£144,201-a-year executive director resigns from North Northamptonshire Council job after 12 months

Charisse Monero has decided to leave the role at the unitary authority 12 months after taking on the job first reported by NN Journal.

In October 2024, Ms Monero had flagged up her concerns with the authority’s SEND services saying there had been ‘significant opportunities’ missed to get basic fundamentals right.

At a schools forum meeting, she described the situation as ‘in a crisis point’.

She had said: “I think the SEND system at the moment as a whole feels quite broken and there’s significant work that central government need to do, but that’s going to take a long time.”

A spokesman for North Northamptonshire Council said: “Our executive director of children’s services, Charisse Monero, has decided to leave the authority and the council wishes her all the best for the future.

“As this is a statutory role the council’s deputy chief executive, George Candler, will fulfil the position of director of children’s services for the next few weeks, alongside his current role as executive director of place and economy.

"The authority has already started work on finding a replacement for a permanent executive director of children’s services and updates will be issued in due course.”

The executive director of children’s services is a statutory role to provide ‘leadership and oversight’ of the provision of children’s services addressing the local needs of all children and young people, including the most disadvantaged and vulnerable, and their families and carers and provides ‘high quality, value for money services’ in a joined-up way.

They are also responsible for the delivery of the education functions of the local authority.

Ms Monero had been assistant director for transformation in Islington Council.

At the time of her appointment she had said she was ‘delighted’ to get the job, saying she was ‘very impressed by the progressive and pioneering ambition to deliver excellent, high-quality services to the children and families in North Northamptonshire’.

The role comes with a salary of £144,201 to £154,809 depending on experience and performance.

Her predecessor AnnMarie Dodds lasted almost two-and-a-half years in the job before quitting NNC. It took nearly a year to recruit Ms Monero.