Head of Haringey child team will earn £200,000

THE man named today as Sharon Shoesmith's replacement in Haringey will be paid nearly £200,000 a year, the Standard can reveal.

Peter Lewis, currently director of children's services at Enfield, was appointed by Schools Secretary Ed Balls to take over from 1 January.

Mr Lewis, 54, acknowledged he would face "challenges" tackling the legacy of the Baby P tragedy but promised to give children in Haringey "better lives".

His appointment comes amid national outrage at how 17-month-old Baby P was allowed to die in his cot after months of abuse despite being seen dozens of times by health and social workers. Mr Lewis said he was pleased to take on the job, which is understood to have a salary of almost £200,000, and promised to work to bring "stability and renewed confidence" to staff in Haringey. Ms Shoesmith was believed to be earning in the region of £140,000.

"I do not underestimate the challenges associated with taking on this role but I believe we can build a strong team at Haringey and deliver better lives for local children and young people," said Mr Lewis.

"I look forward to taking up the new job in January and discussing with the staff and other organisations in Haringey how we can learn from the past and improve services for the future.

"Safeguarding is the responsibility of the whole borough, not any one team or person," he said. "Therefore the role of director of children's services requires the ability to bring lots of different people and services together to focus on the needs of children and young people."

Mr Lewis has been director of children's services in Enfield since February 2004. His work on improving child protection services there was praised by Ofsted. He had the same role in Southampton and has worked as a teacher and social worker.

Ms Shoesmith, who was widely condemned over her refusal to apologise in the Baby P case, has been sacked with no pay-off.

Mr Balls said: "Peter Lewis has great experience and an excellent reputation. I am confident that he will provide the strong leadership which is needed to improve outcomes for children and young people in Haringey.