Head of paid service and Executive Directors

Tom has held similar roles in Shropshire and Cheshire. 

Tom’s remit ranges from libraries to economic development; highways to Fire and Rescue; recycling centres to customer services. The focus is on tailoring services to needs of local communities, and working with partners to ensure value for money. 

Previously Tom has worked for a number of county, city and unitary councils including Kent, Lancashire and Liverpool.

Paul joined the Council Spring 2021. His remit covers a range of corporate services, including HR, Communications, Intelligence and Analytics, and Transformation.

Previously, Paul was Deputy Chief Executive at Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, with a portfolio that included Operational Director for a range of clinical services. He led a range of centralised services including strategy and planning, transformation, HR and communications.

Sara’s role is a key statutory one, leading a department which combines children’s social care with support to deliver excellence in education countywide.

Sara is a social worker by profession, with 32 years of experience delivering services to children and young people.  She has held a number of senior roles over the last 10 years, leading social care, education and community health services.

Sara was the Director of Children Services for three-and-a-half years with Dorset County Council and led a successful bid for £2m from the Department for Education’s social care innovation fund, to rethink social work.  In April 2017, Sara took on the additional role of adult and community services. 

Sara spent four years as elected director on the board of ADCS (2011-2015).  She advised ministers in the production of the 2004 Children Act, contributed to the publication ‘Narrowing the Gap’ and was part of the expert group for prevention and early intervention, producing the publication ‘Grasping the Nettle’.

James Bullion took up the role of Executive Director of Adult Social Services in January 2017.  His role is to develop and transform services in a department responsible for spending almost £1m a day to improve the lives of vulnerable adults in the county.

For the previous two years he had been Director of Adult Operations at Essex County Council, which he joined in 2013 as a Director for Commissioning.  During his time in Essex, he oversaw some major developments in the fast-moving world of adult social care, including the implementation of the Care Act and a new case management system, at the same time as leading Adult Operations through a major restructure to reconnect frontline teams with the communities they serve.

Under his leadership, Essex forged stronger links with the health service, including the introduction of ‘Good Lives’ in adult social care –  an approach which is receiving national recognition as an innovative response to the challenges facing the sector, by creating a new relationship between professionals and people who need support.

James is also the national Director lead for Social Care and Justice for the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the regional ADASS lead for workforce and leadership development.