2025 has been a defining year for local authorities navigating unprecedented pressure across Adult Social Care (ASC) and SEND.  

Throughout the year, several key themes emerged from our work with councils:

• AI as a practical, ethical support tool – not a replacement for professional judgement
• Strengthening the quality, timeliness and defensibility of SEND processes
• Prevention and sustainability at the core of ASC strategy
• Deep local authority partnerships shaping genuinely useable digital tools
• A growing expectation for data-driven decision making

Together, these themes reflect a sector in transition – moving from firefighting, towards building smarter, more sustainable systems. The headlines below capture these developments across the year, with links to the deeper thinking behind it.

January – Reframing prevention as the foundation of sustainable ASC

Webinar: Prevention at the front door: Suffolk, Sunderland, and Oxfordshire Council shared in a webinar how digital self-assessment, proportionate responses and better triage can reduce demand without compromising outcomes. Insights and recording available here.

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Thought piece: Prevention at the front door of adult social care: Our national ASC series explored how early help – when delivered consistently – strengthens resilience across the whole system and reduces preventable costs over time. Read here

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February – ASC & SEND embrace forecasting, not guesswork

The future of adult social care: Why smarter forecasting is no longer optional: With budgets tightening and care complexity rising, councils are turning toward predictive analytics to model demand, improve financial planning and support transparent decision-making. Read here

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SEND funding at risk: Why councils must act now: This analysis examined the widening SEND funding gap, increasing tribunal risk, and why local authorities need defensible, consistent funding methodologies ahead of reforms. Read here

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‍March – Pressure on the SEND system intensifies following the Spring statement

The SEND crisis: Why urgent reform is needed: An examination of national system pressures and how councils can respond sustainably. Read here

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‍Spring Statement 2025: Councils still need more than promises to solve the SEND crisis: A sector-level view on missing elements in government SEND commitments – and why standardisation and clarity remain essential for change. Read here

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April – AI becomes real, usable and safe for SEND decision-making

Introducing AI-powered enhancements in Formulate (now Funding Genie): Councils saw how carefully designed AI can strengthen consistency, reduce panel time and improve transparency – while keeping professionals firmly in control. This set a new benchmark for responsible AI use in SEND funding decisions. Read here

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A smarter, cleaner, more intuitive Imosphere: As AI-driven features and smarter workflows reshape our ASC and SEND toolkits, our brand has evolved too. This year we introduced a refreshed visual identity and website that reflect the intelligence, clarity and ease-of-use built into our products.

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‍June – Future ready strategies across ASC and SEND

Whitepaper: Insights from leading local authorities on the future of adult social care: Local authority leaders shared how prevention-first, strengths-based, data-informed approaches are reshaping front-door processes and long-term sustainability. Read here

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Webinar: Focus on SEND: Solving problems with smarter ways of working and AI: A practical session focused on how AI-assisted drafting, simplified workflows and stronger QA reduce disputes and improve timeliness. Watch on-demand

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Smarter tools for SEND launched: Funding Genie V5: A major update that brings together the tools needed for consistent, defensible SEND funding decisions – forming the foundation of the broader SEND Genie Toolkit. Read here

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July – Visibility and momentum across ASC and SEND

Imosphere at LGA Conference in Liverpool: We exhibited for the first time at the LGA Conference in Liverpool – a key event for those shaping the future of local government at a pivotal time for conversations centred on demand pressures, workforce strain and the role of digital tools in enabling sustainable models of care.

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Achieving for Children expands SEND Funding Genie across Kingston & Richmond mainstream schools: After two years of using Funding Genie in special schools across Kingston and Richmond, Achieving for Children expanded it to all mainstream settings across the regions. This expansion demonstrates a growing sector shift toward standardised, transparent funding. Read here

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Kings College London: The future of adult social care with smarter data: Highlights from an Imosphere presentation showing how smarter data and standardisation support sustainable ASC transformation. Read here

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August – Turning pressure into strategy

A tipping point for adult social care: Reflections on the ADASS Spring Survey 2025: This initial analysis explored key themes from councils facing rising demand, financial pressure and workforce challenges. We then delved deeper with a strategic extension of the Survey, looking at how councils can turn ASC resource allocation into a strategic lever for sustainability.

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September – Strengthening EHCP quality at scale

EHCP Genie Showcase: Imosphere’s local authority partners explored how streamlined drafting, integrated QA checks and evidence-backed workflows improve the quality and defensibility of EHCPs. Watch on-demand

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October – A month of guidance, ethics and co-design

Strategic guide: Procuring, building or reviewing your in-house SEND banding tool: We published a practical decision guide for councils exploring SEND banding and EHCP tooling options. Read here

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Product development rooted in partnerships with local authorities: We held collaboration and feedback workshops with local authorities to refine V10 of the Adult Social Care Connected Toolkit following our UAT programme, and published a look at how co-design with local authorities ensures ASC and SEND tools reflect real-world practice and regulatory expectations. Read here

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AI in Adult Social Care: The ethics question that demands better answers: A thought-leadership piece on how to adopt AI responsibly, ensuring professional judgement and ethics remain firmly in the foreground. Read here

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November – Navigating reform delays without losing momentum

SEND reform delays: Why time still matters: An exploration of how councils can continue to drive improvement despite ongoing SEND reform delays. Read here

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Built together: How LAs shaped the next generation of adult social care: We continued to refine the V10 release of the Adult Social Care Connected Toolkit for launch at the end of the year, tightening the bits that matter so ASC teams head into 2026 with a stronger, more streamlined foundation. To show the thinking behind it, we published our piece on how real world practice and deep partnerships with councils have shaped the latest evolution of Imosphere’s ASC Toolkit. Read here

NCAS 2025: We exhibited at NCAS 2025 in Bournemouth, sharing how we’re helping councils across England to drive fairer funding, smarter workflows, and better outcomes for their ASC and SEND services. Read our insights here.

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December – A milestone for SEND: EHCP Genie launches

EHCP Genie Early Adopter Programme opens: Imosphere released EHCP Genie, the first end-to-end AI-supported pathway for drafting, assuring and funding EHCPs. The Early Adopter Programme opened for councils aiming to improve the quality, timeliness and defensibility of plans. This marks a significant step toward reform-ready, scalable, sustainable SEND processes. Read here