Next Upcoming Event

Tue, 09 Jul 24 10:00

2024 Policy Committee Meetings

All members of ADCS are eligible to join and contribute to the work of our national policy committees. This is where we consider all aspects of children’s services policy and practice. Our national committees also lead on the development of consultation responses and submissions of evidence to select committee inquiries as well as ADCS policy position papers. Some meetings join up two committees to discuss shared areas of interest. Additional ad-hoc meetings may be arranged to consider evolving issues.

Meetings primarily take place online and are 1.5 – 2 hours. In 2024 we plan to have at least one face-to-face meeting involving each policy committee.

The full meeting schedule for 2024 is to be confirmed however details of the first round of meetings can be found below. Please check back for more details over the coming weeks.

Educational Achievement looks at all aspects of education from the early years to FE, skills and training plus assessment, school improvement and standards.

Meeting dates - 24 January (with FCYP); 22 May in person meeting, London (with HCAN); 7 November (with SPI PC)

Families, Communities & Young People covers safeguarding, youth work, youth justice, child poverty, family justice, preventative services and the early years.

Meeting dates - 24 January (with EA), 8 May (with WPC) in person meeting, London, 7 August; 30 October.

Health, Care & Additional Needs looks at all forms of permanence, SEND and the health and wellbeing of children and families.

Meeting dates - 30 January (with WPC), 18 April, 22 May in person meeting, London (with Education PC)

Resources & Strategy covers all aspects of funding for children’s services, commissioning, school place planning, capital and admissions.

Meeting dates - 25 January; 29 May

Standards, Performance & Inspection covers the breadth of inspection activity, Regional Improvement and Innovation Alliances, intervention, data and performance management.

Meeting dates - 17January; 9 May - in person meeting, London; 15 August; 7 November (with Education PC)

Workforce takes in professional standards and registration, training, qualifications and workforce planning.

Meeting dates – 30 January (with HCAN); 8 May (with FCYP) - in person meeting, London; 4 October (Joint meeting with FCYP PC)

We’re particularly keen to diversify regional representation on our national groups so that our engagements with government, and others, accurately reflect the state of play in local areas as they develop new policies and guidance, for example. If you would like to find out more about a specific group, please get in touch with the ADCS team for more information info@adcs.org.uk

Annual Conference 2024

​The 2024 ADCS Annual Conference will take place in Manchester between the 10 and 12 July 2024. The first 24 hours of conference is reserved for Directors of Children’s Services only.

The conference is strictly for all ADCS members - if you are uncertain of your membership status, please contact membership@adcs.org.uk

Booking information

Booking forms have been sent to all ADCS members. If you have not received yours please contact rebecca.denny@adcs.org.uk

FAQs

View our FAQ document (pdf)

Programme

The conference programme will be developed over the coming months - updates will be made on this page and via the ADCS ebulletin.

Contact

Please contact rebecca.denny@adcs.org.uk with any queries regarding conference.

Annual Conference 2023

*IMPORTANT BOOKING INFORMATION*

We have now reached capacity and are no longer able to accept any further bookings. Apologies for any disappointment this may cause.

Thank you for your interest in the conference.

The ADCS Annual Conference will take place between 5 and 7 July 2023 at the Midland Hotel, Manchester. This is an in-person event and it will not be possible to access any sessions virually. The conference, exclusively for ADCS members, provides a unique opportunity to come together to share best practice, learning, and experiences from across the children’s services sector. The first 24 hours of the conference, from 11.45am on Wednesday 5 July, is reserved for DCSs only, providing a private space to engage in Chatham House discussions on some of the key issues currently facing DCSs. The all-members’ aspect of the conference opens on Thursday 6 July from 11.00am.

Programme

The draft programme can be found here.

FAQs

Here are some useful FAQs for conference delegates - more.

NCASC 2023

The National Children and Adult Services Conference is a must-attend event for councillors, directors, senior officers, directors of public health, policy makers and service managers, and any individuals or organisations with responsibilities for children and adult services in the statutory, voluntary and private sector.

The conference is the annual opportunity for those with an interest in social care, children’s services, education, health and related fields to network with peers and hear the very latest thinking on key policy and improvement agendas.

The conference will be held at the Bournemouth International Centre and the programme will consist of a mix of keynote and other significant plenary sessions by key players in the adult, children and education sectors. There will also be opportunities to take part in a variety of participatory breakouts and networking sessions

For more information and how to book visit the LGA events website.