The executive director of Gloucestershire's Children's Services Is to leave after leading it out of special measures.

Chris Spencer will depart at the end of April 2023 after working for five years to turn the failing department around.

He was brought on board by the county council in 2018 and tasked with overhauling standards, after Ofsted's 2017 inspection rated the children services department as 'inadequate'.

In its most recent report in February 2022 Ofsted said "significent progress" had been made and changed the rating to 'Requires improvement to be good'.

The inspector highlighted Mr Spencer's work to ensure staff are provided with a clear model of practice and of what is expected of them.

Mr Spencer said: "I will be sad to leave but it was always the plan that I would only stay for as long as it took to move the service out of intervention and on the path to good services, and a committed, talented senior leadership team had been recruited, ensuring the improvement journey continued in safe hands.

"We've made tremendous progress and it's been a privilege to work with so many dedicated people who have played a key role in our improvement journey."

The report commended social workers for their passion in achieving the best for the children they support and how generally a more stable workforce is helping to deliver better outcomes for children and young people.

The council's Social Work Academy, an early initiative which Mr Spencer brought to Gloucestershire, was identified as another area of strength, which will support the council to 'grow its own' social workers.

However, the inspector felt there was still a long way to go to bring the service up to scratch.

The report said: "The majority of children now benefit from more timely effective interventions.

"Despite these improvements, there remains more to do to ensure that all children benefit from improved services."

Cllr Stephen Davies, cabinet member for children's safeguarding and early years at Gloucestershire County Council, said: "I have always valued Chris's expertise and support, and he has done a phenomenal job guiding the improvement process for our Children's Services.

"I have also appreciated his personal support. I wish him all the best."

The recruitment process for a new director has started.

See the full Ofsted report here .