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, Najsarek has been appointed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Najsarek 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, including 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. Najsarek was also head of policy at a national regulator and was part of the central government team that drafted ‘Every child matters’ in 2003.

Najsarek 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.”