About Philip Cotterill…

Philip led the three star Kirklees Social Services department for 12 years and since 2008 has worked independently.

When the government introduced star ratings in 2002, Kirklees were awarded two stars and the following year achieved the top rating of 3 stars and this was maintained whilst Philip was Director.

In his final 18 months with Kirklees Philip became the Corporate Director of Organisational Development preparing the Council for its Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). Kirklees received the highest CPA rating (4 stars) with a maximum score of 4 for 'capacity. It was in this position that he concentrated on transformational change, particularly in regard to issues of workforce planning, learning and development as well as Council wide change and programme management. Kirklees was subsequently named as ‘Council of the Year’ in 2008. He is the founder of the Kirklees Leadership Academy.

Philip sits on the National Executive Council of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services as its International Secretary; a post he has held since 2002. He has led ADSS delegations to Sweden and Romania, has undertaken an EU peer review in Finland and lectured in the Czech Republic. In 2008 Philip held discussions, on behalf of the UK government and ADASS, in Hong Kong, Fuzhou and Beijing aiming to develop new professional ties with social care providers. He chaired the Yorkshire & Humberside branch of the ADSS for a number of years and was a trustee of After Adoption Yorkshire. Philip is a long serving Board Member and Trustee of the European Social Network (ESN) which is the independent network for directors of social services, health, education and employment in Europe, in this role Philip had travelled widely since ESN has 77 Member organisations in 26 countries. He has been an advisor to the city of Arad, (Romania) since 1997. Philip has worked with a number of local authorities in England concentrating on Leadership, Performance and Programme Management.

In June 2008 Philip became the Programme Director for Social Work in the City of Aberdeen (Scotland). The task was to transform social work in the city following two critical government reports. The inspectors praised the improvements made when they revisited in the spring of 2009.

In early 2010 Philip evaluated the extent to which Council services and the NHS could work closer together in West Dunbartonshire.

In June 2010 Philip was approached by Stirling Council to review social care provision in the city following critical inspections. Significant progress was made over the following year and new models of care management and provision were established.

Philip Cotterill was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in her Birthday Honours list of 2004.