Agenda and minutes

To issue a welcome to those present, and to confirm if there are any apologies for absence.

The Chair welcomed those present to the meeting.

Apologies were received form Cllr Cole and Cllr Dr Moore.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Members were asked to declare any interests they may have had in the business to be discussed.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting of the Children, Young People, and Education Scrutiny Commission held on 14 April 2026 have been circulated, and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

 AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Children, Young People and Education Scrutiny Commission held on 14^th April 2026 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Membership of the Commission will be confirmed and noted.

It was noted that Cllr Gopal would be taking the place of Cllr Joshi for the municipal year.

The Membership of the Commission was confirmed as follows:

Councillor Misbah Batool - Chair

Councillor Stephen Bonham – Vice-Chair

Councillor George Cole

Councillor Lynn Moore

Councillor Sue Waddington

Councillor Charleigh Barnes

Councillor Jaiantilal Gopal

Councillor Mick Gregg

Co-opted member - Joycelin Eze-Okubuiro Parent Governor Representative Primary Schools.

Members will be asked to note the meeting dates of the commission for 2026/27-

17 June 2026

8 September 2026

27 October 2026

27 January 2027

9 March 2027

The dates of the meetings for the Commission were confirmed as follows:

17 June 2026

8 September 2026

27 October 2026

27 January 2027

9 March 2027 

The Commission will be asked to note the Terms of Reference. 

The Commission noted the Scrutiny Terms of Reference.

The Chair is invited to make any announcements as they see fit. 

The Chair reminded those present that scrutiny was a place of challenge, but with respect.

The Chair also noted that since papers had been sent to members ahead of the meeting, more focus could be given to discussion and questions.

Any questions, representations and statements of case submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures will be reported.

The Monitoring Officer reported that none had been received.

Any petitions received in accordance with Council procedures will be reported.

The Monitoring Officer reported that none had been received.

The Lead Scrutiny Directors of the Commission to outline the service areas that form part of the commission. 

The Assistant City Mayor for Education introduced the item welcoming old and new members. She noted it was good to relook at where the commission was and what officers bring to the commission.

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education welcomed members and stated that it was good to see the work within each department and a breakdown across the Children, Young People and Education portfolio. He advised that he was the Joint Strategic Director for Social Care and Education with the ability to think across line supports, to maximise support across the areas.

The Strategic Director also covered the area for the Director of Children’s Social Care, Early Help and Prevention. There were seven service areas under Children’s Social Care and Early help as set out in the slides attached to the agenda. He outlined the Vision for Children and Families:

­   Building strong future ready systems

­   Delivering creative forward thinking solutions

­   Empowering people through connection and care

­   Driving high standards and meaningful outcomes

He gave a snapshot of the Children across the city, with data up to 15^th May 2026:

• Children in the City – 91,000
• Children receiving early help - 892
• Children “In Need” (all) – 2305
• Children on a Child Protection Plan – 446
• Children “Looked After” – 630
• Care leavers aged under 21 - 444
• Care leavers aged 21-25 – 234

Changes had been made to expand the Senior Management Team and provide proper oversite of capacity. The number of service managers supporting care leavers had increased, providing greater management oversight and helping to raise standards

The Director of Education and SEND gave an overview of what her services cover and the role of scrutiny in these areas using the slides as attached with the agenda.

The service covered a broad range of statutory responsibilities relating to education and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including access to education from birth to 25 years of age for children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). It was noted that the service was operating within a period of significant national reform, with changes across education, social care and the NHS all having a direct impact on local provision. It was noted that these changes represented the most significant transformation within the sector for a generation

The Director advised that education settings were responsible for much more than educating children and young people. Key responsibilities included school admissions, ensuring sufficient nursery, school and post 16 places, school organisation and expansion, governance arrangements, attendance and education welfare, support for children requiring additional assistance, and a range of licensing and regulatory functions.

A key focus of the service was ensuring children and young people could access the right support at the right time, whilst also preparing them for adulthood and supporting successful transitions into adult services. Close working arrangements were in place with Adult Social Care, particularly for young people with EHCPs where statutory responsibilities could continue until the age  ...  view the full minutes text for item 234.

An Executive Response will be provided to the recommendations made by the Task Group on the High Needs Block.

The Assistant City Mayor for Children and Young People presented the Executive Response to the CYPE Scrutiny Commission Task Gorup Recommendations on the SEND High Needs Block.

The Assistant City Mayor thanked the group for the work done and thanked the Chair for presenting the recommendations to the executive.  The following points were made:

• The Executive were already working towards the recommendations made. 
• The SEND Reform plan was now complete and a draft had gone to the Department for Education (DfE).
• The DfE had given advice around finance, and noted that it was important to get things right in order to mitigate risk.
• The Executive would take a last look before bringing the full plan to the DfE.  It was hoped that the 90% reduction in deficit would be acknowledged.
• The consultation was extensive and had been presented to the Secondary Head Teachers Conference.

The Director for SEND and Education added that she was pleased with the feedback from the DfE and she was hopeful that the plan would be well-received.  However, it would not be known if it had been accepted until the end of August.

In response to a query on Tribunal costs, it was noted that these costs could be considered privately.  It was further noted that the Tribunal rate was one of the lowest in the region, which showed that change was being implemented and children and families were being worked with.

AGREED

1)    That the response be noted.

2)    That comments made by members of this commission to be taken into account by the lead officers.

The Director of Children’s Social Work and Early Help submits a report providing an update on the post-inspection improvement plan for Children’s Social Care.

The Director of Children’s Social Care and Early Help submitted a report to the Commission to deliver a presentationon the post-inspection improvement plan, progress made and priorities for the next 12 months for Children’s Social Care following a full Ofsted inspection in September 2024 and an Ofsted Focused Visit reviewing services and support for Care Leavers in March 2026.

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education introduced and presented the report on the Post Inspection Improvement Plan following the Ofsted inspection of Children's Services in October 2024.The following was noted:

• Children's Services had been assessed as "Requires Improvement". The previous inspection in 2021 had resulted in a judgement of "Good", however services had changed significantly since the pandemic and a detailed analysis of the inspection findings had been undertaken.
• Officers acknowledged the areas identified for improvement and advised that an extensive improvement plan was in place to strengthen service delivery, increase capacity, improve oversight and provide greater quality assurance across services.
• Governance arrangements had been established to oversee delivery of the improvement plan, including a dedicated board which met every 6 weeks to monitor progress.
• External support had been provided through the Department for Education, including support from the London Borough of Islington. Whilst this support had been beneficial, officers advised that progress was not moving at the pace they would ideally wish to achieve.
• It was reported that the authority was now in a significantly stronger position to deliver the required improvements, with the necessary resources, leadership and organisational culture in place.
• Workforce recruitment and retention remained a key area of focus, particularly within social work where recruitment of experienced staff continued to be challenging nationally.
• To address workforce pressures, the authority had recruited experienced social workers from overseas, including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. The first cohort had joined at the end of 2023 and all remained in post, with some progressing to senior social worker roles.
• A further cohort of approximately 20 social workers had joined during the current year, resulting in the service becoming fully staffed for social worker posts for the first time.
• Some overseas recruits had previously managed caseloads of up to 120 children before joining the authority, compared to significantly lower caseloads within the UK system.

In discussion with Members and Young People Representatives, the following was noted:

• In response to questions regarding the findings of the inspection, the key focus of the improvement programme was moving away from a culture of compliance and ensuring social workers had the time and capacity to undertake meaningful work with children and families.
• High caseloads had previously limited opportunities for relationship based practice and that the service was seeking to create greater capacity for social workers to focus on direct work and achieving positive outcomes for children. Officers advised that culture change would be driven through stronger relational practice, accountability and a focus on doing the right thing for children rather than simply completing paperwork
• Changes were being made to support more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 236.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submits a report providing an update on performance in social care and education and information on monitoring and improving quality.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submitted a report and presentation providing an update on performance in social care and education and information on monitoring and improving quality.

Key points other than those included on the slides (which were taken as read) included:

• At the end of the previous municipal year it had been agreed that there would be a new framework to report on priorities for the department to ensure that things got done.
• This was a strategic framework for performance ambitions, and it was aimed to be more transparent.
• Updates would be brought six-weeks following the end of each Quarter.
• Obstacles were acknowledged with regard to the ILACS improvement plan.
• With regard to performance ambitions, it was aimed to look at the direction of travel and how the Council compared nationally, regionally and to other Local Authorities in terms of family benchmarks.
• It was aimed to look at actions that could change trajectory.

The Committee were invited to ask questions and make comments. Key points included:

• With regard to points raised about the increasing figures for children in care in the city, it was explained that a large part of this was due to the pace of the courts as there had been issues surrounding the availability of Judge time an the availability of information that Judges wanted.  Over time, care proceedings would have more children in the care system.  It was further noted that there were a large number of under-1s in the adoption system, by the system had been elongated.  There had also been volatility in Leicester as there had often been many children from the same family going into care at the same time.  Work had been done through Family Help reforms which should see numbers coming down and a slight reduction should be seen this quarter.  The whole system was under pressure and there were wider societal factors around poverty and depravation.
• In terms of support for those in financial difficulty, it was suggested that there was lots that could potentially be done, however, significant change was needed.  There were particular factors around work and financial management in the long term for the crisis resilience fund.  It was acknowledged that there were high levels of deprivation in the city, and that intelligence around what was happening could help officers understand what needed to be done differently.  There was a pathway to cultural change in terms of crisis and resilience.
• In response to queries about the functions of LiquidLogic, it was explained that it was a recording system and database to record families worked with.  It was being reviewed in terms of making it more user friendly so Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools could make it easier to record data.  Thes had the potential to free-up social workers in terms of workload.  Confidentiality aspects would need to be overcome, and it was necessary to think about how technology could help in terms of accurate recording and accountability.  Other authorities were already using LiquidLogic  ...  view the full minutes text for item 237.

Members of the Commission will be asked to consider the work programme and make suggestions for additional items as it considers necessary.

Issues surrounding were raised surrounding illegal schools, young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) and on the effects of the recent social media ban for under-16s and the possibilities for alternative activities for young people. NEET young people could be discussed as part of a report on the Connexions service. These could be discussed at the next agenda-setting meeting.

The work programme was noted.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 19:04.