In Brent Council, our vision is to deliver varied and sustainable care and support that meets the diverse needs and preferences of our community.
Attending the Research in Practice Leaders’ Forum offered us a valuable moment to step back from the immediacy of our roles and reflect alongside colleagues from across the country. The conference brought together a range of perspectives on prevention, leadership and community relationships. Many of these discussions echoed conversations we have been exploring within Brent.
What became clear early on was that the national picture is shaped by the same tensions and opportunities we see locally. Discussions often returned to a familiar set of considerations. What exactly are we trying to prevent? What are we trying to repair? And crucially, who defines ‘needs’ in the first place
Prevention as a way of working
A strong message throughout the conference was the importance of approaching prevention not solely as a service offer, but as a way of working that is grounded in shared values. Several contributors emphasised the shift from doing to towards working with. Particularly when families are at risk of crisis. This emphasis on relational practice and enabling families to draw on their own networks and strengths aligns closely with our ongoing work in Brent.
There was a helpful reflection on how communities have safeguarded children long before formal systems were in place. This raises important questions about the balance between professional roles and community-led support, and the extent to which statutory systems can unintentionally devalue the natural resources that already exist. The challenge for leaders is how we empower the conditions that enable communities to lead, rather than replicating or colonising their functions.
Understanding context and identity
One speaker used the phrase:
I am located, and therefore I am.
This captured the central role of identity, history and place in shaping how people interact with services and how leaders understand the communities we work with.
Data can support this understanding. But the conference reminded us that quantitative information only provides part of the picture. The discussions on disproportionality, poverty, cost of living increases, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) pressures and the impact of budget reductions reinforced the need for approaches that combine both evidence and lived experience. In Brent, this has strengthened our interest in accessible ways that help families understand the local offer, and in creating more opportunities for residents to influence service direction, which has been strengthened throughout the Families First Partnership Programme.
Decolonising approaches and sharing power
Leaders’ Forum also included a thoughtful exploration of decolonisation within social work services. This prompted reflection on the assumptions that shape our understanding of family life, risk, responsibility and outcomes. Contributors encouraged us to look again at how power is distributed in co-production, and to consider what it might mean for community knowledge to be centred rather than consulted.
Several local examples illustrated what this looks like in practice. This included:
- Flexible funding to support family arrangements.
- Direct investment in kinship families.
- Practical support that prevents escalation into care.
These examples show how alternative ways of knowing and doing can lead to meaningful outcomes when systems trust communities as partners.
Trauma, safety and the environments we create
Another key theme was the wider ecological nature of trauma. Speakers reflected on how racism, poverty and exclusion influence children’s and families’ experiences, and how organisational stress can shape professional behaviour. This raised important questions about the environments we create: are they enabling safety, connection and healing, or unintentionally reinforcing fear or mistrust?
For us in Brent, this links to ongoing work on family and network connections. The idea that ‘having people around you’ can reduce the need for statutory intervention speaks strongly to the centrality of relationships across the life course.
Bringing learning back to Brent: Everyday leadership
A phrase that stayed with us was:
We are the traffic jam.
It was a reminder that systems are shaped by the behaviours and assumptions we reproduce every day. While uncomfortable, it was also encouraging. It means that change is possible through small, everyday acts of leadership.
This connects directly with Brent’s December all staff conference on everyday leadership. Leaders’ Forum helped sharpen our thinking about the conditions that enable leadership to flourish at every level of the system. We shaped our conference to build on this by:
Creating space for reflective conversation.
- Highlighting the strengths already present across our workforce and communities.
- Exploring values-led practice and decolonising approaches.
- Strengthening collaborative work across sectors and neighbourhoods.
- Emphasising leadership as something enacted through relationships, not hierarchy.
Our aim was to support colleagues to feel confident influencing change, whether through practice decisions, partnership work or the way they engage with families.
Leaders’ Forum offered encouragement at a time when the system is under considerable pressure. It reminded us that while national challenges are real - poverty, reduced preventive spending, complexity within SEND, and wider structural inequalities - there remains a strong commitment across the sector to work alongside communities with humility and hope.
We look forward to carrying this learning into our own conference and continuing conversations with colleagues, partners, families and young people. By drawing on the strengths within our communities and the leadership that shows up every day, we believe we can continue to build a system that reflects the lives and aspirations of Brent’s residents.
Supporting preventative approaches in social care
A preventative approach in social care is critical to supporting children and adults to lead the lives they want to live. Three new blogs reflect on learning from the 2025 Research in Practice Leaders' Forum that explored how leaders in social care can enable preventative ways of working.
Prevention as a paradigm shift
Dyfrig Williams, Learning Design Manager for Research in Practice, reflects on the event, highlighting key messages from research and practice.
Dismantling deficit ideology: The problems with prevention
Zoya Wallington discusses how we can dismantle a deficit-based, colonial model of prevention.