The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel of Merton Council met on Tuesday 30 June 2026 to discuss the priorities and work of the Children, Lifelong Learning & Families Department. The meeting also included an update on departmental activities and a review of the panel's work programme.

Children, Lifelong Learning & Families Department Overview and Priorities

The panel was scheduled to receive an overview of the Children, Lifelong Learning and Families (CLLF) Department and its current priorities. This included information on the department's structure, with Bev Hendricks serving as Executive Director. The department's work is organised across several key areas: Children's Social Care and Youth Inclusion, Commissioning & Partnerships, and Schools, SEND, Early Help, and Best Start in Life Family Hubs.

The CLLF Department's overarching aim is to ensure babies, children, and young people are better supported within their communities through integrated and preventative care. Families are intended to access joined-up, holistic support. The department's strategic priorities include bringing health and care together into integrated neighbourhood teams, developing a whole life course commissioning strategy, and strengthening local leadership of health and care. A key focus is also on making the best use of public funding to prevent problems rather than just reacting to them.

Specific strategic priorities for CLLF include:

• Children's Social Care and Youth Inclusion: Implementing the new reforms for the Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP) to reshape the front door for families seeking support and to build on family help services. This also involves reviewing the Youth Justice Service and Adolescent Strategy to develop a service that meets the needs of teenagers and their families.
• Commissioning and Partnerships: Tackling child poverty through cross-council approaches to increase family income and access to employment and cost-of-living support. This also involves strengthening strategic leadership and governance through the Health and Wellbeing Board and delivering the borough-wide Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
• Education, SEND and Early Help: Focusing on early help and achieving the Best Start in Life through integrated and preventative care. The department also aims to ensure children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) receive high-quality support and to implement government reforms in this area. Every child in Merton is intended to receive a great education, with work continuing to improve school attendance and support inclusion.

Departmental priorities also include a Youth Services Strategy to support young people, particularly the most vulnerable, and ensuring adequate school places are available for every child close to home.

Departmental Update - June 2026

The panel was scheduled to receive an update on key developments within the CLLF Department not covered elsewhere on the agenda. This update was expected to include information on Merton's Annual Engagement Meeting with Ofsted, covering both Social Care and Education. For Social Care, themes included support for care leavers in prison, quality assurance of placements, and foster care developments. For Education, discussions were anticipated regarding feedback from schools on the new inspection framework, learner outcomes, approaches to absence and elective home education, and safeguarding in schools.

The update was also set to cover:

• Schools: Details on recent inspections under the new framework, with a focus on how schools are graded and the implications of the pandemic on progress data. The upcoming revisions to Ofsted's inspection framework from September were also to be discussed.
• Education White Paper: An overview of the Every Child Achieving and Thriving white paper, its ambitions for raising standards and halving the disadvantage gap, and the exploration of its implications by the School Standards Panel.
• Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act: Key themes of the Act, including child safety and wellbeing, harmonising admissions, safeguarding children online, and provisions for free breakfast clubs, limits on uniform costs, and expanded free school meals eligibility.
• School Sport and Physical Education: Information on the government's funding allocation for school sport and the review of this announcement by the Merton School Sport Partnership (MSSP).
• Ask the Director and Practice Week: Details on the ongoing Ask the Director initiative and the departmental Practice Week, which focused on Hidden Harm with sessions on various safeguarding and wellbeing topics.
• SEND Reform Plan and Safety Valve: The closure of the Safety Valve Programme and the move to a High Needs Stability Grant, contingent on a signed-off SEND Reform plan. The report was expected to outline the decade-long reform programme for the SEND system, including early identification, mainstream inclusion, and reduced bureaucracy.
• Free School Meal Changes: Updates on government changes to Free School Meal eligibility from September 2026, including expanded eligibility for parents on Universal Credit and the ending of protected status.
• Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP): Progress on the FFPP, with a focus on implementation, including training on Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) and the development of a clear framework for Family Network Support Packages.
• CLLF Transformation: Alignment of change programmes across various areas to focus on early intervention, prevention, and multi-agency working.
• Short Breaks Provider Engagement: Information on a recent engagement session for providers of targeted short breaks for children with disabilities.
• Fostering Update: Details on Merton's stable fostering provision, the operation of Mockingbird constellations, and the celebration of foster carers' long service.
• Youth Justice Service Update: Work on finalising the Annual Youth Justice Plan and engagement with the Youth Justice Board.

Work Programme

The panel was scheduled to review its work programme for 2026/27. This included discussing items for future meetings, such as Child Poverty, the LADO Annual Report, School Place Planning, and the Merton Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report. The panel was also to consider items for future scheduling, including Children in Temporary Accommodation, Children's Health, and Local SEND reforms.