Former teacher set to be council chief executive

Rotherham Council is set to appoint a senior education official as its next chief executive.

John Edwards, the director general for regions at the Department for Education, is being recommended for the role following a cross-party appointment process.

It follows the announcement of the planned departure of Sharon Kemp, who has led the authority for nearly a decade.

Mr Edwards previously worked as a maths teacher in a secondary school before spending 14 years in local government, including as the director of education and skills at Manchester City Council.

The council will meet to decide on the appointment on 21 May.

If confirmed, Mr Edwards will take up the appointment in June and will oversee all the council's services, including child and adult social care, education, housing, transport, and regeneration.

Ms Kemp, who has spent nine years in the role, announced in January that she was planning to step down, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

During her tenure she oversaw the return of powers to the authority after it was taken into government control in 2015, in the wake of a report into failures in its handling of child sexual exploitation.

Since 2017, Ofsted has rated the council's children's services as "good", following "systematic and rigorous" efforts to improve. In 2022, it was named most improved council in the country.

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