The Children's Services Scrutiny Sub-Committee met on Monday 7 September 2026 to discuss the Ofsted update, corporate parenting, and the SEND Reform Plan. Key discussions included the positive Ofsted inspection results for Children's Social Care, efforts to improve the experiences of children needing help and protection, and the ongoing SEND reform initiatives aimed at creating a more inclusive and supportive system for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Ofsted Update

The committee received an update on the Ofsted inspection of Lambeth's Children's Social Care, which took place in January 2026. The overall effectiveness was rated as 'Good', with 'The experiences and progress of care leavers' rated as 'Outstanding'. However, 'The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection' was rated as 'Requires Improvement'. This area covers a wide range of services, including the Integrated Referral Hub, assessment teams, and support for homeless 16 and 17-year-olds.

Ofsted highlighted several strengths, including effective responses in child assessment teams, good use of the Signs of Safety practice model in family and child protection teams, and a strong understanding of the needs of disabled children. Extra-familial harm and contextual safeguarding were noted as particular strengths, with intelligence-led, bespoke responses protecting children. The report also praised the effective work of the family solutions service in supporting children to remain at home or within wider family networks. Care leavers were noted as having an active and influential voice in shaping services, with outstanding ratings for their experiences and progress.

Areas identified for improvement included:

• Screening and decision-making for children presenting at the front door without identified safeguarding concerns.
• The response to 16- and 17-year-olds presenting as homeless, particularly those at the front door.
• The undertaking and quality of return home interviews for children who go missing from care.

An improvement plan is in place to address these areas, focusing on consistent multi-agency checks, exploring the impact of domestic abuse, ensuring timely escalation of concerns, and improving the use of Early Help referrals. The report also noted that some staff in the Integrated Referral Hub manage a disproportionate number of contacts, which could impact their ability to provide thoughtful responses.

Councillor Dominic Armstrong raised concerns about the consistency of multi-agency checks and the exploration of domestic abuse, asking for updates on audits and the number of cases where multi-agency checks or early help referrals were missing. Officers confirmed that work had begun during the Ofsted inspection, with a review of 500 'no further action' contacts showing marked improvement in the multi-agency approach in subsequent months.

Councillor Patience Clague asked about the SEND status of 16 and 17-year-olds presenting as homeless and how their communication needs are facilitated. Officers explained that while SEND status is not directly checked initially, all agencies involved with a child are reviewed. They also detailed the extensive work undertaken to ensure practitioners are mindful of communication needs, using plain language, body language, and, where necessary, interpreters or specialist communication tools.

Corporate Parenting

The committee discussed the report on Corporate Parenting, focusing on the role of the child's voice in decision-making and updates on fostering recruitment. Councillor Alice Weavers, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, emphasised the importance of hearing children's voices at all levels, from individual pathway plans to service design and governance. She highlighted that participation is a priority for the new administration, building on existing work.

Teresa Gallagher, Assistant Director for Corporate Parenting, detailed various mechanisms for ensuring children's voices are heard, including direct work by social workers, independent reviewing officers, and the redesign of pathway plans with input from young people. She noted the 'Outstanding' rating for care leavers in the Ofsted report, attributing it to the active involvement of young people in shaping services, including the care leavers' hub and local offer. The report also highlighted the establishment of a hub for young people to meet and talk, and work with health colleagues to improve mental health support pathways.

Andrews Osei, responsible for fostering recruitment, reported significant success in increasing the number of in-house foster carers, with a target to have 80-90% of children cared for by Lambeth's own foster carers by 2030. He noted that Lambeth is performing well nationally in recruitment, assessment, approval, and retention of foster carers, attracting carers from other boroughs due to strong support and innovative practices.

Eleonora Clark, Assistant Director for Youth Justice and Partnerships, highlighted the joined-up work around children on remand and those coming to the attention of the Youth Justice Service, particularly increasing the number of foster carers who undertake remand fostering.

Dr. Andrea Warman, Chair of the Fostering and Adoption Panel, praised Lambeth's recruitment of foster carers as quite exceptional and noted that the council's approach of building a local community of well-supported foster carers is working effectively, attracting a new demographic of carers. She also identified an area for improvement in hearing the voice of children and their experience of foster care more strongly within panel reports, suggesting joint work to incorporate creative ways of representing children's views.

Questions were raised about the assessment of children's capacity to express their views, how communication needs are facilitated, and the take-up rate of surveys. Officers explained that assessments are grounded in child development, with practitioners using various communication tools and engaging with familiar adults. Raheem Udin, a social worker in the 0-25 disability service, provided examples of augmentative and alternative communication tablets and eye-gaze devices used to facilitate communication.

Recommendations from the committee included making the annual report from the chair of the fostering panel available, welcoming the use of assistive communication technology, and considering more creative means of facilitating child voice. There was also a recommendation to explore the possibility of an independent advocacy service.

SEND Reform Plan

The committee received an update on the SEND Reform Plan, which aims to create a fully inclusive 0-25 SEND system through earlier intervention, stronger partnerships, and improved local provision. Sophie Garner, Interim Director of Education and Learning, outlined the three workstreams: the Experts at Hand (EaH) locality model, expansion of SEND Inclusion Bases, and strengthening SEMH and early intervention.

The EaH model, being implemented from September 2026, involves each school having a multi-agency strategic assessment, with 75% of schools already signed up. The model is led by assistant educational psychologists and aims to provide more cost-effective support. The expansion of SEND Inclusion Bases focuses on increasing capacity in mainstream settings, particularly for autism and SEMH needs, with 23 schools applying to open or extend these bases. The SEMH and early intervention workstream focuses on strengthening the existing three-tier intervention model to support schools with early signs of additional needs, reducing the need for EHCPs for less complex cases.

Rosemary Merix from the Lambeth Parent Forum highlighted that while there is good joint working across services, experiences can be variable, with some families facing long-term difficulties. She noted concerns about the governance of reform plans, including oversight, accountability, and potential loss of legal rights. Chris White and Anita Bay from SENDIAS, the local Information, Advice and Support Service, endorsed these points and highlighted communication as a key area for improvement. They also made a shameless plug for their service, advocating for a specialist young person's worker to better engage with young people.

Lulu Pinkney, the SEND Youth Involvement Coordinator, presented the work of the SEND Youth Council, which brings together young people aged 11-18 to influence decisions and develop youth-led projects. She highlighted their co-production of Lambeth's first SEND survey and their contribution to budget consultations. Her key recommendation was for decision-makers to continue engaging directly with children and young people to ensure their voices are valued.

Lindsay O'Connell, Principal Educational Psychologist, explained the Experts at Hand model, which focuses on building capacity within schools rather than solely assessing individual children. She noted the high take-up of the multi-agency strategic planning meetings.

Councillor Sacha Takyi-Berko raised concerns about the projected increase in EHCPs versus the increase in support for SEMH and SLCN needs, questioning whether students most in need would receive support. Officers clarified that the 20% increase relates to early identification and intervention to prevent escalation, while the 2% is a forecast for EHCPs, aiming to maintain that rate through early intervention and consistency in mainstream settings.

Recommendations from the committee included receiving regular updates on the SEND Reform Plan, clarifying expected response times for parent queries, and exploring the possibility of an in-house advocacy service. There was also a suggestion to use sliding scales for mental health questions in surveys to better capture severity and to explore creative ways of hearing children's voices, such as pre-recorded videos.

The committee also discussed the work programme for the upcoming year, noting the Ofsted update, SEND update, and corporate parenting as key items for future scrutiny.