Natasha Bishopp

Natasha has extensive experience as a children’s services leader across several Local Authorities in a wide range of roles. Her work has been driven by a belief in social justice, equality of opportunity and the role of local authorities and individual workers in supporting children and their families within the communities they live in.

Previous experiences in mental health, substance misuse and domestic abuse services and 25 years in children’s services confirmed her belief that whole family support in accessible non-stigmatising settings from pregnancy onwards are essential to preventing harm and helping children reach their potential.

After graduating with a sociology degree from Bristol University in 1986, Natasha volunteered for Women’s Aid and worked as a social work assistant in a psychiatric unit. She went on to train as social worker at Goldsmiths College. In 1990, once qualified she initially worked in generic social work and then specialised in children and families supporting children in need, child protection, looked after children and care leavers and later became a manager. She set up an antenatal service for parental substance misuse. She then became a commissioner for substance misuse, DA services and early intervention in schools. In 2003 she developed a community-based Beacon Council award-winning response to anti-social behaviour and then moved to Westminster City Council as an assistant director in community protection.  In 2009 she established a multi-disciplinary intensive family service for Westminster Council, Family Recovery, which was recognised as a trail blazer by the DfE and the model adopted by several other councils. It evidenced considerable costs avoided to society and better outcomes for children. In 2012 as a head of service she established and led the new Tri-borough Troubled families programme and workforce development including creating Family Coaching and the Family and Community Employment Service.

In 2015 moving to Kensington and Chelsea as Head of Early Help she developed an early help service twice rated as outstanding by OFSTED. In 2017 she also set up and led the initial key work response to the Grenfell disaster. As part of the long-term recovery from the disaster she developed the family hubs network with the voluntary and community sector (VCS), who had performed a lead role in the response, to ensure the voices they represented were heard in service design and continued to shape the response. As a result, she developed 4 key services: the Noth Kensington School Inclusion programme, trauma training for schools and VCS, commissioned independent advocacy for parent and carers in education settings and a family support team for families affected living near the Tower. She led the Early Help service to develop a trauma informed and systemic approach to working with families. In 2019 as part of the Early Help system, she set-up of two Family Hubs and a Youth Hub.

In 2018 she took on the Youth Justice service and expanded the capacity, supported by public health to develop a detached and outreach youth work service to identify vulnerable young people and offer support early. She then developed the service into a whole adolescent service for children and young people on the edge of care, custody, NEET and exclusion.

Since 2015 led the Tri-Borough Emergency Duty Social Work service which receives around 20,000 calls a year. She led a review in 2017/18 to ensure the standards for the service to children became Outstanding out of hours and congruent with the values of our core day service provision. 

Natasha brings an extensive knowledge of children’s service practice and transformation. As a leader and now a coach she focuses on developing people and ensuring practice and leadership at all levels is nurtured. She has focused on the development and leadership of women and global majority colleagues as both a social justice issue and essential to offering  services that have cultural competency and reflect the people we serve.