The Education and Children's Services Committee met on Thursday 10 September 2026, noting significant financial pressures within the Dedicated Schools Grant and projected overspends on general fund revenue services. The committee also reviewed the annual reports of the Kingston and Richmond Safeguarding Children's Partnership and Achieving for Children's Services, alongside progress on the SEND Futures Plan.

SEND Futures Plan and SEND Reform Plan

The committee noted progress on the implementation of the SEND Futures Plan and the transition of the Local Area SEND Reform Plan into a new SEND Futures Plan. Key developments included progress on the therapy task and finish group, with a £11 million system spend identified across Kingston and Richmond, and discussions beginning on investing in early intervention. Annual Review dashboards have shown improvements in timeliness, with 65% of decisions made within four weeks. Construction is nearing completion for new satellite sites for SEND provision at Clarendon and Strathmore, expected to open in September 2026.

However, areas of concern were highlighted. The South West London ICB is undergoing a restructure which is expected to reduce capacity and lead to the loss of key personnel for integrated SEND services. The SEND Transport Team has seen a notable rise in transport requests and appeals, averaging 10 per week, potentially linked to parental anxiety surrounding the national SEND Reforms. Achieving for Children (AfC) has submitted a response to the government's SEND White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving.

Q1 Quarterly Monitoring Report 2026/27

The committee noted a projected overspend of £1.456 million on the General Fund revenue services for the committee. This overspend is primarily driven by an £1.810 million pressure on the Children Looked After placement budget, largely due to higher weekly costs for high-cost children's home placements. The average cost for a children's home placement is £5,799 per week, with eight placements costing over £10,000 per week. Despite a reduction in the number of children looked after compared to the previous year, the increased cost of placements is the main driver of the overspend.

The Home to School Transport Service is projected to overspend by £0.382 million, with 397 young people being supported compared to a budgeted 350. While the average cost per young person has reduced, the increase in numbers is the primary cause. Conversely, the Leaving Care placement budget is forecast to underspend by £0.470 million due to fewer young people being supported.

The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) is forecast to overspend by £10.677 million this year, primarily due to pressures on high needs education for SEND alternative provision. The government's new High Needs Stability Grant is expected to cover 90% of the cumulative deficit as at 31 March 2026, but future deficits remain a significant risk. The capital budget for children's services programmes is £13.162 million, with the bulk allocated to schools, including SEND provision.

Annual Report of the Kingston and Richmond Safeguarding Children's Partnership (KRSCP) 2025-2026

The committee noted the KRSCP's annual report, which detailed the work undertaken to safeguard children in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Key achievements included strengthening multi-agency partnership working, delivering 88 multi-agency training events attended by 2,257 professionals, and embedding learning from local and national reviews. The report highlighted the launch of the Love & Care, Child Neglect Toolkit and the continued focus on child sexual abuse and exploitation, neglect, and adolescent safeguarding. New strategic priorities for 2026-2029 were identified as responding to technology-facilitated harm, embedding an anti-racist safeguarding approach, and safeguarding unborn and newborn babies.

Discussions during the meeting touched upon the number of child deaths, with the partnership noting that while the numbers were not a cause for concern when compared to other local authorities, there was a focus on completed suicides among teenagers. Concerns were also raised about the lack of an independent chair for the South West London Child Death Overview Panel. The partnership has developed a Love Care and Child Neglect Toolkit to address different types of neglect and is working on a strategy to raise awareness and recognition of child sexual abuse. The committee also discussed the importance of embedding online safety within safeguarding practices and the challenges of keeping pace with rapidly evolving technology.

Annual Statutory Complaints Report – Achieving for Children's Services 2025-2026

The committee reviewed and noted the annual statutory complaints report for Achieving for Children's Services. The report indicated a 73% increase in statutory complaints, with 45 complaints closed in 2025-26 compared to 26 the previous year. This rise is attributed to increased complexity in children's social care, a significant increase in placement-related concerns, wider pressures in the children's placement market, and the increased use of AI tools by complainants. Placement issues emerged as the most frequent primary concern at Stage 1, with 11 complaints compared to three the previous year. Communication also rose as a key theme.

Positively, 67% of Stage 1 statutory complaints were responded to on time, a significant improvement from 42% the previous year. The number of complaints directly from young people at Stage 1 increased from four to 11, reflecting Ofsted's recognition of the role young people play in shaping services. Corporate complaints also saw an increase, with SEND accounting for 50 of the 64 Stage 1 corporate complaints. The report highlighted key achievements, including strengthening the role of the Complaints Service, supporting housing services with complex complaints, and improving organisational capability through training and guidance.

Committee Work Programme

The committee noted the Committee Work Programme. Councillor Michael Wilson requested an update on kinship care, which was agreed for the November meeting. Councillor Jo Humphreys raised concerns about the decline in creative arts education in schools, suggesting a deep dive into this area, which was agreed for the February meeting, with Councillor Penelope Frost adding a request to include further education colleges in this review.

The meeting was chaired by Councillor Julia Cambridge.