ADCS president warns children's services at risk of being "stretched too thinly" amid pace of reform

Delivering her presidential address at the ADCS annual conference in Manchester last week (9 July), Graham said directors of children's services were facing "the pace and scale of change […] like nothing we've ever experienced before".

Highlighting the scale of activity over the past year, Graham said that between July 2025 and June 2026 there had been one key piece of legislation, four further Acts affecting children and families, six new Bills, four new strategies, four White Papers, ten inquiries or reviews, nine policy papers, one new funding formula for local government, one new funding formula for children’s services, and the creation of eight new councils through local government reorganisation (LGR).

She warned: “This is the new and ever-growing Jenga tower we are holding together; these are the plates we are spinning.

"The layering of significant reform we are currently experiencing is like nothing before, it is overwhelming and we have been raising the alarm with government. We are in the process of change, but we are changing cultures as well as systems. And culture change takes time.

"The real risk is that we don't achieve the vision because we are stretched too thinly across multiple and often competing priorities, and don't have the time needed to properly embed the changes we are making."

Meanwhile, the ADCS president announced the publication of an updated edition of the association's What is Care For? position statement, which focuses on the needs of adolescents, and questions whether care is always the right response for young people experiencing criminal exploitation or severe mental health crises.

"In the absence of an alternative, sometimes, we find, it's the only available option," she said.

Turning to the issue of children and young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), Graham noted: “Alan Milburn recently published his interim report on his review of young people and work. The findings should be a warning to us all about the consequences of a shrinking public sector combined with policy decisions that do not prioritise or centre on the needs of children and childhood.

“[…] The ‘Milburn review’ was clear, some of the biggest predictors of becoming NEET are having an education, health and care plan or SEND need and missing school. The latest statistics show two million children and young people have SEND needs and the numbers of pupils who are persistently absent, suspended, excluded or home educated continue to rise with no indication of when these trends will reverse. Conference, this should be a worry to us all. A big, bold response is needed.”

Earlier this month (2 July), the Education Secretary wrote to all councils setting out expectations for improving the identification and support of young people at risk of becoming ‘NEET’.

Turning to SEND and inclusive education, Graham reiterated ADCS' longstanding concerns over SEND reform, warning that lessons from previous reforms must not be repeated.

She highlighted the following issues from the past:

• “A lack of genuine shared accountability across education, health and care partners;
• Local authorities carrying responsibility for delivery without the necessary levers to influence provision or spending;
• EHCPs becoming the primary gateway to support and funding, driving escalating demand;
• Funding arrangements that incentivise crisis intervention and escalation rather than early support;
• An approach to funding that has generated unsustainable financial pressures and growing deficits (notional budgets anyone?); and,
• An overemphasis on compliance and process as a measure of successful reform implementation, rather than on the quality of provision and outcomes for children and young people…”

Concluding her address, Graham urged government to draw on the expertise of directors of children's services when implementing reform.

"These are human services; we are children's services," she said.

Meanwhile, Ofsted's Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, meanwhile used his address to the conference to call for closer collaboration between inspectors and local authorities, urging directors to share safeguarding and inclusion concerns with the inspectorate before inspections take place.

He said: “It helps us put the pieces of the jigsaw together so we can see a clearer picture of education and care in a particular area. It means we can look at it holistically and support your local work to get better outcomes for children there.”

The Chief Inspector also highlighted examples of improvement across the sector, including North East Lincolnshire Council's progress from an "inadequate" judgement to "good" with elements of "outstanding".

Concluding his address, Oliver urged attendees to fill in Ofsted’s latest consultation on proposals to improve how it inspects and regulates children’s social care providers.

Lottie Winson