Senior employees

The roles and responsibilities of Blackpool Council's senior officers - March 2026

Chief executive

Areas of responsibility:

• Give direction and leadership on the achievement of the council's corporate and strategic objectives
• Act as an interface between the political executive and employees and the organisation and the community
• Lead and influence at an organisational, local, regional and national level to ensure that the agreed goals and targets are achieved to meet the aspirations and needs of the people of Blackpool
• Act as principal adviser to the leader and elected members on the development of the council's strategic aim
• Advise on the formulation of policy, the setting of strategic priorities and the allocation of resources to reflect the council's corporate and wider community objectives including improving public health

Assistant chief executive - Governance/monitoring officer

Areas of responsibility:

• Statutory monitoring officer
• Deputy returning officer
• Promotion of corporate governance
• Constitutional advice
• Members code of conduct
• Executive and cabinet member decision making
• Council and committee governance
• Scrutiny services
• School and academy governance
• School appeals
• Electoral services
• Member and civic services (including councilors delegated budgets)
• Company secretariat services

Director of adult services (Interim)

Areas of responsibility:

• Statutory role of director of adult social services (DASS)
• Accountability for assessing local needs, ensuring availability and delivery of a full range of services
• Professional leadership including workforce planning
• Leading the implementation and performance monitoring of standards
• Managing cultural change
• Promoting local access and ownership and driving partnership working
• Promoting social inclusion and wellbeing
• Commissioning services for adults which deliver quality, value for money, meet identified needs, and integrated with relevant partners
• Chair health and social care career academy, promoting the sector, good recruitment and retention, and training fit for the changing needs of the workforce
• Resource planning to support changes in statute, national and regional policy and case law
• Oversight of the humanitarian response requirements of the emergency plan
• Leading the internal care and support provider services (inc CQC and Ofsted regulated provider services)
• Responsible Individual registered with Care Quality Commission and Ofsted

Director of children’s services

Areas of responsibility:

• Children’s social care
• Fostering adoption and residential services
• Safeguarding quality and review
• Early help for children and families, young people’s service
• Headstart
• Youth offending
• School standards
• Access and inclusion
• SEND
• Contracts and commissioning (joint with health)
• Business support and resources

Director of community and environmental services

Areas of responsibility

• Public protection and enforcement
• Highways and traffic management
• Coastal and environmental partnerships
• Waste and environmental operations
• Leisure and parks and green environment
• Integrated transport
• School catering services
• Life events
• Youth services
• Community engagement and Move Together Blackpool

Director of places

• Sustaining and growing the economy through inward investment, stimulating business growth and start-ups along with developing relationship with the business sector
• Informing and promoting council services to the residents of Blackpool
• Responsibility for the council’s planning, building control and strategic transportation services
• Delivering major regeneration projects across the town including Houndshill, Talbot Gateway, Blackpool Central, Leisure Assets, Enterprise Zones and Showtown the Blackpool Museum
• Providing support to local people to improve employability prospects
• Promote the town to inbound tourists and help with the private sector to develop compelling reasons to visit
• Directs the delivery of the council's cultural offer in the form of art, heritage and libraries providing enrichment both in schools and for the benefit of the wider local population

Director of public health

Areas of responsibility:

• Reviewing evidence of effectiveness to inform commissioning strategy and service design in health and social care
• Health needs assessment and monitoring patterns of diseases (JSNA)
• Planning and development of services that support behaviour change (tobacco, alcohol, obesity)
• Research and impact assessment
• Advocating for policy change at local and national levels in order to improve health
• Health protection and communicable disease control, including health emergency planning and pandemic response

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