Agenda item

The Committee is recommended to AGREE its work programme for forthcoming meetings, having heard any changes from previous iterations, and taking account of the Cabinet Forward Plan and of the Budget Management Monitoring Report.

In order to inform its work planning, the Committee has requested a data pack and has invited officers to advise as it devises its plan.

The Cabinet Forward Plan can be found here: https://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/mgListPlanItems.aspx?PlanId=448&RP=115

The most recent BMMR, submitted to Cabinet in March 2025, can be found here: https://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=115&MId=7477&Ver=4

In order to inform its work planning, the Committee had invited officers from across Children’s Services to advise and invited the Cabinet member for Children and Young People and the Cabinet member for Finance to take part in the discussion.  The following officers attended

• Stephen Chandler, Executive Director for People;
• Charlotte Davey, Assistant Director for County Services;
• Delia Mann, Assistant Director of Early Help & Prevention;
• Senay Nidai, Assistant Director Safeguarding;
• Deborah Smit, Assistant Director for SEND and Inclusion;
• Kim Wilson, Assistant Director for Schools and Settings - Standards, Effectiveness and Performance.

The Chair opened by stressing the need to prioritise children in the Council’s plans, given the 150,000 children and young people in Oxfordshire. The Committee had requested a comprehensive data pack, setting out information relating to children’s social care and to education, and the Chair recommended a structured review of the data to clearly understand what it shows about this group.

The Assistant Directors were invited to give an overview of key points relating to their respective service area.

The new Assistant Director for Schools and Settings stressed the need to improve literacy and numeracy in primary schools, particularly for vulnerable groups such as white British boys on free school meals and she announced an upcoming year-long reading initiative.

The Assistant Director of Early Help & Prevention highlighted attendance as key, especially for children under child protection plans, and called for joint work between social care and education. She reported a 17% drop in child protection plans and a 5% reduction in children in need plans, crediting multi-agency collaboration, whilst noting stable demand at the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub.

The Assistant Director for SEND and Inclusion noted that the number of Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) had risen above national averages, with over 8,000 expected in Oxfordshire, and stressed the importance of early interventions like special school outreach and SENCO support to improve outcomes.

The Assistant Director for County Services emphasised reducing out-of-county placements and increasing local foster carers, given a national decline of 4,000 Council carers. The steady number of children in care and fewer child protection plans signalled successful prevention.

The Assistant Director Safeguarding echoed the need to improve attendance for vulnerable children, starting in nurseries, and underscored the value of early help strategies to prevent statutory interventions by identifying needs sooner.

Members noted that the data relating to complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman did not set out clearly that, of the complaints investigated, all had been upheld.  The Executive Director of People committed to feeding back to the committee full data of complaints and compliments the council received.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People mentioned that the Independent Chair of the SEND Improvement Assurance Board, had been taken aback by the disproportionality in the percentage of school-age children with SEND support in Oxfordshire. This highlighted a significant concern regarding the higher number of children requiring SEND support in Oxfordshire.

The Committee discussed attendance; Local Authority influence with academy schools; the School Improvement team; Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs; Education and Health Care Needs Assessments and Education and Health Care Plans; early intervention and SEND Support.  The number of children in care not in education, employment or training was discussed as was the need for more foster carers.  Trauma-informed education, attainment, and co-production were also discussed.  Early years and Best Start centres were raised too.

The Committee agreed to delegate to the Scrutiny Officer, in consultation with the Chair, the drawing up of a provisional work programme.  The Committee AGREED to receive the Youth Justice Annual Statement and the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report at its meeting on 26 September.

During the course of the municipal year, the Committee anticipated scrutinising:

• SEND, recognising the potential impact of a new White Paper, including SEND Support and the graduated approach;
• Co-production in Children’s Services: how is this embedded across service areas;
• Fostering;
• Attainment including attainment gaps;
• Educational Data (once validated)
• Attendance
• Early Years

The Committee also agreed to invite the Regional Schools Commissioner to meet the Committee regarding academies in the county and that the Independent Chair of the SEND Improvement Advisory Board should also be invited to attend a future meeting on SEND.  The Committee also agreed to consider full information on comments and complaints across Children’s Services and relational and restorative work across the Local Area Partnership.

The Committee NOTED the work programme for the next meeting, with an updated programme for the remainder of the year to be drawn up.

The Chair expressed the Committee’s thanks to officers for their attendance and for their preparation and engagement.