An increasing number of poachers are turning gamekeepers in this business, as council chief officers take the queen's shilling and move into top Whitehall jobs.
But few become poachers again and return to their roots. One is Colin Green, a former social worker, who became a chief officer, moved to the DfES for three years, and in January this year was head-hunted by Coventry City Council as its first director of children's services.
He is, therefore, in the unique position of having been both in and out of Whitehall, returning to his first career in local government.
At the DfES, Colin was involved mainly in safeguarding the children programme and the Children Act, working in the office of the DG for children and young people. The experience left him, perhaps surprisingly, with respect for ministers and the 24-hour media spotlight under which they operate.
‘Every time there's a child tragedy there's a demand for an inquiry,' he says. ‘Ministers are constantly under pressure. I had tremendous admiration for them [Margaret Hodge and then, Beverley Hughes]. Ministers are penalised for failure, yet any change carries a risk of failure. At least they're trying.'
Colin was also left with respect for the intellectual calibre of Whitehall civil servants whom, he says, were ‘challenging'. He adds: ‘In comparison, local government is a bit middle-aged as it lacks the fast stream approach and there aren't enough bright young things at the top.'
There was, he continues, some ‘frustration' at the DfES about the perceived failure of councils to deliver, ‘some of which is justified and some not', although his own experience showed the best councils ‘could certainly teach the DfES a thing or two'.
And, he recalls: ‘I was surprised at how party political an environment it was, as we were there, very much, to deliver the Government's agenda.
‘Another difference is that local government is essentially about delivery of policy, whereas in Government, it's about setting policy.'
But the flipside is a Whitehall machine where inaction is in the genes. ‘If ministers don't push hard, then nothing happens. There's an inertia in the system.
‘There is a huge pressure on ministers to deliver, and the system needed a lot of pushing. But, in central government, one has to get things absolutely right because one is dealing on a national basis.'
Colin was brought up in Belfast, studied history and geography at Cambridge, and became a social worker ‘to do something useful'.
He worked for Buckinghamshire CC and later, at Westminster LBC, where he specialised in child care. Stints at Surrey and Hertfordshire CCs followed as he climbed the career ladder, and in 1998, he joined Cambridgeshire CC as assistant director of children's services.
At the time, social services there were in special measures, and he was able to turn things around so that Cambridgeshire became a two-star authority. before he joined the DfES in 2004, followed by Coventry in January this year. There, he presides over a £308m budget out of a corporate total of £674m.
So why did he return to local government? ‘I missed the operational engagement,' he explains. ‘Here, I'm a bigger cog in a smaller machine, which is better than being a smaller cog in a bigger machine. I enjoyed the national stage, but here, I like being on the ground.'
Colin is also unusual in being a children's services director not from a background in education. The council took 12 months to fill his £115,000 post, and part of his interview process was being grilled by a panel of children and teenagers.
‘The debate had moved on by the time I came to this role,' he says. ‘The council didn't feel it had to appoint an education person to the post, and was confident about the strength of the education service here.'
He says his priorities are continuous improvement, Building Schools for the Future, providing neighbourhood services around the child, and regarding education as key to the city's prosperity. Internally, there is a need to improve the qualifications of people overseeing looked-after children.
He adds optimistically: ‘This is the best children's agenda we've ever had. It's much better that we have ministers who are committed to children.
‘It's a demanding agenda, but I'd rather have that than none at all.'