Ed Nixon Mobile: 07539329455 Email: ed.nixon1@outlook.com Personal Statement I am a vastly experienced Senior Manager with a proven track record as a successful leader in both the Public and Private children s social care sector supplemented by two periods employed as an independent Consultant Project Manager. I am generally considered to have expertise in children s care particularly residential and foster care with a National profile as a campaigner for children s rights through ICHA, NAFP and my leadership of the Every Child Leaving Care Matters (ECLCM) campaign. I have also been involved in the successful campaign to establish a competent enquiry into the issue of historical abuse allegedly involving politicians and others over an extended period. I am one of the twenty-four signatories of the open letter to the Home Secretary which arguably provided the catalyst that eventually led to an agreed framework for the enquiry and spoke for the campaign in an interview published in Newsweek on 05/12/14. I featured in the 2013 Panorama documentary Kids lost in care with the services I managed presented as a counter-balance to the programme s theme that Venture Capitalists control of the market was in danger of losing sight of children and their needs Management Style My style is hands on, leading from the front when necessary, with a proven ability to take teams with me. I am a strategic planner and developer comfortable in all settings from Board/Council level to working directly with new recruits. I am accustomed to making presentations and chairing meetings in a range of situations from informal meetings up to and including in national settings including Portcullis House, Westminster. Work Experience Position Company Date Independent Consultant Self Employed January 15 - ongoing Since finishing my full-time post with Family Care Associates I have been undertaking a range of developmental, analytical and mentoring tasks with various residential child care providers. I have been contracted by the Independent Children s Home Association to deliver training and undertake a number of research projects all related to children s residential care and prior to presenting my findings to the membership. I have also undertaken work for the National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care which has required me to make presentations as part of a national roadshow (sharing a platform with HMI and OfSTED) addressing the introduction of the Quality Standards 2015. This, in turn led to me being commissioned to write some Practice Papers for Action for Children addressing the changing role of Responsible Individuals and Registered Managers, these have now been published. I have retained my interest in fostering by undertaking work with two North West based IFA s who have asked me to Independently chair some meetings acting in the capacity of IRO in one case and offer a period of advice on service development in the other. Finally I have maintained the leadership of the Every Child Leaving Care Matters Campaign which has involved a considerable time in meetings and presentations to political groups, meetings of the Care Leavers Association, and a number of Local Authority Council meetings in connection with their support for the campaign, I am invited as a guest key note speaker to present at colleges and
other educational settings and have been invited to join several working groups addressing the needs of care leavers. I have chaired meetings in a number of settings, including Westminster, in connection with the campaign and have been invited to attend meetings in various venues in and around Whitehall with Senior Civil Servants, Politicians and leaders of Independent and Charitable bodies. CEO 1 Family Care Associates Group of Companies 01/08/2001 to 06/01/15 Lead the Executive Team and report to Board Safeguarding Lead for all Children s Homes, Fostering Service and School. Supervise Heads of Residential Services, Fostering, Training, Education and Therapeutic Services Prepare and direct all tender applications and contractual commitments Responsible Individual to OfSTED for the three key services (Residential, Education and Fostering) Contracts and tenders lead person Marketing lead development of marketing strategy Representing the company at Purchaser/Provider and other meetings Panel Decision Maker Fostering Other duties undertaken have included complaints investigations, chairperson of disciplinary and capability hearings, liaising with regulatory bodies, Local Authorities, IIP etc. In my time at Family Care Associates we created an entirely new and successful fostering service and I can reasonably claim that I was instrumental in turning around a failing Company to one financially stable and providing a high quality of care. I was directly responsible for a number of partnership arrangements being created with LA commissioners to the mutual benefit of both parties. This includes the operation of a specialist children s home for Sefton MBC which has now been in existence for approximately ten years and has, I feel, been an unqualified success for the partners and more particularly the children who have lived there and their families. By developing a therapeutic service within the Company not only have children and commissioners benefited but I also created successful partnerships with a number of Local Authorities Walsall MBC, Sefton MBC and Tameside MBC to deliver a therapeutic input into their Adoption services again these have been extremely successful and delivered best value, been cost effective for the commissioners whilst enabling the Company not only to retain services internally at a time of austerity but to develop and grow. I also was the lead person in establishing an Education Unit highly successful in reintegrating children into mainstream education. Further I was also responsible for the creation and development of a specialist children s home working with young people who were acutely mentally ill and detained in secure hospital or secure units. This required making partnership arrangement, which I negotiated with a health provider, ultimately leading to what has become a (possibly) 1 Appointed as Group Operations Manager initially and asked to assume role of CEO subsequently Page 2 of 5
unique resource. Independent Consultant Various Local Authorities, Health Trusts and Voluntary Organisations including: Lancashire CC (SSD) Sefton MBC (SSD and Health) Liverpool SSD and Health Sure Start November 2000 to July 2001 Consultation exercise with young people concerning closure plans for two Secure Units and adjoining large scale children s homes Lancashire County Council Subsequently I was commissioned to and successfully project managed the exercise leading to closures Review and overhaul of LA fostering and adoption service Lancashire County Council Training delivery Sefton MBC and Liverpool CC. Facilitation of planning for a range of services ranging from those addressing teenage pregnancies to admissions under Mental Health legislation Sure Start; Merseyside Area Health Authorities Operations Director Atlantic Children s Trust June 2000 to November 2000 Appointed as Operations Director to establish eight Children s Homes for looked after children and young people with responsibility for a multi-million pound budget. This involved registering ACT as a charity and building the service from the ground up. Unfortunately the promised start-up funding failed to materialise and I was forced to reverse the process and resign. Service Manager Manager of: September 1995 June 2000 The LA s children s residential resources The Fostering and Adoption Services The Leaving Care Service Children s Support Service a radical service based on the creation of a team of social workers, former residential social workers, an Education Welfare Officer and the newly created role of LAC Nurse which I developed concentrating on finding alternatives to care for children. Whilst recognising and respecting the integrity of their colleagues specialist skills and knowledge the key factor in the success of this service was the commitment of all personnel to the team and the team goals which became far more important than individual accomplishments Implementing aspects of the Quality Protects initiative across the department together with Page 3 of 5
associated budget tracking Drafting procedures and guidance documents Review of services Fostering, Adoption, Residential, Waking Night staff and preparation of reports and recommendations for action by council. Additional Responsibilities. Merseyside New Start Management Board. Inter-Agency Development Programme Steering Group. Learning Gateway Steering Group. Sefton Social Inclusion Task Group. Sefton Looked After Children Group (Chair) Liverpool L.E.A. Education of Looked After Children Group. Sefton Accord Group (Preparation for the Connexions Strategy) Sefton L.E.A. Behaviour Support Plan Implementation Group. Bid writer and subsequently on Management Board of successful application for City Challenge funding Area Manager April 1989 - September 1995 Manager of three teams of social workers working generically across children and adults services. Manager of two children s residential homes Manager of two Day Nurseries Manager of a Family Centre Responsible for managing and coordinating Child Protection (now referred to as Safeguarding) investigations Chair for Child Protection Conferences and reviews Manager of the Home Care Service Member of Area Management Team Senior Social Worker September 1980 April 1989 Management of team of generic social workers Management of the Occupational Therapy team Lead of group developing initiatives for alternative treatment approaches for adults experiencing cyclical mental health admissions Social Worker Generic caseload but heavily weighted towards children at risk and in care July 1978 - September 1980 Social Work Training September 1976 July 1978 Page 4 of 5
(Seconded) Social Worker (unqualified) As above September 2015 December 1974 September 1976 Qualifications Establishment Date B.Sc. Hons. (2.ii) Economics. (L.S.E.) Liverpool Polytechnic 1971-1974 Certificate of Qualification in Social Work Liverpool Polytechnic 1976-1978. Certificate in Effective Management (O.U.) Open University 1991-1992. Details of referees on request Ed Nixon Page 5 of 5