The People Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Shropshire Council met on Wednesday 14 January 2026 to discuss significant reforms to children's services and review quarterly performance reports. Key discussions included the national Children's Services Reforms, the Dedicated Schools Grant deficit, and the Elective Home Education (EHE) service.

Children's Services Reforms

Natasha Moody, Promise First Partnership Strategic Lead, presented an overview of the national reforms aimed at rebalancing the children's services system towards greater early intervention and prevention. These reforms, stemming from the Stable Homes, Built on Love strategy, encompass several key programmes: Families First Partnership, Best Start in Life Family Hubs, the Local Youth Transformation Pilot, and reforms to the SEND system. The overarching goal is to ensure families receive timely support, thereby preventing needs from escalating and reducing the number of children entering care.

A significant challenge highlighted is Shropshire's high proportion of spending on children's social care (around 80%) compared to the national average (around 47%), indicating a need to reinvest in early intervention services. The council has conducted a baseline self-assessment, revealing that while Family Group Decision Making is progressing, the Family Help system is under-resourced, and the development of Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs) will be challenging due to partner capacity. Initial stakeholder feedback indicated a system perceived as reactive, siloed, and complex, with a strong desire for more integrated, preventative support.

The council plans to address these reforms through a single Children's Transformation programme, integrated into the wider corporate improvement plan. Key pillars of this transformation include workforce development, amplifying the voice of children and families, improving data and systems, creating inclusive spaces, and strengthening leadership and commissioning. The governance structure will involve several boards and task-and-finish groups to ensure multi-agency collaboration and oversight.

Quarterly Performance Monitoring Report

The committee received a comprehensive quarterly performance monitoring report covering Care & Wellbeing and Children & Young People services.

Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Deficit

John Rowe, Head of Education Quality and Safety, detailed the significant financial pressures on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), with Shropshire facing a forecast cumulative deficit of £41 million by the end of the 2025-26 financial year. This deficit is primarily driven by an increase in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), which have risen by 70% in Shropshire. The report highlighted increased spending on independent special schools and mainstream top-up funding as contributing factors. While a statutory override currently keeps this deficit off the council's core budget, it expires in March 2028. The government has announced plans for SEND reform and support for historic deficits, but specific details are awaited. Shropshire's recovery strategy includes establishing a DSG management sub-group of Schools' Forum, appointing a dedicated DSG management officer, and implementing an annual review recovery team to bring children back from expensive independent schools to more appropriate local provision. Increased use of short-term funding for early intervention through Graduated Support Pathway funding (GSP) and Early Years Inclusion and Advice Funding (EYIAF) is also being employed.

Elective Home Education (EHE)

Joe Kelly, Head of Virtual School and Access to Education, presented on the Elective Home Education (EHE) service. The number of children electively home-educated in Shropshire has risen significantly, from 539 in 2022/23 to 791 currently, with a trajectory suggesting further increases. The service is working smarter by utilising virtual visits where appropriate and prioritising home visits for children on child protection or child in need plans. The EHE policy is being revised to reflect increased safeguarding measures and collaboration with health services, learning from the Sara Sharif review. A key concern raised was the financial responsibility for meals for children eligible for free school meals who are electively home-educated, with the council's duty to provide meals ceasing once a child is removed from the school register. The committee discussed the potential safeguarding risks associated with EHE, particularly for vulnerable children, and the limitations of current legislation in preventing harm.

Foster Carers

Sonia Miller, Service Director for Children and Young People, provided an update on the fostering development programme. Shropshire is currently bucking the national trend of declining foster carer numbers, with a significant increase in recruitment figures. The transformation programme has focused on marketing, restructuring the fostering service, and enhancing the support offer to foster carers. While the number of mainstream foster carers is increasing, there is also a high demand for connected person assessments, which supports children remaining within their extended families. The report highlighted that Shropshire benchmarks low on fostering expenditure compared to statistical neighbours, indicating good value for money. The council has increased foster carer allowances and is focusing on providing trauma-informed training and support to aid retention. A new service structure is being implemented from January 2026 to better manage the competing demands between mainstream and kinship fostering.

Adult Social Care

Natalie McFall, Service Director - Care & Wellbeing, and Amanda Allcock, Service Manager - Ops South, presented on Adult Social Care performance. The service is working towards statutory compliance with care and support plan reviews, with 62.3% completed year-to-date against a target of 70%. An action plan is in place to address the backlog of overdue reviews, with a risk-based prioritisation approach. The report also detailed the challenges of capital reduction demand, where individuals' assets fall below thresholds, leading to increased referrals for care home placements. The council is reviewing its data collection for self-funders and has a transformation programme to provide better information and advice to this market. Brokerage services are performing well, with an average of 3.65 days for care to start from the date of practitioner request.

Work Programme

Sophie Foster, Overview and Scrutiny Officer, provided a verbal update on the committee's work programme, noting that several new topics had been suggested during the meeting. An additional Teams meeting will be arranged to discuss priorities for the work programme.

The committee also endorsed proposals to establish a task and finish group to focus on the transportation of children to and from schools and alternative provision, and to ask Audit and Governance Committee to review the cost of transport procurement processes.

The meeting concluded with thanks to the officers for their reports and contributions.