The Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel met to discuss significant reforms to children's social care and family support services, known as the Families First Partnership Programme (FFP). Key discussions focused on the implementation of the Doncaster Family Model, workforce changes, and the challenges and risks associated with these transformations. The panel also reviewed the council's work plan and forward plan of key decisions.

Children's Social Care Transformation and Families First Performance Report

The panel received a report detailing impending social care reforms and the progress of children's services in Doncaster. The Families First Partnership Programme (FFP) aims to shift the focus from crisis intervention to prevention, earlier help, and stronger family networks. The Doncaster Family Model, built on principles of early intervention, family-centred practice, restorative approaches, and shared safeguarding responsibility, was a central theme.

Key aspects of the FFP discussed include:

• Family Help: This pillar integrates targeted early help and child in need services into a single system, aiming for a single assessment, a single family plan, and a consistent lead practitioner relationship. This is intended to reduce duplication and the trauma of families having to repeat their stories to multiple professionals.
• Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs): These teams will comprise specialists from children's social care, police, education, health, and domestic abuse services to lead child protection decision-making, strategy discussions, Section 47 enquiries, and child protection conferences.
• Family Networks: The reforms emphasise family-led decision-making through Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) and Family Group Conferences, aiming to make families active participants in decisions impacting them.

The report highlighted the necessity of workforce change to deliver these reforms, as the current structure was designed for a different system. The Best Start in Life (BSIL) transformation, which redesigns early intervention and prevention services, was also discussed, with investment in Early Days Workers, Early Years roles, and enhanced Family Hubs.

Challenges and risks identified include workforce recruitment and retention, service continuity during implementation, embedding cultural change, partner agency capacity, and data and system changes. A temporary reduction in performance is anticipated as staff adapt to new ways of working and the new case management system.

The panel discussed several potential recommendations:

• A briefing for the panel with officers to discuss tackling child exploitation.
• A briefing on trauma awareness information with Andy Hood, Service Director for Early Intervention, Partnerships and Localities.
• A request for people and families to voluntarily attend a panel meeting to discuss their lived experiences with the Family's First programme.
• A request for a meeting with the Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) panel.
• A follow-up review in nine months to assess the impact of the changes on families.

Overview & Scrutiny Work-Plan and the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions

The panel reviewed the Overview & Scrutiny Work-Plan for 2026/27 and the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions for October 2026 to January 2027. No specific decisions were made regarding these documents during this meeting, but they were noted as part of the ongoing scrutiny process.

Other Discussions

During the meeting, several other important topics were raised and discussed:

• Safeguarding and Transition: Assurances were sought regarding the safeguarding of children during the transition to the new FFP model. The council has a six-month lead-in period before full implementation and is mapping staffing needs and experience levels. Temporary measures are being considered to ensure no part of the system falls down during this period.
• Differently Qualified Practitioners: The panel discussed safeguards for cases where differently qualified practitioners support children with complex needs. Doncaster's established Parenting and Family Support Service (Paths), with its experienced family intervention workers, provides a strong foundation, with social work oversight and management for risk decision-making.
• Performance Monitoring: The leadership team reviews performance indicators monthly, with any significant variance triggering interrogation to understand the causes, whether policy changes, national context, or partner agency actions.
• Child Exploitation: The panel discussed the prevalence of child exploitation, including younger children's involvement in drug use and anti-social behaviour. Doncaster has a sophisticated Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) panel that intervenes at the green stage (vulnerable but no clear evidence of exploitation), offering voluntary support.
• School Attendance and Home Education: Concerns were raised about children being absent from school and the monitoring of elective home education. The council is working to get children back into mainstream education or alternative learning packages where it is deemed to be in their best interest. New powers under the Families First reforms allow the local authority to intervene if a child on a child protection plan is electively home-educated.
• Staff Training: A comprehensive staff training programme is underway, covering restorative practice, signs of safety, solution-focused practice, trauma-aware and trauma-informed practice, and family group decision-making. This training is system-wide, involving police, health, and third-sector colleagues. Councillors expressed interest in participating in this training to gain a better insight.
• Repeat Assessments: The main reason for families having to repeat their stories multiple times has been changing workers. The FFP aims to address this by ensuring a consistent lead practitioner relationship.
• Supervision: Restorative practice and signs of safety are being incorporated into staff supervision, with specific training for managers to support them in conducting supervision in a trauma-informed way.
• Dietary Education in Family Hubs: The panel discussed whether parents are educated in family hubs about healthy eating, particularly in relation to ultra-processed foods and their link to childhood constipation. While food banks are part of the solution, the cost of fresh food remains a challenge for many families. This issue will be raised with health colleagues.
• Vitamins in Schools: A question was raised about the historical practice of providing vitamins in schools, and whether this is still considered. This will be taken away for further consideration by the service director for education.
• Measuring Success: Success is measured by fewer children escalating through the children's social care system, fewer re-referrals, and positive feedback from families. The ultimate success measure is for families to resolve their issues with initial intervention and no longer require services.
• Parental Resource Access: Parents have access to a wide range of resources to support them as their child's first educator, including universal early years activities, evidence-based parenting programmes, and digital learning resources.

The meeting concluded with a discussion regarding the proposed recommendations, with a suggestion to review the impact of changes in nine months. The panel also considered the council's work plan and forward plan of key decisions.