There are 11 local authorities in the Eastern region

They are Bedford Borough, Cambridgeshire, Central Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Luton, Norfolk, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea, Suffolk and Thurrock.

 The Eastern Region chair is Sara Tough, Executive Director of Children's Services, Norfolk County Council

Regional representative on ADCS Council of Reference

Sarah-Jane Smedmor, Director of Children's Services, Suffolk County Council

Chair

Sara Tough


Norfolk County Council

There are 10 local authorities in the East Midlands region

They are Derby, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicester, Leicestershire, North Northamptonshire, Nottingham City, Nottinghamshire , Rutland and West Northamptonshire

The East Midlands region chair is Colin Foster, Chief Executive, Northamptonshire Children’s Trust

Regional representative on ADCS Council of Reference

Carol Cammiss, Executive Director for Children's Services, Derbyshire County Council

Chair

Colin Foster


Northamptonshire Children’s Trust

The Greater London region chair is Florence Kroll, Director of Children's Services, Royal Borough of Greenwich

Regional representatives on ADCS Council of Reference

Ana Popovici, Executive Director of Children's Services, Wandsworth Council

Ann Graham, Director of Children's Services, Haringey Council

Nigel Chapman, Corporate Director, Children and Young People, Brent Council

The London Innovation and Improvement Alliance’s (LIIA) dedicated website can be found here. The LIIA the ALDCS sector-led improvement partnership, hosted by London Councils.

Chair

Florence Kroll


Royal Borough of Greenwich

There are 12 local authorities in the North East region

They are Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, North Tyneside, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton and Sunderland.

The North East region chair is Helen Fergusson, Strategic Director, Social Care and Lifelong Learning, Gateshead Council

Regional representatives on ADCS Council of Reference

Helen Fergusson, Strategic Director, Social Care and Lifelong Learning, Gateshead Council

Chair

Helen Fergusson


Gateshead Council

The North West regional Chair is Amanda Perraton, Director of Children’s Services, Warrington Borough Council.

Regional representatives on ADCS Council of Reference

Chris McLoughlin, Executive Director for People and Integration, Stockport MBC

Colette Dutton, Direcor of Children’s Services, Wigan Council

Chair

Amanda Perraton


Director of Children’s Social Care
Warrington Council

Co-Chairs

The South East region is co-chaired by Mac Heath, Director of Children’s Services in Milton Keynes Council and Carolyn Fair, Director of Children's Services, East Sussex County Council

Regional representative on ADCS Council of Reference

Mac Heath and Carolyn Fair

More details of the regional activities can be found at www.seslip.co.uk

Co-chair

Mac Heath


Milton Keynes Council
Co-chair

Carolyn Fair


East Sussex County Council

Mary Kearney-Knowles, Director, Children’s Services and Education, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Regional representative on ADCS Council of Reference

Ann James, Director of Children's Services, Gloucestershire County Council

Chair

Mary Kearney-Knowles


Bath and North East Somerset Council

There are 14 local authorities in the West Midlands region

They are  Birmingham, Birmingham Children's TrustCoventryDudleyHerefordshireSandwellShropshireSolihullStaffordshireStoke-on-TrentTelford and WrekinWalsallWarwickshireWolverhampton  and Worcestershire.

The West Midlands region chair is Jo Britton, Executive Director: Children’s Services and Public Health, Telford & Wrekin Council.

Regional representative on ADCS Council of Reference

Vice Chairs: Alison Hinds, Director of Children's Services, City of Wolverhampton Council and Nigel Minns, Executive Director for Children and Young People, Warwickshire

 

This West Midlands regional programme is supported by the West Midlands ADCS Network team; more information can be found via the regional chair, by contacting info@wmchildrensservices.org.uk or via the website www.wmchildrensservices.org.uk

 

Chair

Jo Britton


Telford & Wrekin Council

There are 15 local authorities in the Yorkshire and Humber region

They are BarnsleyBradfordCalderdaleDoncasterEast Riding of YorkshireHullKirkleesLeedsNorth East LincolnshireNorth LincolnshireNorth YorkshireRotherhamSheffieldWakefield and York.

The Yorkshire and Humber region chair is Pauline Turner, Director, Children, Young People and Family Services, Hull City Council

Regional representative on ADCS Council of Reference

 

Chair

Pauline Turner


Hull City Council

There has long been a strong commitment amongst local authority children’s services to working collaboratively to improve children and young people’s outcomes via data benchmarking, peer challenge activity and informal mentoring or support. This work has largely taken place on regional footprint e.g. the north west or south east, with structures and practical activities varying from place to place.

In 2017 the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) began working with the Local Government Association (LGA), the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace) and the Department for Education (DfE) on plans to bring more coherence to these sector-led improvement arrangements. Regional Improvement and Innovation Alliances (RIIAs), which went live on 1 April 2019, are the result of these efforts.

RIIAs draw together local authority chief executives, lead members for children’s services, directors of children’s services, and other senior leaders of children’s services, in both local authorities and trusts, in a bid to challenge and support each other collectively to be ambitious for all children, young people and families. These arrangements are built on the understanding that there is considerable expertise, knowledge and skills across the whole sector; that everyone has something to give and to learn.

RIIAs are a trusted, effective and coherent sector-led model underpinned by robust peer-review and challenge processes supported by inter-authority improvement offers and national offers including from the DfE’s nominated sector-led improvement partners and the LGA’s extensive sector-led improvement offer to councils. Additionally, an agreed core dataset is collected across all regions on a quarterly basis. This was refreshed in 2022.

Each RIIA has a nominated lead director of children’s services, a lead member for children’s services and a lead chief executive as well as a DfE link advisor and a regional LGA advisor. All authorities in the region also sign up to a Memorandum of Understanding, clearly setting out how data will be shared, support will be given and received as well as the ways in which concerns about local policy, practice or processes will be addressed, and if necessary, escalated.

RIIAs are concerned with the full spectrum of children’s services, from safeguarding, early years and youth work to SEND and family support. Members of each RIIA work together to identify shared priorities which in turn inform regional development plans for the coming year. There is a very clear sense of, and a commitment to, this common endeavour.

The focus of the central ADCS team is on facilitating the sharing of learning and best practice intra and inter-regionally, as well as advocating for children to be given a higher profile in national policy making via engagements with national government and agencies and the development of national policy position statements and papers.