About Philip Cotterill…

Philip led the three star Kirklees Social Services department for 12 years.

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 in Kirklees.

In his final 18 months with Kirklees Philip became the 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. 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 he continues to be the 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, lectured in Prague and is a Board member of the European Social Network. In 2008 Philip held discussions, on behalf of 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.

He has been an advisor to the city of Arad, (Romania) since 1997. Philip is currently working with a number of local authorities in England concentrating on Leadership, Performance and Programme Management.

In June 2008 Philip was asked to become 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 revisited in the spring of 2009 and noted significant improvements. They stated that there was reason to be optimistic about the capacity for the continued improvement of social work services in the city of Aberdeen.

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.