NCASC comes at a pivotal moment
There are some years when the National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC) feels particularly timely. This is certainly one of them.
When senior member and officer colleagues from across local government gather in Liverpool this November, many of the biggest questions facing children’s services, adult social care and health will be firmly in the national spotlight.
For adult social care, the debate about fundamental reform has moved on significantly. Between his July and September announcements, the Prime Minister has put the creation of a national care service, free at the point of use, at the heart of his Government’s ambitions for adult social care.
Alongside this, Baroness Casey’s Independent Commission on Adult Social Care – now with an accelerated timetable – has deepened its national engagement through its Big Conversation on Care, asking a fundamental question about who should support us and how when we are old or disabled or have a serious illness. This prompted thousands of comments from the public covering, for instance, how we should pay for care, what people should be able to expect from a future system, and how we create a system that is fair and sustainable.
The answers will shape the lives of millions of people, the future of one of the country’s largest workforces, and the role and responsibilities of councils for decades to come.
That makes Baroness Casey’s presence at NCASC this year particularly significant and equally welcome.
It gives local government an opportunity to not only hear about the commission’s work, but also to contribute to the debate at a critical point in its development, bringing the experience of our communities, people who draw on care and support, unpaid carers and our councils, which are responsible for making the system work every day.
Of course, care reform is only one part of a rapidly changing landscape.
The new Neighbourhood Health Framework is beginning to turn the ambition of moving from hospital to community, and from treatment to prevention, into a different way of organising health services around people and places.
“Genuine neighbourhood working will require genuine partnership. It cannot simply mean relocating NHS services into neighbourhood buildings”
For councils, this presents a major opportunity. We know our communities, we understand the wider determinants of health, and we already bring together many of the relevant services – from social care and public health to housing, leisure and the voluntary and community sector – that can help people live healthier, more independent lives.
But genuine neighbourhood working will require genuine partnership. It cannot simply mean relocating NHS services into neighbourhood buildings.
NCASC gives us the opportunity to explore what a truly joined-up model should look like and the role councils must play in shaping it.
NCASC is always a special event. This year I dare say it will be even more special.
Across three days, we will hear from national figures including: Baroness Casey; Children and Families Minister Josh MacAlister OBE MP; Sir Jim Mackey, NHS England Chief Executive; and Chris Badger, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and Integrated Care at the Care Quality Commission.
But some of the most valuable conversations will happen between members, directors, people with lived experience, providers, practitioners, and partners from across the country.
We will share what is working. We will be candid about what is not. And we will have the opportunity to think about how we – as a sector – can influence some of the biggest reforms to our services in a generation.
Our expertise and voice matters hugely. Whether we are talking about a national care service, neighbourhood health, children’s social care or special educational needs and disabilities, national ambitions ultimately have to work in real places, for real people.
Councils are where those ambitions meet people’s lives. That is why I am particularly looking forward to Liverpool this year. Because at a moment when so much is changing, NCASC gives us something increasingly valuable: three days to step outside the immediate pressures of our own organisations, learn from one another and help shape what comes next.
I hope you will join us. There is a great deal to talk about – and this year, especially, they are conversations we cannot afford to miss.
- The National Children and Adult Services Conference 2026 takes place in Liverpool from 11-13 November. To find out more and book your place.