Martyn Stenton will take up the role of Director of Children and Young People’s Services at Calderdale Council, following the retirement of the current Director, Julie Jenkins.
Martyn will start his post in August 2025, playing a central role in the Council’s work to protect and support Calderdale’s children and young people.
He joins Calderdale from Durham County Council, where he has spent time as Deputy Director and managed a range of services covering Family Hubs and Early Help, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Inclusion, Youth Justice and specialist children’s home provision for young people with complex care needs. His earlier career includes 17 years working at Leeds City Council along with time at Bradford and Wakefield Councils.
At a challenging time for SEND across the country, Martyn’s strong track record of leading Durham’s SEND partnership – including a full area SEND inspection – and being part of an outstanding leadership team in the area’s last two full Ofsted reviews of children’s social care, will be a valuable addition to Calderdale.
Martyn’s role at Calderdale Council will focus on improving children and young people’s lives in the borough, supporting the priority to reduce inequalities and the Vision 34 where everyone will have hope and opportunity to live a larger life. Responsibilities will include:
- Safeguarding children and young people to help protect them from harm.
- Making sure children and young people receiving education and social care services receive timely, good-quality and person-centred services within available resources.
- Raising educational standards for children and young people across Calderdale.
- Ensuring the Council acts as a supportive ‘corporate parent’ for young people in care and leaving care.
- Building effective partnerships with other organisations to jointly give children and young people the best start in life.
Julie Jenkins will be leaving the Council after seven years in the role of Director of Children and Young People’s Services, and before that, three years as Assistant Director. During this time, Julie has led Children and Young People’s Services through transformation and overseen an Ofsted inspection resulting in a ‘good’ rating across all areas – including independent recognition that children and young people who are supported by Calderdale Council feel safe and genuinely cared for, and have opportunities to thrive, be independent and achieve their ambitions.
Cllr Adam Wilkinson, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services, said:
“Calderdale is a place that puts kindness, hope and opportunity at the heart of everything it does, guided by our Vision 34. We are proud to support children and young people to thrive and achieve their best, listening to them and giving them the chance to shape our services.
“We have made great progress on this thanks to Julie’s experienced and compassionate leadership, and I speak for everyone at the Council and in our communities when I thank her for her dedication, hard work and the difference she and her teams have made.
“I know Martyn will be a great addition to our senior management team. I look forward to welcoming him to Calderdale and working with him to build on the great work being done to help make life better for local children, young people and families.”
Martyn Stenton said:
“Having spent much of my life living and working in West Yorkshire I’m really pleased and excited to come back to work there in my new role in Calderdale. I’m keen to build on the great work done under Julie’s compassionate leadership and look at how we can further strengthen our support for families to help all babies, children and young people in Calderdale do the best they can. A lot of my experience is based on working closely in partnership with young people, parents and carers, staff across council services and local partners and this is something I’m really looking forward to doing in Calderdale in coming months.
“As someone who enjoys a range of music, walking and spending time in the countryside, I’m keen to experience more of what Calderdale has to offer and fantastic attractions like the Piece Hall.”
Julie Jenkins, Director of Children and Young People’s Services, added:
“As I step down after 10 years in a very special place – Calderdale – my thanks go to the dedicated, kind and hard-working staff in the borough who show up every day to keep children safe and give them the best education. I am proud that we have made sure that children and young people are at the heart of everything we do and have the chance to ‘live a larger life’.”
Vision 34 is a shared, long-term ambition to work towards over the next 10 years, based on the stories that unite us. Everyone in the borough can play a part.
The Vision 34 themes are enterprising, opportunity, kind, welcoming, hope, heritage, nature and creativity. Through these themes, people from all walks of life are encouraged to share their positive stories about life in Calderdale: https://my.walls.io/mycalderdalestory(external link)