The Children and Education Scrutiny Committee of Redbridge Council met on Tuesday 7 July 2026 to discuss and select key areas for their work plan for the upcoming municipal year. The committee agreed to focus on two main areas: school organisation and the reform programmes within children's services.

Children and Education Scrutiny Work Plan 2026-2027

The committee discussed three broad areas for their scrutiny work plan for the 2026-2027 municipal year. These were: the national reform programme in children's services, school organisation, and the internal organisation of Redbridge's children's directorate. After presentations from officers, the committee voted to prioritise two key areas for deeper focus: school organisation and the reform programmes within children's services. The committee also agreed to delegate the scoping of the detailed work for these two items to the Chair and Vice Chair.

Reform Programmes in Children's Services

Executive Director for Children's Services, Daniel Phelps, outlined three significant reform programmes currently underway nationally and within Redbridge:

• Family First Programme: This national reform, stemming from the Stable Home, Built on Love report, aims to integrate targeted early help with statutory children's social care. The goal is to create multidisciplinary teams that can respond to all types of need, preventing escalation and reducing the need for hand-offs between services. Key elements include embedding family group decision-making earlier in a child's journey and establishing multi-agency child protection teams. Sharon Springer, Assistant Director of Children's Social Care, explained that these teams, comprising practitioners from social care, education, health, and police, are co-located to improve information sharing and ensure more proportionate responses to child protection concerns. Judy Daniels, Director of Children's Social Care, highlighted the focus on kinship arrangements and supporting foster carers, including exploring flexible arrangements like weekend cover to widen the pool of available carers.
• SEND Reforms: Andrea King, Director of Education and SEND, detailed the reforms aimed at improving the system for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The reforms focus on identifying needs earlier in a child's life and providing the right help at the right time in the right place. This involves partnership working between education, health, and social care, with a commitment to incorporating the lived experiences of parents and caregivers into the design of services. Initiatives include the experts at hand model for providing advisory support within communities and increasing specialist provision for children with social, emotional, and mental health needs.
• Best Start in Life: This programme focuses on the crucial early years (0-4) and aims to provide a comprehensive 0-25 offer for children and families. It involves developing family hubs in areas of greatest need, offering integrated support for housing, benefits, employment, health, social care, and education. The programme also includes home learning outreach to support families who may find it difficult to access services directly.

School Organisation

Andrea King, Director of Education and SEND, presented the school organisation strategy. This strategy addresses the national context of falling birth rates, which is leading to a reduction in the number of children requiring school places, particularly in London. The strategy examines the need for primary, secondary, early years, and post-16 provision, as well as the rising demand for SEND places. The committee was informed that decisions on this matter need to be taken promptly, and it was recommended as a priority for the committee's work plan.

Consistently Good Outcomes

The third area discussed was how Redbridge Children's Services can ensure consistently good outcomes across all services, regardless of a child's location or needs. This involves accountability for maintaining high standards, improving performance where required, and ensuring readiness for regulatory visits from Ofsted and other inspectorates. The committee was informed that while children's social care has achieved outstanding ratings, SEND services require significant improvement following a challenging inspection in 2025.

The committee noted that an Ofsted area inspection for SEND, involving the Care Quality Commission, is expected around December.

The next meeting of the Children and Education Scrutiny Committee is scheduled for 3 November 2026.