The Children and Families Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to meet on Wednesday 2 April 2025 to discuss a scrutiny report, making care experienced young people a protected characteristic, and the attendance policy. The meeting was due to take place at Waltham Forest Town Hall. The agenda for the meeting was published on 25 March 2025.

Here's a breakdown of the topics that were included in the report pack for discussion:

Attendance Policy

The committee was scheduled to review and discuss the council's attendance policy. A report authored by Lindsay Jackson, Assistant Director Access, Participation and Inclusion, provided an update on actions taken since the previous scrutiny report on 11 September 2024, regarding attendance, suspension, and permanent exclusion data for the academic year 2023/24.

The report pack included the Waltham Forest Attendance Strategic Action Plan 2025-28, and the Waltham Forest Attendance Policy 2024/25.

The report noted that in September 2024, all schools received a copy of the annual report, highlighting priority areas for the three-year period from 2025-2028. Each school also received a letter with locally contextualised data for absence, suspensions, and permanent exclusions, placing them into five bands or quintiles. The Assistant Director Access, Participation and Inclusion and the Head of BACME¹ have had targeted meetings with headteachers of schools with all data sets in quintile 5 to discuss their data, context, and required actions/support.

Based on the Annual report 2023/24 and scrutiny feedback, the following partnership targets have been set for 2025-28:

• Improve overall attendance across Waltham Forest’s schools by 1.3% to achieve an overall 95% attendance
• Be in the top 25% nationally for low numbers of permanent exclusions
• Reduce the number of school days lost to suspensions
• Address disproportionality in absence, suspensions and permanent exclusion figures for boys, children with SEND needs², and children with a black Caribbean heritage.

The report pack stated that the Access, Participation and Inclusion Service worked with schools and partner services to develop a borough Attendance Strategic Action Plan, aiming to provide a clear partnership approach to ensure children and families access the right support at the right time to ensure good school attendance. The Waltham Forest's Attendance Policy was updated in December 2024 to reflect updated Department for Education (DfE) guidance.

The report pack also noted that the data held within the annual report for 2023/24 was used to support schools to develop and agree the intervention placements that will be available to schools to support their students from September 2025 to July 2028. At Schools Forum in December 2024, schools voted to commission a variety of intervention placements including:

• 8 new KS3 Turnaround places for secondary aged children in Key Stage 3 (years 7-9), intended as an early intervention to reduce the number of permanent exclusions in years 9, 10 and 11, and
• 8 new intervention places for secondary aged children with EHCPs and behaviour support needs, intended to reduce the disproportionality of children with SEND needs being suspended/permanently excluded

The BACME team have implemented a proactive approach to provide support and challenge to schools through:

• Further development of the Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) drop-in sessions
• Active monitoring of the school usage of suspensions
• Pro-active conversations with Headteachers who are considering permanent exclusions for children

Making Care Experienced Young People in Waltham Forest a Protected Characteristic

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the progress of support offered to care experienced young people in Waltham Forest, following the council's decision to recognise care leavers as having a protected characteristic.

According to the report pack, in 2023, Waltham Forest Council agreed to recognise care leavers as having a protected characteristic. Following this decision, two young people and campaigner Terry Galloway attended a meeting with the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, to discuss the benefits of this status.

The report pack stated that the council acknowledges the importance of a collaborative multi-agency approach in supporting care-experienced young people. A transitions panel has been established, including partner agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), LBWF Housing, SEND, Virtual School, primary mental health, LBWF placements team, and LBWF probation.

A Multi-Agency Steering Group for Care Leavers has also been established, including strategic partners from:

• London Borough of Waltham Forest Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
• London Borough of Waltham Forest Rents Team
• London Borough of Waltham Forest Revenue and Benefits
• Virtual School
• Edge of Care
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
• London Borough of Waltham Forest Housing
• London Borough of Waltham Forest Homeless Unit
• London Borough of Waltham Forest Citizens Advice

The report pack stated that the vulnerabilities of care-experienced young people are addressed through the Waltham Forest Child and Mental Health Services Children and Young People 8-25 Service. There is a well-established pathway for young people and their leaving care coaches to access consultation. A mental health support group, facilitated by young people and supported by a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Worker, will soon be developed.

Quarterly meetings provide oversight for young people in prison and detention centres, ensuring their needs are met. Monthly meetings between probation services and the leaving care service also consider future plans for young people in prison.

There is a well-established housing protocol between London Borough of Waltham Forest Housing and the Leaving Care Service. A proposal has been agreed to include a protocol that requires authorization from the Director of Housing and Social Care in cases of intentional homelessness.

The council continues to collaborate with universities, the Virtual School, Wilson Dixon, The Army, Tottenham Spurs, Department for Work and Pensions, Waltham Forest College, and Drive Forwards to provide varied opportunities in education, training, and employment.

All London Borough of Waltham Forest care-experienced young people have an allocated Leaving Care Coach who supports them until their 25th birthday. If they choose to be deallocated, they are still invited to attend the HUB and utilize support services and events.

The council has successfully applied to redevelop the former George Mitchell Secondary School CDT Block into a new purpose-built Leaving Care Hub.

The report pack stated that there is a need for the council to create opportunities for care experienced young people to benefit from the family business model, which is an employment model designed to create opportunities for young people in their journey to adulthood and the world off employment. This can be achieved through collaborating with local businesses and partners to prioritise and offer apprenticeships and internship work experience opportunities to care experienced young people.

The Scrutiny Report

The committee was scheduled to review the action and recommendation trackers, and suggest any items for the 2025/26 draft work programme for the incoming committee.

The report pack included a draft summary of committee activity for the 24/25 municipal year, which was due to be submitted to the Scrutiny Coordinating Committee in April, before the full draft Annual Report is submitted to Scrutiny Coordinating and Full Council in the Summer.

The Action Tracker captures all actions required of officers by the committee at the previous scrutiny meeting and provides an update on progress. The Recommendation Tracker captures all recommendations made by the committee at the previous scrutiny meeting.

The report pack stated that there are no key decisions in the upcoming Cabinet Forward Plan that fall under the remit of this scrutiny committee.

Members were invited to review the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan for the remainder of the municipal year. If members would like to add items to the work programme, they can nominate items during a committee meeting or email the chair or a member of the Scrutiny team.