New Peterborough senior leadership team appointed to improve opportunities for Peterborough

A senior leadership team largely dedicated to Peterborough is now in place following two new appointments.

Following a nationwide search, John Gregg has been appointed Executive Director of Children’s Services and Stephen Taylor as Executive Director of Adult Social Services.

John and Stephen will form part of the council’s executive team of six which is tasked with delivering ambitious plans to ensure the council’s financial sustainability and improved opportunities for Peterborough, the second fastest-growing city in the UK.

The team also consists of: Executive Director for Place and Economy, Adrian Chapman, Director of Public Health Jyoti Atri, Executive Director for Corporate Services and Section 151 Officer Cecilie Booth, Director for Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer) - Rochelle Tapping underneath Chief Executive Matt Gladstone.

Their appointments mean that the council’s leadership team is now largely focused on Peterborough, with only the Director of Public Health role remaining shared with wider Cambridgeshire.

Chief executive Matt Gladstone said: “We are excited to welcome John and Stephen to the council and to complete our new senior leadership team focussed on Peterborough.

"Both have huge amounts of experience in their sectors, working for a range of different organisations at a senior level and I look forward to working with them to transform children’s and adult’s services.

“The external reviews of our council completed in 2021 concluded that Peterborough needed and deserved focus from its chief executive and senior leadership team and I am delighted that we now have a top team which is largely dedicated to our city and achieving what we have set out to do so in our Corporate Strategy.”

John Gregg has a career that has involved working with children spanning 30 years, 28 of those as a social worker. He is currently Director of Children’s Services at Coventry City Council where he took the council’s children’s services from inadequate to good.

Prior to that, he held roles with Ofsted, including Deputy Director, Social Care and is due to start with the council on July 1.

He said: “I am delighted to be joining Peterborough at this exciting time and am looking forward to working with Matthew and the new senior leadership team. I am excited by the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of the children of Peterborough.”

Stephen has 30 years’ experience of working in health and social care and has worked in leadership roles across health and local government for 22 of these.

He is currently Corporate Director of Adult Social Services and Interim Transformation Director at the London Borough of Islington. There he has been leading and developing an ambitious change programme, to increase independence and reduce the need for long-term care.

He has also held director-level roles at the Royal Borough Kingston Upon Thames, the Local Government Association, NHS England and Hampshire County Council.

He said: "I am very much looking forward to joining the city council and becoming part of the new senior leadership team dedicated to Peterborough.

"From the time I have spent in Peterborough, it is clear that it is a really exciting time to join the council, with huge amounts of inward investment, redevelopment opportunities and the chance to transform services so that we can achieve the priorities set out in the corporate strategy.

"My previous two roles have been with London boroughs with diverse communities and wide-ranging needs, experience which leaves me well prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities in Peterborough."