This meeting included a report on complaints received by Children's Services, a report on persistent absence from schools, and a report on school place planning in the borough.

Complaints Received by Children's Services

The report, London Borough of Camden Children’s Statutory Services Complaints Report 2023/2024, provides information about complaints made about the Children's statutory services in Camden between April 2023 and March 2024.

There were 43 complaints in total, compared to 29 in 2022/23. The complaints were mostly made about the Children in Need Service, followed by the Children Looked After Service. The most common complaints related to:

• A lack of communication
• Disagreement with a decision or action taken by the service
• The quality of service

The report details the themes and learning outcomes from these complaints, as well as improvements made to the complaints procedure.

The Appendix 1 - Coram Voice Annual Report 2022-23 focuses on the advocacy services provided to children and young people in Camden, a statutory requirement of the Children Act 1989. Coram is a charity that has been working to support vulnerable children for almost 300 years. The service provided 68 advocacy episodes to 62 children and young people. Common issues young people sought support with included:

• Housing
• Concerns about allocated social workers and personal advisors
• Finance, benefits and debt

The report, Replaced Appendix 1 - Coram Voice Annual Report 2023-24 provides an update to the above report and focuses on the advocacy services provided to children and young people in Camden, a statutory requirement of the Children Act 1989. The service provided 68 advocacy episodes to 62 children and young people. Common issues young people sought support with included:

• Housing
• Concerns about their social worker or personal advisor
• Finance, benefits and debt

Persistent Absence from Schools

This report, Persistent Absence Inclusion and Alternative Provision, examines the current rates of persistent absence across primary and secondary schools in Camden. The report highlights the negative impacts of persistent absence and details current and planned initiatives to improve attendance, as well as to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), children looked after (CLA) and children known to social care. The report notes that persistent absence is higher than pre-pandemic levels and above comparable national rates.

In particular, the report notes that:

Overall attendance in Camden schools in 2023/24 has improved from previous years but remains below pre-pandemic levels and the proportion of pupils considered persistently absent is higher than comparable national rates.

The report also includes a detailed breakdown of persistent absence rates for different cohorts of children, including those with SEND, those known to social care and those eligible for free school meals.

School Place Planning

This report, 2024 School Place Planning Report, is a review of the number of school places available in Camden. It examines the current supply of school places, forecasts for future pupil numbers and planned housing development.

Since 2018, Camden has reduced the number of available school places in response to falling pupil numbers. In total, 10 forms of entry have been removed from the primary school intake. The most recent school closure was St Dominic’s Catholic Primary School in 2023.

The report notes that:

The forecast data continues show supressed birth rates within London and Camden alongside the continued effect of reductions in families moving into Camden during the COVID period. Whilst the peak of surplus anticipated from last year is not forecast to increase our new forecasts indicate that Camden will reach that peak sooner, and that the marginal increases towards the end of the planning period will not be realised to the same extent.

It also notes that a surplus of school places is anticipated to continue, rising to 28% in primary schools and 21% in secondary schools by 2032/33.

To respond to falling pupil numbers, the council has established a School Place Planning Group. This group is tasked with developing a school place planning strategy to ensure Camden's schools remain sustainable.