The man in charge of children and young people's services at North Yorkshire Council has resigned from the authority.
Sir Stuart Carlton, who was recently knighted, told colleagues “now feels like a good time to move on” after overseeing recent Ofsted inspections.
The corporate director for the children and young people’s service is leaving after eight years at the authority and its predecessor, North Yorkshire County Council.
Sir Stuart was knighted in the New Year’s Honours for his work and dedication in a career spanning 35 years.
Mr Carlton emailed councillors at the authority to advise of his departure on Wednesday (23rd April).
The officer said in the email: “I am writing today to let you know that after a fabulous eight years working for North Yorkshire, I have decided that now is a good time for me to move on.
“I have no firm plans for what I will do next, but after having had the three major Ofsted inspections in the last 18 months, now feels like a good time for me and for the council to recruit my successor.
“This job has been the privilege of my nearly 40-year career, and I have never regretted making the move here to work and live in the most beautiful county in the UK.
“But all things must come to an end, and I hope to catch up with many of you before I leave.”
The officer, who receives an annual salary of just under £160,000, said he would remain at the authority until early October, with the recruitment process to find his successor set to start next month.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands the announcement came as a shock to councillors, with one member responding to the email from the officer by replying to all councillors on the authority to express their surprise.
The citation for Mr Carlton’s knighthood highlighted his work both in North Yorkshire and on a national stage.
The council chief played an integral role in North Yorkshire Council being the lead authority in the Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programme, which has since been rolled out nationally.
The programme is aimed at enabling children to stay at home in safe and stable family environments so that fewer young people need to be taken into care.
During his time with North Yorkshire Council, Mr Carlton led the service to secure two consecutive “outstanding in all areas” reports from the inspection of local authority children’s services, the only area in the country to have achieved this.
More recently, the officer has led North Yorkshire Council’s new home-to-school transport policy, which has proved controversial with opposition leaders and some Conservative members of the Tory-led authority.
The change, which means parents can only get free transport to their child’s nearest school rather than their catchment school, has been heavily criticised by parents.
Campaigners have also threatened legal action against the council amid claims that mistakes have been made in its implementation.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has approached North Yorkshire Council for comment.
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