One of North Yorkshire Council’s most senior officers - Stuart Carlton - has spoken of his pride and paid tribute to his colleagues after being given a knighthood in the New Year Honours.
The council’s corporate director for the children and young people’s service has been awarded the honour for his work and dedication in a career spanning 35 years.
Mr Carlton, who joined the council in his current role in 2017, said he had been shocked but felt “extremely privileged” to be given the honour for services to children, young people and families.
He added: “I’m still in shock really, I just never expected that such a thing could happen. It’s a huge honour and I feel very humbled to receive it.
“Like all these awards, it’s built on a long career of service and the hard work and dedication of many other people that I have been truly privileged to work alongside. I thank each and every one of them.”
The citation for the award has highlighted Mr Carlton’s work both in North Yorkshire and on a national stage.
Mr Carlton played an integral role in North Yorkshire Council being the lead authority in the Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programme, which has since been rolled out nationally.
The programme is aimed at enabling children to stay at home in safe and stable family environments so that fewer young people need to be taken into care.
During his time with North Yorkshire Council, Mr Carlton has led the service to secure two consecutive “outstanding in all areas” reports from the inspection of local authority children’s services, the only area in the country to have achieved this.
He has also been on the national Association of Directors of Children’s Services for nine years, serving as an elected director and honorary treasurer.
And he has been a sector improvement lead for more than a decade in Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire, helping to support other local authorities to improve their services as well as advising the Department for Education.
Mr Carlton was also a member of the design team for the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care which led to significant policy and legislation change for the sector.
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