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Statements

ADASS responds to Supreme Court ruling on Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards

On June 2, the Supreme Court overruled the Cheshire West ruling on the meaning of deprivation of liberty. Rashpal Bishop is the Executive Director of Adults, Social Care and Health at Sandwell Council and the ADASS Vice President. She is also the ADASS Lead on Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, and responds to the judgement.
4 June 2026

Shaping the adult social care research agenda – building on the ADASS Spring Seminar 2026

Chris Lehmann, ADASS Research Committee Chair, and Professor Catherine Needham, Professor of Public Policy and Public Management at the University of Birmingham, report back from an exciting research workshop at our recent Spring Seminar conference.
26 May 2026
Press Releases

ADASS and CQC refresh joint working protocol

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) have updated our Joint Working Protocol (JWP) agreement that sets out how we work together to share information and promote quality and safety.  
22 May 2026

ADASS responds to the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standards report

Our response to the 2025-26 report on the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standards (SC-WRES).
21 May 2026
ADASS president Phil Holmes standing outdoors in front of trees on a sunny day.
Blog

Forty years in adult social care: lessons, laughter and listening to what matters

Freshly retired, Mel Lock reflects on the people, partnerships and principles that shaped her career - from championing lived experience and rural communities to navigating funding pressures and reform. As she steps away from full-time leadership, she shares the lessons, humour and humanity that have kept her committed to ensuring people live lives shaped by choice, dignity and connection, not services.
11 May 2026
Blog

Adult social care’s contribution to the Neighbourhood Health Service in England

Professor Oonagh Smyth CBE and Sir David Pearson, share insights from the position statement on adult social care’s contribution to the Neighbourhood Health Service from the Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England’s Oversight Executive Group; highlighting the actions required to enable adult social care and its workforce to play a full role in the Neighbourhood Health Service and where they are working successfully in neighbourhoods.
5 May 2026
Blog

From our President: if my Presidency over the next year stands for one thing, it will be social justice

ADASS President Phil Holmes stresses that social justice must sit at the heart of adult social care. In a time of rising division and prejudice, he calls for leadership that moves beyond words and into meaningful action. 
30 April 2026
Statements / Blog

ADASS’s new President Phil Holmes inaugural speech

Phil Holmes' powerful first speech as ADASS President at the ADASS Spring Seminar 2026.
28 April 2026
ADASS president Phil Holmes standing outdoors in front of trees on a sunny day.
Statements

ADASS Past President Melanie Williams invited to join expert panel on children moving into adulthood

We’re delighted a new independent expert panel will investigate the important issue of young people transitioning from childhood to adulthood, and those needing care and support moving from children’s to adults’ services in our local authorities. Our members tell us young people don’t always get the support they need and have called for more focus […]
15 April 2026
Blog

Supported Housing: the missing link in social care reform

Neil Revely makes the case that supported housing is not a peripheral concern for adult social care but the foundation upon which good care depends. Without stable, appropriate housing, effective adult social care simply cannot be delivered. He sets out the key policy actions needed to put supported housing where it belongs: at the heart of policy, planning and investment decisions.
17 March 2026