I feel trapped, says Black Country children's services boss quitting after seven months

Councillor Barbara Cassidy, cabinet member for education and children's social care for Walsall Council, has decided not to stand for re-election.

Councillor Cassidy said she had been 'feeling trapped' in the role but said it was no reflection on the high-pressure task of trying to improve standards in the borough's struggling schools.

She broke the news at a meeting of the full council on Monday night. She said she wanted to focus on her family and career in social work after 11 years as a Labour representative in Brownhills.

"I am going for a whole host of reasons," she said. "I have been feeling trapped.

"Being a councillor, aside from your family, that's all you've got. I know serving in public office is a very noble thing to do but I have to think about the future and my family.

"Leaving is not an easy decision to make. I was absolutely gobsmacked and horrified when I won that election back in 2004.

"I have been on the children's services committee for a long time. I really struggled in the beginning because no one gives you any training in those days in what to do when you become a councillor. You had to listen and pick things up quickly. But the Labour leader at the time Harold Withnall was very supportive and told me I would be the chairman in no time. With my understanding of social services I undertook a masters degree which I completed in March last year."

Councillor Cassidy took charge of the department that runs schools and children's social services in August when Labour wrested control of the town hall from the previous Tory-Lib Dem coalition.

Among the first things she did was to re-instate an education challenge board to monitor school performance across the borough offering support where standards fall short of government requirements.

Since becoming portfolio holder she has also pushed through improvement plans after it was revealed that only 57 per cent of secondary school pupils in Walsall attend good or outstanding schools.

The figure rose to 68 per cent for pupils attending primary schools but the borough still has one of the lowest rankings in the region, according to Ofsted which also found the authority to be ineffective in an inspection held last June.

Following a recent visit by two Department of Education officials, the children's social care unit will no longer be monitored by Whitehall as a result of the good progress being made.

Council leader Sean Coughlan said: "Barbara will be sorely missed. Not just by the Labour group, but by the whole council."