changing educational landscape. The emergence of academies and free schools is requiring the authority to adapt its relationship with educational institutes whilst not losing sight of supporting the health, well-being and achievement of all children and young people.

Faced with these challenges, Anthony is focusing his attention on transforming the department’s work around safeguarding to provide a financially sustainable service whilst also increasing investment to protect vulnerable children and young people.

Some notable examples of this transformation include the establishment of the Nottinghamshire Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub which has brought together professionals from adult and children’s social care, police and the health community. This pioneering inter-agency model allows swift information sharing to inform the protection of vulnerable individuals in Nottinghamshire as quickly and as safely as possible.

Under Anthony’s stewardship, Nottinghamshire’s early help services have also undergone a modernisation process. Access and understanding of these services has improved and closer integration with social care means that children and young people are getting support earlier so that situations are not left to deteriorate.

The department’s support to schools has paid dividends with the summer 2012 results showing 61% of young people achieving 5 A*-C grades, including English and Maths. This represents a 4% improvement from 2011 and places Nottinghamshire above national outcomes. These results also meant Nottinghamshire improved its league table position by 24 places between 2011 and 2012 compared to other local authorities.

Furthermore, a number of exciting capital projects have been completed recently including a new CaltonDigbySpecialSchool and major refurbishment of WestBridgfordInfant School. Looking to the future, fifteen Nottinghamshire Schools have also been allocated government funding, the highest number of projects awarded to any local authority in the country. Furthermore, following the complete refurbishment of Mansfield Library, work on modernising West Bridgford Library will see the addition of a Young People’s Centre to the complex which is due to open in March 2013.

It also important to mention that in 2012 the department achieved a successful outcome from an Ofsted inspection, which reviewed the arrangements between children’s and adults services in Nottinghamshire in respect of drug, alcohol, and mental health provision.

Background

Anthony grew up in Dorset and attended Hardy Grammar School in Dorchester. After leaving school Anthony joined Dorset County Council and undertook a variety of roles in the Education Department. When he left Dorset, Anthony was Head of the Youth and Community Service.

Anthony gained a Masters in Business Administration from Bournemouth University and joined Nottinghamshire County Council in June 2004 as Assistant Director for the Young People’s Division.

In December 2007, Anthony was appointed as acting Director with a specific responsibility to create the Children and Young People’s department in response to the Children’s Act. Anthony’s success in this role led to his formal appointment as Director of the department in September 2008. Since then, the department has grown to include a broader offer of services prompting it to be renamed as Children, Families and Cultural Services.

Salary and pension

The overall remuneration package includes a basic salary as well as the amount the Council has to contribute to the Local Government Pension scheme. Senior managers also personally contribute 7.5% of their salary to the scheme. Senior managers are expected to be on call at all times including weekends. Nottinghamshire County Council does not at this time provide any benefits that an equivalent senior manager in the private sector might receive in addition to the basic salary - for example performance-related bonuses, private health care or company cars.

Expenses claimed

All expenses are paid to employees in the course of carrying out duties in line with the Council's Travel and Accommodation Policy which is part of the nationally agreed terms and conditions of service and detailed in part six of the Council's Constitution, on pages 6-73 to 6-78. These conditions are supplemented by the Council's local conditions laid down in the Policy on the Payment of Travelling Allowances and Policy on the Payment of Subsistence Allowances, as set out in Appendices 11 and 12 of the Pay Policy Statement.

Expenses paid are liable to tax.

January - December 2012

January - December 2011

January - December 2010