The Children and Young People's Scrutiny Panel met on 18 November 2025 at George Meehan House. The agenda for the meeting included discussion of the draft budget and medium term financial strategy, the annual report from the Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership, and an update to the panel's work programme. The panel was scheduled to discuss and make recommendations on the 2026/27 draft budget and medium term financial strategy, as well as note the safeguarding partnership's annual report.

2026/27 Draft Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy

The panel was scheduled to consider the council's draft 2026-27 budget and 2026-2031 medium term financial strategy (MTFS). The report pack included the main report to the cabinet on the budget and MTFS, directorate appendices summarising proposed savings, budget pressures, and changes to the capital programme, and appendices with more detail on specific savings proposals for children's services.

The MTFS provides a financial framework for the council's aims and priorities as set out in the Corporate Delivery Plan and Borough Vision. The aim of the MTFS is to plan the council's finances over the next five years, taking into account the local and national context, provide a financial framework for the delivery of the council's priorities, and manage and mitigate future budget risks by forward planning and retaining reserves at appropriate levels.

The report to the panel noted that Haringey Council, in common with many other London boroughs, was in a challenging financial position. It stated that following more than a decade of government underfunding, Haringey now operates with around £143 million less in core government funding each year than it did in 2010/11. The report stated that despite year-on-year efficiency savings, spending reductions and increases in income generation, Haringey's financial position has reached a tipping point.

The report stated that in 2025/26 Haringey was only able to meet its legal requirement to set a balanced budget with the assistance of £37 million of Exceptional Financial Support from government, which will need to be repaid with interest charges. It noted that demand for statutory services continues to increase year on year alongside the price paid and is far outstripping the government grants received and the amount of income that can be generated locally. In 2026/27, estimated new budget pressures are £30.1 million, primarily in social care and temporary accommodation.

The report indicated that new savings and efficiencies for 2026/27 of £7.0 million have been identified to date, but it is increasingly difficult to identify further reductions needed to set a balanced budget. The report stated that the council recognises it needs to do more to deliver already agreed savings and therefore over the next 6 months will focus its limited capacity relentlessly on this.

The report stated that the draft budget for 2026/27 forecasts a shortfall of at least £57 million. It noted that analysis of the government's proposals indicated that the council could lose up to £10 million in 2026/27 and between £22 million and £40 million over the next three years.

The report pack included a document titled Financial Scrutiny: Understanding your Role in the Budget Process, which summarised issues and questions for the panel to consider as part of its review of financial information.

The panel was asked to scrutinise the proposals presented in the report and appendices and provide recommendations on the budget proposals to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 19 January 2026.

Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2024-2025

The panel was scheduled to note the Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership (HSCP) Annual Report 2024-25. The report highlights the efforts of the HSCP to safeguard Haringey's children and young people. The HSCP serves as the collaborative framework for statutory partners and agencies to protect children. It coordinates services, addresses needs, conducts Local Safeguarding Practice Reviews, implements learnings, and scrutinises safeguarding processes to ensure effectiveness.

The report noted that safeguarding children is a shared responsibility, with their welfare as the top priority. It stated that by collaborating across organisations and agencies, the HSCP ensures that everyone recognises their role and fulfils their responsibilities to safeguard and support children effectively.

The report stated that over the past year, the HSCP has remained responsive, providing necessary support and coordinating new multi-agency initiatives—an achievement given the economic challenges and growing needs. It noted that throughout this period of time, the HSCP has worked diligently to implement the Working Together Guidance 2023 requirements and has also revised and published its Multi Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASA) document in December 2024.

The report stated that the HSCP will continue to focus on embedding its robust safeguarding arrangements and supporting the partnership to deliver its 3 key strategic priorities:

• Children impacted by mental ill health
• Children impacted by neglect
• Children impacted by domestic abuse

The report noted that the HSCP has a vision to ensure that at every opportunity the lived experience of children and young people continues to be integral to how Haringey safeguards and protects them, to further develop positive outcomes through strengthening partnership workforce and community resilience, and to ensure relationship-based practice continues to develop, demonstrating sustained improvement.

The report included data on children's social care in Haringey during 2024/25. This included that there were 325 Children Looked After as at 31 March 2025, and that 195 children were the subject of a Child Protection Plan at 31 March 2025.

The report also detailed the work of the HSCP sub-groups, including the Quality Performance and Outcome Sub-group, the Practice, Learning and Workforce Development Sub-group, the Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews Sub-group, and the Housing Sub-group.

Work Programme Update

The panel was scheduled to note the work programme. The work plan included a scrutiny review project to review the provision of services for under 1's in Haringey and to make recommendations for how these could be improved.

The work programme also listed potential items to be discussed at future meetings, including exam and test results, a childcare sufficiency annual report, and an update on the implementation of the council's autism strategy.