Financial leadership is a core part of the DASS role. You are responsible for significant public resources. In many councils social care is the single largest controllable budget, with an expectation that you will ensure that those resources deliver value, impact and sustainability.
You don’t need to be an accountant. But you do need to lead with financial clarity, confidence and integrity. That means understanding your budget, your pressures, and your options.
As DASS, your responsibilities include:
- Leading adult social care budget planning and forecasting.
- Making the case for investment and sustainability.
- Aligning spend with outcomes, values and legal duties.
- Understanding cost drivers and unit costs.
- Working closely with finance colleagues, elected members and partners.
Be transparent about pressures—and proactive about solutions. Build a clear and compelling narrative for social care as an enabler of wellbeing, prevention, and inclusive growth.
Use data, benchmarking and modelling to inform decisions. Work across the system to align resources and reduce duplication. Plan for future demand—and invest in transformation.
Financial leadership also means understanding risk. Monitor provider markets, cost-of-care pressures, and inflationary impacts. Ensure you have robust contingency planning and market oversight in place.
Speak the language of outcomes, not just cost. Frame budget conversations around value to people and communities. And champion the financial case for inclusion, prevention and good commissioning.
You are not just a budget-holder. You are a steward of public money—and a leader of public value.