THE highly-paid new director of a North-East council's under-fire children's services unit has pledged to "rebuild confidence" in the department, after it was criticised by inspectors.

Darlington Borough Council's children's services was given an 'inadequate' rating by Ofsted earlier this year, resulting in the Department for Education hiring a firm of consultants to work with the authority to make improvements.

The council is working with consultants Red Quadrant to put in place a series of improvements called for by Ofsted in its report, which highlighted no fewer than 18 failings including in the areas of management and performance monitoring.

Suzanne Joyner, who has worked in the public sector for 25 years, took up her post as director of children and adult's services at the council on Monday (December 14).

The council was labelled wasteful during the recruitment process for the post – which attracts a salary of between £97,000 and £115,725 – after it was revealed to have spent £14,000 of public money advertising the position with a specialist recruitment consultant.

Ms Joyner, who grew up in Yorkshire and has joined the council from a similar role in Milton Keynes, said: "The recent Ofsted judgement for Darlington was disappointing, which may have resulted in some people losing confidence in children’s services.

"I am looking forward to rebuilding confidence and working with staff from across the council, councillors, and our partners, to do so.

“My priority is to build on the work and improvements already underway, in both children’s and adult service, to deliver modern, cost-effective, sustainable changes across our services, that are timely and of good quality.

“I am a passionate and dedicated public servant, and feel that this is somewhere that I can make a difference to vulnerable adults and children.

“With budget and resources continuing to significantly reduce, it is essential that we work in partnership with health services, schools, police and other statutory and voluntary sectors, to provide the right support at the right time, to enable people to achieve the best possible outcomes."

Chief executive Ada Burns said Ms Joyner will bring 'a wealth of knowledge of social care' to Darlington.

Council leader Bill Dixon added: "I’m pleased to welcome Suzanne to her new role.

"The council is committed to providing the highest possible social care to all our residents and I am confident Suzanne can help us achieve this.”