I write this final blog as Chair of the ADCS Workforce Policy Committee, having just finished my last meeting with the group – a set of hugely dedicated, caring and thoughtful professionals who have been incredibly supportive as I tried to navigate and interrogate some of the many challenges we have been thrown over the last year!

It has been an eventful and exciting 18 months, especially with the pace of government-driven change and by some of the really thorny workforce issues that either continued to cause serious problems because they have been unaddressed for so long, or new complications have been unearthed as the reforms have started to roll out.

For qualified social workers, we have achieved an enormous win with the Agency Social Worker Rules, which I look forward to seeing fully implemented across the country from October. Encouragingly, we already saw a 9% reduction in agency staff at the start of the financial year in anticipation of the new requirements, and this should only improve as all regions adopt the regulations.

The ADCS Workforce Policy Committee led the response to the consultation on the proposed Social Work Induction Programme and the new Post-Qualifying Standards, emphasising the need for flexible employment terms, inclusive leadership, and political backing if we want to create a truly diverse and representative workforce.

We have pressed hard on the absence of a coherent strategy for the SEND workforce, and there is now a live discussion around a parallel MoU for educational psychologists. Over the last couple of years, there has been a growing appreciation of the importance of our residential workforce and the need for comprehensive training, support and a strong career pathway for this ever-expanding group of staff. A national position has now been established, and there are strong, experienced voices from the sector working alongside DfE colleagues to drive progress.

Early years is receiving more attention, and recent research from the Education Endowment Fund research sheds light on the changes needed to enhance and strengthen the skills required in this crucial area.

As I said at the start of this blog, there is a lot going on! The Families First for Children reforms bring both workforce challenges and opportunities for us – with a greater flexibility of roles and responsibilities that could benefit children and families, but also understandable concerns about safely managing risk and ensuring our workforce feels appropriately trained and supported to meet new expectations.

Local Government Reorganisation adds a whole other dimension to the level of risk and uncertainty for the whole children’s workforce, from frontline staff to senior leaders, and we must keep reminding government of this, and ensure that new models are designed to mitigate those risks as carefully as we can. Meanwhile, the proposed ICB changes could create further pressure around safeguarding and SEND responsibilities, but it was ever thus!

We know that we cannot deliver any of our services, let alone the new reforms, without our fantastic staff across the whole gamut of early years and education, early help, social care, SEND, residential, youth services, and often unsung business support colleagues. Underpinning all of the innovations I have mentioned is the need to ensure that colleagues feel valued, supported and enabled to deliver the outcomes we all want to achieve for our children, young people and families.

It has been a privilege to lead the ADCS Workforce Policy Committee. I have learned so much in this role, been exposed to innovative thinking and ambitious ideas, which have stretched my own understanding on more than one occasion. But I always return to that fundamental truth, we can achieve nothing without a skilled, inclusive, and diverse workforce, and it is our collective responsibility to continue championing them at every opportunity.

I wish you all a lovely summer Bank Holiday and rest up for the autumn adventures to come!