The County Councils Network (CCN) Conference was on 16th to 18th November 2025 in Marlow. The event was well attended, and IESE took part as a sponsor with two stands: one showcasing CareCubed and the other showcasing the CCoE. The event included talks by many sector experts, including the Chief Executive of the CCoE, Kurtis Toy, who delivered an informative round table discussion on cyber security- a critical point of interest for many councils in the current ever-changing technology landscape.
Event Highlights
The CCN Conference 2025 covered many niche topics of interest for councils to digest. As a key sponsor with much involvement in local authority innovation and improvement, IESE held a prominent role in the discussions raised in the event.
The topics covered in the event included:
- Cybersecurity and the CCoE Round Table.
- Fair Funding 2.0 and Local Government Finance.
- The SEND Reform.
- Children’s Social Care Reforms.
- AI & CoPilot in the workplace.
- Local Government Reorganisation and the challenges vs opportunities it poses.
- Roads and infrastructure.
- The future of local government and how key innovations are looking forward.
Cyber Security & CCoE Round Table
The CCoE ensured that cybersecurity featured prominently at the CCN Conference 2025 through the facilitation of an exclusive roundtable that explored the rapidly evolving threat landscape. The discussion highlighted how attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated through the use of AI technologies, such as the emergence of tools like Claude AI being leveraged by malicious actors, making it clear that rising intelligence in cyber attacks is no longer theoretical, especially where state actors are involved.
The analogy “Bigger Ladder, Bigger Wall” was used to illustrate the continuous escalation between attackers and defenders, reinforcing the CCoE’s mission to support organisations, including local councils, with clear communication and practical, actionable guidance.
As part of this mission, the CCoE offers a free annual passive cyber scan to every UK local authority, which includes dark web monitoring and tailored remediation advice. If you have not yet downloaded your free report for your council, please click here.
The importance of strong password management was stressed, with ‘1Password’ recommended as a secure and effective solution. Discussion also focused on organisational vulnerability during holiday periods and times of structural change or merger, when attackers often exploit diverted attention. Delegates were reminded that due diligence is critical regardless of merger size or budget, with ISO27001 or ISO20901 recommended as minimum cybersecurity standards for partners. Interestingly, the most significant cyber-skills gap was identified not among new entrants, but among senior leaders, prompting calls for role‑specific training.
CCoE also outlined additional support available to councils, including targeted cyber training and tools such as ‘Isoprotect’ for individuals deemed high‑risk, such as councillors using personal Gmail accounts for official communication. In the event of a cyber incident, organisations were advised to follow the “snip, snap, shut” process: cut internet access, capture screen evidence, and shut down affected systems. The session also reinforced the importance of well-defined disaster recovery plans, including clear communication procedures and 72‑hour response strategies, which are vital to organisational resilience.
The presentation “Securing Through LGR” further underscored how attackers, particularly nation‑state actors, capitalise on periods of organisational change or holidays such as Christmas. LGR transitions can introduce hidden risks if not managed effectively; even positive change can create gaps when handled poorly. Attendees were urged to conduct thorough due diligence on all suppliers, including IT vendors and shared services partners, and to maintain full visibility of their own IT estate, using diagnostic tools to understand current strengths and weaknesses. Ensuring internal environments are secure before entering any system mergers or migrations was emphasised, alongside the importance of maintaining heightened vigilance through additional training, reminders, and safeguards. Post‑migration, the guidance was clear: systematic review is essential.
Finally, the CCoE set out the practical steps organisations should prioritise across four pillars: monitoring for leaked data, credentials, and vulnerabilities; preventing breaches through staff training, encryption, secure home networks, and robust password practices; protecting systems with encrypted communications, immutable backups, XDR, and next‑generation endpoint security; and defending the wider operational estate – such as buildings, networks, devices, people, data, and OT.
The session concluded with a briefing on the most pressing cyber‑risks for organisational risk registers, from AI‑enhanced attacks and ransomware evolution to quantum threats, as well as emerging UK‑specific challenges including deepfakes, biometric exploitation, autonomous vehicle vulnerabilities, and risks stemming from climate‑related disruption and space‑based infrastructure.
Fair Funding 2.0 & Local Government Finance
A generous portion of the 2025 CCN Conference was dedicated to the new “Fair Funding Review 2.0” formula for council budgets. This has been described as the most ambitious settlement seen since 2013/2014. Initial figures around this are expected to be released in December 2025, and there has been a plan for a 3-year-long transition.
From what we know so far, the new formula will shift the funding from the City of London to metropolitan areas; however, some stakeholders were displeased with the differences. Changes include increased funding for social care, but at the same time, the issue around council tax equalisation is still controversial. Some of the government-set parameters around the formula are not very flexible, and this further complicates the review process. Added concerns around the changes have been expressed regarding the poor planning and tight turnaround that is required for the council budgets.
SEND Reforms
The SEND reform appeared as a space of crisis, with rising demands and costs, but with standstill or worsening outcomes. Higher numbers of children are being identified as having special educational needs and disabilities, and therefore require extra support. While funding has increased, spending is outpacing funding exponentially, which results in significant debt for many councils.
Furthermore, outcomes for children, specifically those who have Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs), have not improved in over a decade, which shows a need for improvement, and that optimising services to improve outcomes may assist in lessening demand.
Of the pupils who require SEND support, around 70% have ASD (autism spectrum disorder) speech, language and communication needs, or social, emotional, and mental health issues. These groups also account for a large 90% majority of EHCPs.
Mainstream schools are experiencing growth in the EHCP group due to the limited capacity of special schools. It has been noted that boys between the ages of 11 and 15 are disproportionately represented in special schools. Also, worth noting, there has been a 55% increase in SEND tribunal appeals between 2022 and 2024, marking the current outlook for the sector.
SEND discussions at CCN highlighted a requirement for two separate reform pillars: inclusive education and statutory reform. Additionally, home environments were defined as being a key factor. Concerns were critically raised regarding overdiagnosis and inflexible system responses.
Children’s Social Care Reform
Tied in lightly to the SEND reform is the Children’s Social Care Reform. This was discussed during the CCN event due to the sector being under significant financial pressures with overspend and increasing demand persisting for over 8 years, and heightened by a 10% average annual overspend.
The costs related to residential placements and social care have risen quickly, with drivers in increasing demand and shortages of foster homes. There have been calls for an approach that is more ‘families first’ and greater collaborations across regions. Integrated care boards (ICBs) and transitional planning into adulthood have additionally been noted as significant priorities.
Most notably, local authorities who have managed to slow spending increases have been determined to have better outcomes. This reinforces the emphasis placed on prevention and early intervention, which can be significant contributors to this, as they are cost-saving and supportive approaches.
Wiltshire was used as an example of a strategy that uses data-driven decision-making, partnership working and whole council structural shifts with support for care leavers in place, such as housing, and council tax exemption.
Overall, the discussion identified four corporate imperatives necessary: leadership and governance, system-wide partnership, sustainable budgeting, and prevention and readiness.
AI & Copilot
Although there was a large discussion around AI relating to cybersecurity elsewhere in the CCN event, there was also a deliberate discussion around the use of AI and CoPilot systems. Although this was perceived as being sales-oriented, it was informative by covering the way in which AI use has evolved in workplaces.
The topic outlines several phases of AI adoption in the workplace:
- Individual use.
- Human-led teams managing bots.
- Businesses run by AI agents.
The discussion further explored how custom AI agents can now be built for specific tasks. The ROI (Return on Investment) is increasingly being measured as ROE (Return on Employee), with claims that AI adoption has produced significant productivity gains.
Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)
The CCN Conference 2025 wasn’t complete without discussions considering Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) plans. There were discussions between attendees and an informative talk that focused on the challenges. The many discussions observed challenges and opportunities that come with council mergers and the restructuring of local government. Surrey and Essex councils have shared their experiences with the proposals for new unitary councils and the operational challenges involved in the process.
Further elaboration on impact included factors such as the emotional impact on staff and stakeholders, which led to the outlining of communication and engagement as important actions to consider to reduce strain. Tied into this was the “two-team” approach, which enables the separation of ‘business as usual’ functioning from ‘implementation of LGR.’
Section 24 agreements and joint platforms were also used to manage the changes, and chief executives were assigned to professional workstreams based on expertise in the examples reviewed. Resident engagement was also highlighted as a key principle factor, but they must be aware of the reality of their residents’ limited interest and/or knowledge, for example, only 50% of Essex residents are aware of the LGR.
Issues uncovered included council tax equalisation and fair funding reviews. Although LGR plans are not quick-fix resolutions, the changes prompt positive opportunities for strategic planning going forward. Encouraging honest conversation, compromise, and group learning have all been seen as critical to success. Positive outcomes from LGR include increases in engagement of staff, economic growth, a more standardised terms and conditions outline, and improvements in resident experiences.
Infrastructure & Roads
A session on the UK’s roads and infrastructure highlighted how important ageing assets, road use and the need-for-long term investment are in this space. Around 97% of travel occurs on roads, with A-roads carrying a disproportionate amount of the traffic, especially the freight. This results in many assets that date back to the 1970s desperately requiring urgent investment, improvement or restoration.
While 5-year government investment plans focus on improvements, long-term planning is a critical requirement to address ongoing challenges in the transport sector. Some experts would prefer a 10 or 20-year investment plan.
ROI on active travel, such as walking or cycling, is high, and it offers significant health and environmental benefits, which also align with key goals surrounding climate resilience and net zero, as well as drainage. These are considered to be significant issues and key points of infrastructure improvement focus.
The key challenges faced around infrastructure and road improvement include disruption and funding, while electric vehicle infrastructure and ageing assets also come into play. Climate change resilience is also a critical focus here as improvements need to be long-term, considerate, and net-zero aligned to combat flooding, infrastructure degradation and long-term community safety. The government has therefore established a £1 billion structures fund with future changes expected following the 2027 elections.
Future of Local Government
Overall, many of the topics discussed in the informative CCN event lean towards a focus on the future of local government in the UK. Speakers reflected on how local government roles are evolving, with local authorities now controlling only 10% of their spending, where it used to be 90%.
The consensus was that centralisation has hindered local innovation and growth, and three options were proposed for addressing the barriers faced by local governments with adult social care, a significant sector of pressure:
- Removing care from the council’s responsibility.
- Creating growth incentives.
- Acknowledging councils as care organisations and outsourcing other duties.
Furthermore, the social contract is under threat, with a dire need to rebuild trust and return decision-making to communities. It is also possible that fiscal devolution and more organic structures could contribute to innovation, although mayoral models may not suit all areas. Encouragement in experimentation for local authorities has been significant, as the future will require radical changes to current structures and functionality. The next decade will include more duties and financial strains with equal opportunity for improvement and innovations.
It is imperative that, going forward, we focus on the positive changes that may occur alongside local government challenges. Moving towards highly adapted approaches to the challenges currently faced takes effort, resilience and determination. However, outcomes for all are sure to be highly positive in the long term and will impact budget management, with positive security and infrastructure reinforcement to keep communities thriving.
For more information on how CCoE can help you optimise your cyber security, visit the CCoE website: www.ccoe.org.uk.
