The head of children's services in Somerset has announced his retirement, days after a positive Ofsted inspection.

Julian Wooster joined Somerset County Council in January 2015, having previously headed up children's and adults' services at Portsmouth City Council.

Having headed up children's services in the county for more than seven years, Mr Wooster will be retiring at the end of October.

His replacement can expect to earn £140,000 a year, and will guide the service through the transition to the unitary Somerset Council which will formally take charge in April 2023.

Mr Wooster's departure was confirmed in papers published before a meeting of the council's appointments committee in Taunton on Friday afternoon (September 30).

A spokesman said: "The current director of children's services, Julian Wooster, has resigned from Somerset County Council and his last day in post will be October 31, 2022.

"This role is a key part of the senior leadership team and instrumental in helping to create and maintain a financially sustainable council.

"The financial and social care challenges facing the council remain significant and it is therefore vital that this position is filled quickly."

The council has confirmed that Mr Wooster was retiring, rather than taking up a position elsewhere, and that his departure was not prompted by either the Ofsted report or the transition towards a unitary authority.

Deputy director Claire Winter is in line to replace Mr Wooster on an interim basis, with her appointment expected to be endorsed by the full council on Wednesday (October 5).

On Mr Wooster's watch, the Ofsted rating for the council's children's services rose from 'inadequate' in early-2015 to a 'good' rating in its most recent inspection in July (with the report being published in September).

His tenure has seen several significant changes to support for Somerset children – including controversial reforms to schools in the Crewkerne and Ilminster area, changes to support for young carers, and Somerset merging its adoption service with those in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay.

Councillor Frances Nicholson, who served as cabinet member for children and families until the local elections in May, paid tribute to Mr Wooster at a meeting of the council's children and families scrutiny committee in Taunton on Monday afternoon (October 3).

She said: "I want to thank all our staff, including our strong and stable leadership team.

"He [Julian Wooster] has been really important to the changes that have happened.

"The way in which all the staff has pulled together, the support from the whole council towards the children, and particularly the children themselves – without them, we could not get it right."