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Welsh directors of social services have formally split from their English counterparts in an effort to boost the status of the sector in Wales.

A formally separate Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru has been established in response to the splitting up of the former ADSS and the increasing policy divergence in social care between Wales and England.

The new association has been expanded to incorporate around 60 heads of service across the country’s 22 social services departments. It has also secured Welsh assembly government funding to increase its involvement in shaping delivery of Fulfilled Lives Supportive Communities, Wales’ ten-year social services strategy.

At a Cardiff launch, new president of ADSS Cymru Susan Lewis said: "The launch of the association will contribute to renewed efforts to give social services a higher profile nationally, regionally and locally in Wales.

"Social services in Wales need to move up a gear, to meet new challenges, and ADSS Cymru as an organisation is moving up a gear too. But we all know that further change and improvement is essential if we are to realise the aspirations of the strategy."

Speaking at the event, assembly deputy health minister Gwenda Thomas said the new association would help give social services in Wales "a unique identity" of its own.

"We must raise the profile of social services and recognise the value of social work. We must all work together to support that," she added.

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