Coventry City Council has accepted the request for early retirement made by director of social services Bill Hendley, with immediate effect.

Chief Executive Iain Roxburgh will temporarily assume responsibility for the directorate, assisted by Nora Fisher, head of Resources and Regulation, and Pete Brennan, head of Commissioning and Assessments.

Mr Roxburgh said:

"Our immediate concern must be to maintain the good services generally provided by social services. At the same time we shall concentrate on addressing the very serious issues raised by the Social Services Inspectorate’s review of our child protection services. We shall also be implementing the action plans already identified to improve areas of the service as a whole, as highlighted by the Joint Review.

"This has been a very painful experience for Coventry City Council. But we must move on if we are to be successful in ensuring this service is consistently reliable. Already some improvements have been made. We recognise that there is more to be done. We shall appoint an interim director as quickly as possible and will be seeking the assistance of the Association of Directors of Social Services and the Social Services Inspectorate to identify a highly experienced and suitable candidate.

"In the meantime I shall be working with social service teams to drive through the agreed changes and recommendations."

Coventry City Council leader John Fletcher said:

"The city Council accepts the reports and recognises the seriousness of the failings in some vital areas of our social services.

"There is clearly much work to be done and steps have already been taken to put right some of the shortcomings.

"I shall be watching progress very closely as members and managers work together to deliver services which properly serve the people of Coventry.

"The reports are critical, and the city council accepts those criticisms. But I am anxious that the successes achieved by the hard work of all social services staff including Bill Hendley are not completely overshadowed. The Joint review also highlights some ‘gems of innovation and good practice’ which one of the Audit Commission inspectors highlighted as ‘lessons to be learned’ for other local authorities. It is also true that the Joint Review acknowledges that Coventry is within the top one third of social service providers for service user satisfaction. The people of Coventry must not lose sight of those strengths."