The Scrutiny Children & Young People Sub-Committee met to review the Children, Young People and Education (CYPE) directorate's stabilisation plan, the family hubs model, and the youth justice plan. They were also scheduled to review performance data and the committee's work programme for the coming year.

Stabilisation Plan

The sub-committee was scheduled to review the actions contained within the council's stabilisation plan as it relates to the Children, Young People and Education Directorate. The plan was developed following a meeting with the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution in January 2025, and aims to manage demand, reduce costs, increase income and improve productivity, in order to improve the council's financial outlook.

The plan focuses on two key areas:

• The sufficiency of placements for children in care
• The challenge of home to school transport for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The report pack notes that Croydon has the largest under 18 population in London, and the highest number of children in care in London. It also notes that there are approximately 1,000 children in care placed in Croydon by other local authorities, thus exacerbating the sufficiency of provision in the borough.

The report pack also included information on:

• Precious House: The development of Precious House, an in-house residential children's home provision in Sanderstead, which aims to reduce costs and manage demand into the external residential provision estate. The unit cost for a bed at Precious House has been agreed as just under £6,000 per week.
• South Norwood Home: Plans to redevelop a council-owned property in South Norwood into a multi-site home for children with complex needs, including those requiring Deprivation of Liberty Orders[^1]. [^1]: A Deprivation of Liberty Order (DoLS) is a court order that allows a local authority to deprive a person of their liberty in order to provide them with care or treatment.
• Stabilisation Fostering: Embedding a stabilisation fostering model, centred on a new specialist tier of foster carers equipped to care for children and young people with more complex needs. The new fee structure will offer competitive payments-up to £898 per week per child.
• Education SEND Sufficiency, Provision and Home to School Transport: Increasing local specialist provision in Croydon, allowing more children with an Education Health and Care Plan[^2] (EHCP) to be educated within their home borough, reducing the reliance on out of borough placements and significantly reducing the need for and cost of travel. [^2]: An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is a legal document that describes a child or young person’s special educational, health and social care needs and the support that is required to meet those needs.

Family Hubs Model and Children's Centres

The sub-committee was scheduled to receive an update on the progress of the Croydon Family Hubs and Start for Life Transformation Programme, including information on the next steps required for delivering the full Family Hubs operating model, including the opening of Samuel Coleridge Taylor centre (SCTC) as a dedicated older children and young adults facing Family Hub.

The report pack notes that Croydon is one of 75 local authorities funded by the Department for Education (DfE) to transform into a Family Hubs model. The council has received £6,435,500.00 in grant funding from the DfE and Department for Health and Social Care for Croydon's Family Hubs and Start for Life 2022-2026.

The report pack also included information on:

• A proposed public consultation to inform the detail of any future realignment of the current Children Centre model into the Family Hub Locality Model, moving from a 0-5 aged service to a 0 – 19 (25 with SEND) aged service.
• The formal launch of a new older children and young adults facing Family Hub at SCTC planned for September 2025.
• An internal review of the Youth Engagement Team (YET), alongside consultation with staff, parents, service users and relevant partners.
• The 24 services which must be delivered directly within the Family Hub, or families can be signposted to them from the Hub, as set out in the Family Hubs Framework. These include activities for children aged 0-5, health visiting, midwifery/maternity, SEND support, birth registration, housing, nutrition and weight management, stop smoking support, debt and welfare advice, infant feeding support, oral health improvement, substance misuse support, domestic abuse support, intensive targeted family support services, parent-infant relationships and perinatal mental health support, support for separating and separated parents, early language and the home learning environment, local authority 0-19 public health services, parenting support, youth justice services, early childhood education and care and mental health services.
• A proposed Family Hub and Outreach site Model, with a main Family Hub in each locality (North, Central and South), and a number of outreach sites.

Youth Justice Plan 25/26

The sub-committee was scheduled to review the Youth Justice Plan 25/26, which forms a part of the council's budget and policy framework. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 places a statutory obligation upon each local authority to create a local Youth Justice Team, whose primary aim is to prevent and reduce the offending behaviour of children (aged 10–18-year-olds) alongside key partners. A further obligation is placed upon each local team to create a yearly Youth Justice Plan setting out strategic and operational objectives for the forthcoming 12 months.

The plan includes information on:

• The vision and strategy of the Youth Justice Service, which is to be a 'Child First Service' defined by the four tenets of Child-First Practice: Treat Children as children, Building pro-social identity, Collaborating with Children, and Diverting from stigma.
• Governance, leadership and partnership arrangements, including the Youth Justice Crime Board.
• Progress on priorities in previous plan (2024-25).
• Performance over the previous year, including data on accommodation, education, special educational needs, mental health, substance misuse, out of court disposals, links to wider services, management board attendance, victims, serious youth violence levels, binary and frequency of re-offending rates, first time entrants, and use of custody.
• Risks and issues facing the Youth Justice Service.
• Evidence-based practice and innovation.
• Priorities for the coming year.
• Standards for children.
• Service development.
• National priority areas – children from groups which are over-represented.
• Policing.
• Prevention.
• Diversion.
• Education.
• Restorative approaches and victims.
• Serious violence, exploitation and contextual safeguarding.
• Detention in police custody.
• Remands.
• Use of custody and constructive resettlement.
• Work with families.

The foreword to the Youth Justice Plan 25/26 by Stuart Collins, Croydon Youth Justice Crime Board Chair, notes that:

Consistent issues posed for the service remain centred around high levels of knife crime and robberies, with 2024/25 seeing a significant reduction in robberies because of efforts made by the collective partnership. The service continues to see reductions in re-offending rates and the use of custody and whilst challenges remain the 2025/26 plan details ongoing work to prevent and reduce offending behaviour of children within our borough. This years plan provides specific attention to the emergence of violence against women and girls (VAWG) recognising that this is an issue that effects all age groups and can be intertwined with other forms of youth violence.

Early Help, Children's Social Care and Education Dashboard and Health Visiting KPIs

The sub-committee was scheduled to receive the Early Help, Children's Social Care and Education Dashboard and Health Visiting KPIs. The performance dashboard provides an overview of the performance of the Early Help, Children's Social Care and Education services, and the indicators are aligned with the KPIs included in the Mayor's Business Plan 2022-26. The quarterly Health Visiting KPI Data provides an update on Antenatal and Health Visiting.

The dashboard included data on:

• Permanent exclusions from schools
• EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) - Percentage of children achieving a good level of development
• KS2 - Percentage of pupils achieving expected standard at KS2 in Reading, Writing and Mathematics
• KS4 - Average Progress 8 score per pupil
• KS4 - Percentage of pupils achieving grades 9-5 in English and Maths
• KS5 - Percentage of students achieving at least 2 substantial level 3 qualifications
• Percentage of 16-18 year olds completing study who go on to Sustained education, apprenticeship or employment
• Proportion of 16 and 17 year olds who were not in education, employment or training (NEET)
• Percentage of care leavers in employment, education or training (EET) now aged 19 to 21
• Percentage of schools rated 'good' or 'outstanding'
• Percentage of Education Health & Care Plans issued within 20 weeks (excluding exceptions)
• Percentage of referrals to children services actioned within 2 working days
• Rate of Children in Need per 10,000 of under 18 population
• Percentage of current Child Protection Plans lasting 2 years or more
• Percentage of children subject to a Child Protection Plan for a second or subsequent time (ever)
• Rate of local CLA per 10,000 under 18 years population
• Percentage of the under 18 years population who are UASC
• Percentage of Care Experienced young people who were formerly UASC
• Juvenile first time entrants to the criminal justice system per 100,000 of 10-17 year olds

Work Programme 2025-26

The sub-committee was scheduled to note the draft work programme for 2025-26, and consider whether there are any changes to the work programme that should be considered.

The draft work programme included the following items:

• Stabilisation Plan
• Cabinet Paper (June) - The Development of the Family Hub Model in Croydon
• Youth Justice Plan 25/26
• CYPE Transformation
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Transport
• Budget Scrutiny Challenge
• Cabinet Reports - Education & SEND Estates Strategies
• Public Health Nursing Transformation
• Education Standards 2025
• Youth Engagement Services

The draft work programme also included a number of standing items, including the Early Help, Children's Social Care and Education Dashboard & Health Visiting KPI Data.

The report pack also listed a number of unallocated items of interest, including:

• Recruitment and Retention
• Apprenticeships & Youth Unemployment
• OFSTED Inspection
• Delivery of Early Years Strategy
• SEND Strategy
• Surplus Schools Places
• Free School Meal offer in Croydon
• Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman Decision Finding of Fault Causing Injustice and Action Plan to Prevent Reoccurrence
• CYPE Transformation
• Family Hubs Transformation Programme update
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Transport
• Children's Social Care demographic growth and market price pressures
• Emergency Duty Team (EDT)
• Domestic Abuse
• Education Partnership and use of the Pupil Premium Grant