Mark Parkinson has been appointed head of service for achievement and wellbeing within the children and young people's directorate at Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Mr Parkinson started his career in the 1980s, teaching mathematics in Wolverhampton, and moved to lead on IT in a Cannock school before taking up a deputy headship in a large secondary school in Birmingham. In the late 1990s, he moved to Staffordshire CC as inspector for continuous personal development, and in 2001, he transferred to Cheshire CC as secondary senior adviser for schools, later being promoted to principal manager.