President update 5th May - latest news from ADEPT
Hello everyone,
It’s hard to believe, but this is my final President’s Update before I hand over to Katie Stewart at the ADEPT Spring Conference.
Over the last month, I chaired a Joint Presidents' meeting – involving ADEPT, ADCS, ADASS, ADPH, ALATS and LGA – a forum which continues to go from strength to strength for cross-cutting issues, ranging from devolution to neighbourhood health plans. It was great to welcome new ADCS President Ann Graham.
Talking of Presidents – it was an honour to attend the annual Past Presidents’ Lunch and meet more than a dozen of my predecessors. Their interest in, and support for, the association remains as strong as ever.
We had a valuable discussion with DfT and Number 10 on accelerating housing development near railways: a rare and welcome opportunity to engage directly at that level, with more conversations to follow. I very much valued the opportunity to meet with new DfT Director General Antonia Williams too.
ADEPT responded to two important government announcements - the pothole funding announcement, calling for fair performance frameworks and genuine partnership with local authorities and the opening of the Structures Fund which we welcomed as an important first step in tackling the significant maintenance backlog across local authority bridges.
I represented ADEPT at a webinar hosted by Ecosystems Knowledge Network (EKN) and Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP). Over 500 people attended the webinar, with Jonathan Nichols from Jacobs and a member of the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP) providing an overview of the policy insights and recommendations from ISEP’s 2026 policy paper on Natural capital as Critical infrastructure. It was an opportunity to raise awareness of the role of ADEPT and to emphasise how local authorities and place services are uniquely positioned to shape how natural capital becomes recognised, funded, governed and managed as critical infrastructure. You can find out more about the policy from the ISEP website.
We have been busy adding the final touches to the ADEPT Spring Conference plans, taking place on 13th May. Look out for three publications launching on the day – the new ADEPT Strategic Plan, setting out our vision and priorities for the next three years, the Local Government Reorganisation Highways Toolkit, developed in partnership with Local Partnerships, and the Local Highways Climate Adaptation Guide, developed through ADEPT's Engineering Board.
Finally, I'd like to say how proud I am of what ADEPT has achieved this year. There is real momentum in the organisation and serving as President in ADEPT's 140th year has been an absolute privilege and one I will treasure. A huge thank you to our members, partners, boards and the brilliant ADEPT team for your support, challenge and encouragement throughout. Here's to Katie - I wish her a wonderful presidential year!
For more updates on ADEPT's latest news, publications, and the work of our boards and groups, visit our website: www.adeptnet.org.uk.
