The Safeguarding and Education Overview and Scrutiny Committee met on Thursday 15 October 2026 to consider the executive response to the Elective Home Education Working Group Report, receive an update on Children's Services Improvement, and review its work programme.

Executive Response to the Elective Home Education Working Group Report

The committee considered the executive response to the recommendations made by the Elective Home Education Working Group. The working group had examined the significant increase in elective home education (EHE) in Staffordshire, identifying social, emotional, and mental health needs as the primary driver for families choosing this route. Challenges were noted regarding service capacity, timeliness, and risk management, particularly for Key Stage 4 students facing difficulties with examinations and progression.

The executive response accepted the direction of the working group's recommendations. Key actions included:

• Making five temporary EHE posts permanent: This was accepted, with the ongoing revenue commitment confirmed. This decision aims to strengthen the EHE team's capacity and oversight.
• Assessing and providing additional resource following clarification of new legislation: The Cabinet Member agreed that the council would assess the operational, systems, data, safeguarding, and workforce implications once final legal duties and implementation guidance are clear. Any additional costs will be confirmed once legislation, guidance, and funding arrangements are finalised.
• Exploring practical ways to share effective school practice across Staffordshire: The Cabinet Member supported this, with the EHE service continuing to work with education partners through existing channels.
• Exploring a location resource log for access to facilities for specific GCSE subjects: The Cabinet Member supported exploring signposting to organisations willing to assist with specialist facilities or private candidate arrangements. The EHE team will conduct a feasibility exercise.
• Reconvening the working group in 12 months: The Cabinet Member supported this, with a progress report to be prepared for the committee's work programme approximately twelve months after consideration of the executive response.

During the discussion, concerns were raised about the lack of published data on the future development and life outcomes of home-educated children compared to those in mainstream education. The cost of examinations for home-educated students was highlighted as a significant barrier, with parents needing to be fully aware of the implications of choosing EHE. The committee also discussed the potential for a cooling-off period for parents wishing to deregister their children from school for EHE, with a recommendation to explore this idea further.

Children's Services Improvement – Progress Update

The committee received an update on the progress of the Children's Services Improvement Plan, focusing primarily on social care services. Councillor Su Beardmore, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, presented the report, highlighting significant progress in areas such as leadership, early intervention, participation, and educational outcomes. However, challenges remain, particularly concerning workforce capacity, rising demand, sufficiency of placements, SEND pressures, and financial sustainability.

The proposed new plan for 2026-2028 shifts from five improvement priorities to four outcome-focused priorities: Right help, right time, Children thrive, Strong foundations, and Working together. This aims to create a clearer link between the council's vision, delivery, and measurable outcomes for children and families.

Key areas of progress and ongoing challenges discussed included:

• Leadership and Governance: A revised senior leadership team and a new directorate structure are being implemented to strengthen capacity, accountability, and management oversight. While supervision quality has improved, consistency remains a challenge, with only 70.3% of supervision completed on time.
• Workforce Capacity: This remains a significant challenge, with 27% of social work posts vacant and average caseloads at 21 children per practitioner. Restructuring, recruitment, and retention strategies are central to the next phase.
• Early Intervention and Prevention: The Integrated Front Door has been redesigned, with external inspections recognising significant improvement, though some fragility linked to capacity and demand persists. The Right Help, Right Time framework has been published to promote earlier support.
• Child and Family-Centred Practice: Participation arrangements have broadened, with children's voices increasingly influencing service design. However, ensuring this is consistently recorded and translated into demonstrable change for each child requires further improvement.
• High-Quality Practice and Outcomes: Measurable improvements have been seen in assessment timeliness, reduction in long-term child protection plans, and a decrease in permanent exclusions. However, demand has increased across referrals, children in need, child protection, and children in care. Placement sufficiency and timely access to health services for children in care remain key challenges.
• Care Leavers: The strengthened offer is improving preparation for adulthood, housing support, and access to opportunities, but further progress is needed in education, employment, and training outcomes.
• Youth Justice: Preventive work is helping to stabilise first-time entrant levels, but there has been a significant increase in custodial sentences.

The committee engaged in a detailed discussion regarding the financial pressures facing children's services, the ongoing transformation programme, and the need for rigorous identification of inefficiencies. Concerns were raised about the council's overspend and the finite nature of resources, necessitating difficult choices about service provision.

Work Programme Update

The committee was presented with an update to its work programme for 2026-27. The Review In-house Children's Residential Sufficiency Investment item has been added to the work programme for a future date. The Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) action plan has been added to the work programme for 21 January 2027. A briefing meeting on unregistered placements and sufficiency has been added to the work programme. Further items to be scheduled were detailed in the work programme.

A discussion was held regarding the addition of a general overview of vulnerable adults to the work programme, following a discussion about a specific safeguarding case. This would be a review rather than an individual case investigation.

The meeting concluded at 12:08 pm.