A departing senior North Yorkshire Council officer who was knighted for his work has spoken of his pride at what the authority has achieved.
Sir Stuart Carlton, corporate director for the children and young people’s service, will leave early next month after eight years at the authority and its predecessor, North Yorkshire County Council.
The officer was knighted in the New Year’s Honours for his work and dedication in a career spanning 35 years.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service at the recent official opening of Bewerley Park Outdoor Centre’s new accommodation blocks, the officer said he was pleased to be involved in the facility’s upgrade.
“Bewerley was one of the first places I came to see so to leave something that’s new and ready for the future is something, a legacy you’ll always be proud of.”
“There’s lots I’m proud of. I’m proud of what we’ve done for children and young people in our care, particularly.
“We’ve run a really good service for a long time and we generally try and put our young people and our looked-after children and caregivers at the centre of what we do.
“That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been difficult things and difficult decisions and tough things that we do, but that’s all part of anyone’s job and career in local government.
“We’ve run really high-quality services here in North Yorkshire and I hope that continues long after I’m done.”
Council chiefs have made repeated warnings that the authority is facing financial challenges and would need to use £57m from its reserves over the next three years if it did not make savings.
The authority is waiting for the results of government reforms to local government funding which North Yorkshire council bosses fear could be bad news for rural councils.
But Sir Stuart said the authority was “well placed” to tackle future challenges.
“The budget is challenging with what’s coming round the corner, losing the rural services grant, new funding reform.
“We have a challenging saving profile to make over the next few years.
“But we will look to protect vulnerable services to the most vulnerable and do the things we think are right, knowing we can’t please everyone, knowing there’s not enough money to do all the things we want, but that’s the nature of public finance.
“We’re well placed, well-positioned to continue delivering really great services to the most vulnerable people we serve.”
The citation for the officer’s knighthood highlighted his work both in North Yorkshire and on a national stage.
The council chief played an integral role in North Yorkshire Council being the lead authority in the Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programme, which has since been rolled out nationally.
The programme is aimed at enabling children to stay at home in safe and stable family environments so that fewer young people need to be taken into care.
During his time with North Yorkshire Council, he led the service to secure two consecutive “outstanding in all areas” reports from the inspection of local authority children’s services, the only area in the country to have achieved this.
More recently, the officer has led North Yorkshire Council’s new home-to-school transport policy, which has proved controversial with opposition leaders and some Conservative members of the Tory-led authority.
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