Jonathan Jones has been appointed as Knowsley Council’s Executive Director (Children’s Services), and will take up the post in January 2024 following the planned retirement of the current postholder, Julie Moss.
Jonathan has experience of leading local government children’s services and has also held senior roles with Ofsted and a number of education establishments.
He is currently the Director of Education (and also Deputy Corporate Director of Children and Young People Services) at Liverpool City Council, where he has most recently led, developed and implemented education and inclusion services.
Jonathan will become the lead Council officer with statutory responsibility for Children’s Services, Education and Early Help in Knowsley. This includes the strategic planning, design and delivery of the best services for Knowsley’s children, young people and their families.
Councillor Margaret Harvey, Knowsley’s Children’s Services Cabinet Member, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Jonathan to Knowsley, where we will be looking for him to make sure we continue our progress in supporting local children and families to thrive.
We have achieved a lot over the last few years. Aside from dealing effectively with the huge impact of the pandemic, we secured a positive outcome for our Youth Offending Service following an inspection carried out by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation. We have also seen “Outstanding” or “Good” Ofsted inspections for numerous Knowsley schools and children’s homes, as well as confirmation of “Good” safeguarding arrangements for both our Adult and Children’s Social Care services, highlighted through independent reviews conducted by the Local Government Association.
We know that we still have more to do, but our improvement journey is definitely going in the right direction.
I am looking forward to working with Jonathan, who will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge, as we continue to build on those recent achievements.”
Jonathan added: “I’m really pleased to be joining Knowsley Council and continuing to progress their improvement journey.
I look forward to building relationships with my future colleagues at the Council, and also with partner agencies and schools – and most importantly with local children and their families so that they have the right support at the right time in order to achieve and succeed.”