Paul Najsarek has been appointed as the interim Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, following the retirement of current Ombudsman Michael King at the end of the month.

With extensive experience in both the Ombudsman’s key jurisdictions in local government and adult social care, Paul has been appointed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). He will be taking over from Mr King, whose tenure finishes on 31 March.

Paul is the former Chief Executive of Ealing Council and was previously acting Chief Executive and Chief Executive of Harrow and Bolton Councils respectively. He has also been a Director of Adult Social Services.

He has led at national and regional level, such as for Solace (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives) on health and social care including its COVID-19 response, regeneration for the West London Alliance, and adult services for London councils encompassing the capital’s adult social care response to the pandemic.

He was the Chief Executive lead for Thrive London, the capital’s initiative to promote mental health wellbeing. Paul was also Head of Policy at a national regulator and was part of the central government team that drafted 'Every Child Matters' in 2003.

Paul said:

“I am excited to be joining such an important organisation which has a huge impact on the quality of local government administration across the country and reflects the values of public service that I hold dear.

“The Ombudsman position is a unique role in the local government system and, with my experience in both the local government and social care sectors, I look forward to further developing the great work the organisation carries out.”

Paul will be in post as Ombudsman and chair of the Local Administration for England (the board that runs the LGSCO) until the public appointment process for a permanent Ombudsman, run by DLUHC, is concluded in the autumn.

Article date: 23 March 2023