Annual Conference 2021

07 Jul 2021 13:30 Online
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ADCS Annual Conference 2021

Wednesday 7th - Friday 9th July

  • This conference is for ADCS members only. If you are eligible for membership, but not yet enrolled, please contact membership@adcs.org.uk
  • The conference will take place online using Zoom.
  • Final joining instructions will be shared with registered delegates approx. 2-3 days before the event
  • Registered delegates do not need to confirm which sessions they wish to attend
  • Unfortunately, PA/Support contact details cannot be added to our conference distribution lists
  • For members who would like to attend the conference and are not currently booked on, please contact ADCS Events & Communications Officer, Rebecca Denny at rebecca.denny@adcs.org.uk

Draft Programme

Wednesday 7th July - DCS only sessions

Details will be shared directly with DCSs.

Thursday 8th July

9:30am - 10:00am: Presidential Address

Charlotte Ramsden OBE, ADCS President

10:00am - 10:45am: Ministerial Address

Vicky Ford MP, Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State for Children and Families

Chair: Charlotte Ramsden, ADCS President

11.30am – 1.00pm: Care Review and Permanence

During this session, delegates will hear from Josh MacAlister, Chair of the independent review of children’s social care, on the emerging themes and the case he is putting forward for change. Other panel members will touch on the CMA’s market study into children’s social care provision, along with wider issues around permanence for children and young people.

  • Speaker: Josh MacAlister, Chair of Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England
  • Panel: Dr Krish Kandiah, Chair of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board; Daniel Turnbull, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA); Charlotte Ramsden, ADCS President, and Strategic Director for People, Salford City Council; John Pearce, Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services
  • Chair: Stuart Carlton, Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services, North Yorkshire County Council
1.45pm – 3.15pm: Rethinking Responses to Adolescents and Risk

This session will focus on policy and practice responses to criminal exploitation and serious youth violence, with a particular focus on work with, and support for, boys and young men. Delegates will hear from Nazir Afzal, OBE, along with inputs from panel members, followed by a Q&A.

  • Speaker: Nazir Afzal, OBE
  • Panel:Dez Holmes, Director, Research in Practice; Evan Jones, St Giles Trust; Luke Billingham, Hackney Quest; Florence Kroll, Director of Children’s Services, Royal Borough of Greenwich Council, and Chair of the London Adolescent Safeguarding Oversight Board
  • Chair: James Thomas, Corporate Director of Children and Culture,London Borough of Tower Hamlets

4.00pm – 5.00pm: Children’s Commissioner for England – The Big Ask survey

In this session, the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, will share some of the key findings and messages shared by over 500,000 children and young people taking part in The Big Ask Survey.

  • Speaker: Dame Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England
  • Panel: Steve Crocker, ADCS Vice President, and Director of Children’s Services, Hampshire County Council, and Isle of Wight Council; Rachael Wardell, Executive Director for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning, Surrey County Council, and Chair of the ADCS Workforce Development Policy Committee
  • Chair: Bernie Brown, Director of Children’s Services, Bolton Council

Friday 9th July

10.00am – 11.00am: Education Recovery

In this session, Sir Alan Wood, CBE, will share some of the key points that were put forward to government when planning for education recovery. Delegates will also hear from panel members who will consider the links to wider reform of the school system in England.

  • Speaker: Sir Alan Wood, CBE
  • Panel: Kathryn Boulton, Corporate Director for Children and Families, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council Heather Sandy, Executive Director of Children’s Services, Lincolnshire County Council
  • Chair: Gail Tolley, Strategic Director, Children and Young People, Brent London Borough Council, and Chair of the ADCS Educational Achievement Policy Committee

11.45am – 12.15pm: Achieving Change: The Voice of Young People, Salford City Council

Chair: Charlotte Ramsden, ADCS President

Delegates will be shown a video created by young people from the Fight for Change Council and Next Step reference group, in partnership with The Lowry. The video shares their experiences of being cared for children and young people in Salford, what they have achieved, and what is important to them.


1.15pm – 2.15pm: The Future Mental Health System for Children and Young People

The system of health is once again going through a period of transformation. This session will provide an opportunity to hear what the NHSE long term plan and development of ICSs means in terms of the social, emotional and mental health offer to children and young people, and how the links are being made to other parts of the system, including the offer in schools.

  • Speakers:Professor Prathiba Chitsabesan, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, and National Specialty Advisor and Co-Chair of the Clinical Reference Group, Children and Young People’s Mental Health Team, NHS England and NHS Improvement; Sue Rumbold, West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership; Jo Butterfield, West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership; Don Evans, The Boudica Schools Trust
  • Chair: Nigel Minns, Strategic Director for People, Warwickshire County Council
3.00pm – 4.00pm: Inspection

Delegates will initially hear a keynote speech from HMCI followed by the opportunity to put questions to the inspectorate’s national leads for education and social care.

  • Speaker: Amanda Spielman, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector
  • Panel: Yvette Stanley, National Director for Social Care, Ofsted; Sean Harford, National Director for Education, Ofsted
  • Chair: Andy Smith, Strategic Director of People’s Services, Derby City Council, and Chair of the ADCS Standards, Performance and Inspection Policy Committee
4.00pm – 4.15pm: ADCS President’s closing remarks

Charlotte Ramsden, ADCS President