Paul Robinson is feeling pretty chipper and optimistic

It’s to be expected, he’s newly in his job as the Chief Executive – the highest non-elected officer--at Worcestershire County Council, and as was recently revealed, is fairly decently paid.

But he has on his plate turning around the council’s children’s services which were put into special measures after a damning Ofsted report, and which are soon to be totally reorganised.

Mr Robinson, 49, originally from Leeds, said: “Happily for me the improvements have already started, and we’ve had a couple of further reports from Ofsted that it’s definitely heading in the right direction.

“I’m very confident that we’re going to get a good service- that was one of the things that attracted me to the job when I saw it come up I was at Derby City Council for 10 years and the children’s service there was rated good, and I worked closely with the director of the service there.

“My job is to make sure the resource allocation is right and then to ask the right questions of the senior managers to make sure the right things are happening.

“We shouldn’t expect a linear improvement - it doesn’t just get better I n a straight line, some areas will improve then we’ll be told something else isn’t improving fast enough. I also have to guard against people getting discouraged when that happens.”

Another reason for coming to Worcestershire is the beauty of the county. Mr Robinson said: “We live near Derby and used to come to Worcestershire quite often at the weekend and always thought it would be nice to work and live here.

“That’s what I’d really like to do in my time here. I want to help keep Worcestershire a beautiful place to live, with its beauty and history, and increase the opportunities for everyone. This county is a hidden gem and I want to help improve it for everyone.”