President's Update

Hello and welcome to my latest update. I hope you all manage to find some time to pause and recharge - although I fully appreciate that, for many, our services only get busier over the summer! 

It feels like my new role as ADEPT President is well and truly underway - here's the latest from a busy first full month.

It's great to be writing my first President's Update, even if I came to this role slightly earlier than planned! I'm Katie Stewart, the new ADEPT President and Executive Director for Environment at the City of London Corporation. 

I want to start by saying a huge thank you to Angela Jones, whose presidential year has just come to a close. Her theme of Making the Case for People and Place has genuinely shaped the conversation across our sector - she has set the bar high. 

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. 

Hello everyone, 

Before we head into the Easter break, I wanted to share a few updates. 

I enjoyed attending Interchange 2026 in Manchester and being a member of National Highways’ panel discussion about what the future holds for England’s strategic road network. The Live Labs 2 session was excellent; it was good to hear about the lessons and successes of the various projects. I also attended the Arcadis session, 'Breaking the Gridlock: Gen Z's Role in Energising Sustainable, Digital Transport Futures'. 

Hello everyone,

As we head into March, I have several important updates to share with you.

Firstly, I’d like to congratulate Andrew Cook on his appointment as Chief Executive at Suffolk County Council from 1st April. As a result, Andrew will no longer take up the ADEPT Presidency next year - I’m very grateful to Katie Stewart, our 2nd Vice President, who has agreed to step into the role of ADEPT President one year early, from May 2026.

Hello everyone,

As we head into February, there are several important updates to share with you this month, along with some fantastic news about Live Labs 2.

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a restful break and are settling back into 2026. As we start the year, there are a few updates I wanted to share with you and some important dates to note for the months ahead.

Alun Hughes from the County Councils Network (CCN) came along to the latest Leadership Team meeting to discuss how we might collaborate more, particularly around Local Government Reorganisation and devolution. 

Hello everyone,

It’s December already - where has the year gone? As we head into the final weeks of 2025, I hope you're managing to stay on top of what's always a busy period.

I'm delighted to report that our Autumn Conference was a huge success. Having Andy Burnham join us as keynote speaker was a real highlight and the conversations around devolution, resilience and innovation were fantastic. You can read my full reflections on the event here.

Hello everyone,

I’ve just returned from two weeks’ leave – it’s always good to take some time to recharge before the busy run-up to the end of the year.

Before I went, I joined the Engineering Board to say hello and catch up on their latest work – thank you to everyone who made me so welcome. A big thank you as well to Andrew Cook for representing ADEPT as Ambassador at Highways UK. I understand it was the biggest event yet, with plenty of great conversations and connections across the sector.