Paul is the Head of the Department for Education’s (DfE) East Midlands Vulnerable Children’s Unit, overseeing the department’s improvement and intervention work in Children’s Social Care (CSC) and SEND. The unit aims to bring about lasting improvements to local services for very vulnerable children.

Previously, Paul was the Head of Delivery for the Derby and Doncaster Opportunity Areas. The Opportunity Areas programme was a place-based programme at the heart of the Government’s ambition to drive up social mobility. Through evidence-based delivery and innovation, the programme aimed to improve outcomes for children and young people in the twelve Opportunity Areas – from early years through to employment - and identifying and disseminating what works in these areas with other areas.

Paul is passionate about education, firmly believing that everyone should strive to continue learning and developing throughout their lives and has worked in the Department for Education since 2001. As a Trust we have worked with Paul over the past three years in his DfE OA role and he was an integral part of the development of the 'This is Derby' programme and has become a great advocate for the Trust locally, regionally and nationally.