We hope delegates have had a restful weekend after what was an eventful ADCS Annual Conference full of interesting discussion, debate and input from a range of speakers. We are thankful to everyone who made the trip to Manchester.

We hope the changes made to this year’s conference, including feedback walls, clear roles for ADCS Council of Reference members and the ADCS staff team supported you to get the most out of your conference. It’s hoped that members who attended conference for the first time felt a warm welcome, and that the panels across the event reflected the diversity of the communities we serve. Of course, this is not job done, there is plenty more to do and we understand that we are on a journey. We remain committed to championing equity, diversity and inclusion across the Association and beyond.

As in previous years, the first 24 hours or so of the conference offered a closed space for directors of children’s services (DCS) and a select few guests to come together to discuss some of the big challenges we are all grappling with and what the new government’s priorities should be.

The first session of the day focused on social justice, specifically how we as leaders can continue to support this important agenda in our local authorities. Next, we heard reflections from colleagues who are pathfinding and piloting different aspects of children’s social care reforms on behalf of the sector. Each of the local authorities are at different stages, but sharing their experiences and learning so far is key to ensuring we get the reforms right for children and their families. It was interesting to hear insights about what is going well, but also reflections on some of the challenges and things that still need working through.

The new government’s manifesto was light on detail about children’s social care, but this is an opportunity for ADCS to influence and shape the direction the reforms take. Only a fraction of the £2.6bn recommended in the independent review of children’s social care has been allocated so far, ADCS has been clear from the get-go that the reforms cannot work without proper funding.  

On day two, the main conference opened with ADCS President Andy Smith delivering his opening speech where he reflected on Childhood Matters, an ADCS policy paper published earlier this year, which provides an overview of the challenges facing children and the public services that support them. Andy’s speech highlighted the perilous state of local government funding, which must be addressed, the need for a cross-government plan for childhood which focuses on improving children’s outcomes in a holistic way and for government to address shameful profiteering on the back of vulnerable children. Andy went on to highlight the huge challenges impacting on children’s lives and life chances including child and family poverty.

Delegates were pleased to hear the new Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP, in a pre-recorded video, commit to a cross-government strategy on child poverty. However, we need to go further by eradicating poverty to create a fairer more equal society. The Education Secretary also referenced Childhood Matters and expressed her commitment to resetting the relationship with the workforce and with leaders. It will be interesting to see how the new government picks up and takes forward reforms to children’s social care; Andy was clear in his speech that ‘we simply cannot afford to derail the plans or indeed take our foot of the gas’, children’s outcomes depend on it. This is something ADCS will be raising in our conversations with government over the coming weeks and months as is the urgent need to reform the SEND system which is at the top of the worry list for most, if not all DCSs.

One of the most memorable sessions of the conference was by care experienced young people from Derby’s Our Voice, Our Success who shared with us a powerful video ‘One Day’ aimed at tackling the stigma around being in care. This was followed by fantastic performances from Dempsey (who has published two books of poetry, Fractures Faces and Midnight Muses) and Lexi, who didn’t leave a single dry eye in the audience as she did a British Sign Language performance to Never Enough from the Greatest Showman. Later that day, we were joined by Rebekah Pierre, who gave a keynote about ‘Free Loaves on Friday’, an anthology of poems, letters and reflections of 100 care experienced people. Rebekah rightly challenged delegates about the importance of using trauma-informed and considerate language and keeping the child in mind, when writing about them and their lives.

Next, we were joined by colleagues from Ofsted and the LGA for a session on accountability in children’s services followed by a session on keeping children engaged in education which focused on understanding and addressing the root causes of non-attendance. Delegates could then choose from a wide range of workshops considering: the early years, anti-racist practice in children’s services, identifying and responding to child sexual abuse, and ‘waiting well’ during the process of waiting for an ADHD or autism diagnosis. A huge thank you to everyone involved in these workshops representing a variety of speakers from across local authorities and partner agencies.

On the last day of the conference, there was a session on serious youth violence, particularly focusing on disproportionality and the need for national responses to tackle the root causes of increasing levels of violence in communities, not just the symptoms. The final session before Andy closed the conference was facilitated by Patrick Butler, Social Policy Editor, The Guardian, and provided an opportunity for speakers, including Justin Russell from the Department for Education, Samuel Remi-Akinwale from Young Manchester, and Anna Feuchtwang from the National Children’s Bureau,and delegates to articulate our future hopes and ambitions for children to make childhood really matter.

To catch up on tweets from the three days search #ADCS24 on X or see @ADCStweets for a summary of events.

Speeches and presentations from the event will be posted on the ADCS website when available. We hope to see you for next year’s annual conference.

ADCS Annual Conference Book Club

Free Loaves on Fridays Free Loaves on Fridays: The Care System As Told By People Who Actually Get It by Rebekah Pierre — Unbound

Fractures Faces and Midnight Muses by Dempsey Grinion

Protecting Young Black Lives, Celebrating Black Professionals Protecting Young Black Lives, Celebrating Black Professionals (cumberlandlodge.ac.uk)

Risk Outside of the Home Child Protection Pathways Risk Outside of the Home Child Protection Pathways: Learning from Phase 2 Pilots (contextualsafeguarding.org.uk)

Anna Freud’s Manifesto Support our manifesto | Anna Freud

Practice resources from the CSA Centre on Child Sexual Abuse Practice resources | CSA Centre

Secrets and Silence Setting the story straight on Cleveland  | CSA Centre

Bradford – No Need to Exclude No Need to Exclude (Bradford)