Trafford Conservatives are very concerned to hear the news that the Director of Adult Services for the Council, Nathan Atkinson, has resigned effective immediately.
Equally, we are sad to see Nathan Atkinson leave and wish him all the best in his future endeavours. Deputy Leader for the Conservative Group, Councillor Phil Eckersley, had this to say:
As the Shadow Executive for Health and Care I am shocked upon hearing the immediate resignation of Nathan Atkinson, Corporate Director of Adult Services. I had regular meetings with Nathan to discuss social care matters and his future vision for Trafford Adult Services. I found Nathan to be an asset to the Council and I feel his contributions and leadership will be a great loss to the Council. I am alarmed that I was not informed about Nathan's resignation by the Council, as the Shadow Executive member for Health and Social Care, having to find out through the grapevine. Nathan's resignation with immediate effect signals a continuing decline within Trafford Council and highlights the mismanagement of this Trafford Labour ran Council.
The interim arrangement until a replacement is found raises serious questions as, in the interim, the Director of Children's Services, Jill McGregor, is taking over Adult's Services as director.
This comes at a time when Children's Services will be facing considerable pressure as the Labour government undertakes a tax raid on private schools. The Director of Children's Services will need to have her full attention on the influx of students from the private to the public school system. Many private schools have closed citing the VAT raid, and many parents are also concerned they will not be able to afford school fees when these inevitably rise.
This also comes at a time when students have just received their GCSE results, and are figuring out what to do next, and where to pursue continued education; another issue the Director of Children's Services will need her full attention on.
40% of Trafford Council's budget is spent on Adult Services- this is a sizeable and important part of the Council budget- and these changes also come at a time when the Council have brought in CIPFA (The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) to review Council finances. Trafford Conservatives are worried about the current instability in leadership at the Council and the problems that may arise, especially whilst Trafford Council is struggling to manage its finances properly.