The meeting included for discussion a report that summarised the Committee's activity in the previous year. The meeting also included reports on the provision of home-to-school transport for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, the local authority's strategy for meeting the accommodation needs of looked after children, and a report summarising the work of the Corporate Parenting Board in the previous year.

The Scrutiny Report

The report pack contained a report entitled The Scrutiny Report that summarised the work of the Committee in the previous year. It contained the meeting dates and report submission deadlines for the rest of the municipal year, and a suggestion of topics for the Committee to consider for inclusion in next year's calendar of meetings.

It also included a list of the key decisions that would need to be made in relation to topics in the Committee's remit, and who would be making these decisions.

Subject / Decision	Decision Maker	Decision Due Date	Lead Officer	On Scrutiny Forward Plan?
In-Borough Home to School Transport Provision for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)	Cabinet	5 November	Strategic Director for Children’s Services - Nicky Crouch	Yes – November

The report noted that the Committee had made one recommendation at the previous meeting:

Rec number	Meeting Date	Agenda Item	Recommendation	Responsible Officer	Status
1	13/06/2024	6	The Committee recommends that the newly formed SEND Youth Forum attend as many Children and Families Scrutiny Committees as possible.	Cheryl Eyre	Officer update: The SEND Youth Forum will be established in September 2024.

The report noted that the Committee had requested two actions of council officers, both of which were responded to in writing:

Action number	Meeting Date	Agenda Item	Action	Responsible Officer	Status
1	13/06/2024	6	Officers to provide a written response to Cllr James’ question: Why are places being offered outside of the borough to care leavers and those with a care plan, when there is empty accommodation in some local developments?	Daniel Phelps	Sent for response (03/06/2024)
63	14/05/2024	7	Officers to investigate using virtual schools for those who have young carer duties but don’t have a social worker.	Daniel Phelps	Sent for response (03/06/2024).

The written responses to the actions are contained within the report pack. In response to action 1, Pranay Chakravorti, Assistant Director of Integrated Commissioning, confirmed that the service was seeking to increase sufficiency locally by expanding the semi-independent contractual framework for care leavers and joining the London Borough of Newham's Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Independent Fostering Arrangements (IFA) and Residential provision.

In response to action 63, Daniel Phelps, Corporate Director for Children's Services, confirmed that the Virtual School and Young Carers teams were working together to ensure that their activities did not overlap, and were seeking to align their activities. However, Mr Phelps indicated that he did not believe that the Virtual School model should be adopted to support Young Carers.

The report pack also contained a copy of the minutes of the meeting held on 11th September 2024. The minutes describe the Committee's discussion of the Ofsted report of 8th July 2024. During that discussion the Committee recommended:

That information to enable care leavers to understand their potential pathways be translated into languages that were commonly spoken in the borough.

The written response from Daniel Phelps, Corporate Director for Children's Services, confirmed that the recommendation was accepted and would be taken forward by the Corporate Parenting Service.

In-borough Home to School Transport Provision for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND)

The report pack contains a report that describes the Council's statutory duty to make travel arrangements to facilitate a child’s attendance at school. It confirms that the Council are going to undertake a competitive procurement process under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) to appoint a provider to deliver the scheduling and delivery of the in-borough home to school transport service.

The report confirms that the new contract will commence on 1st September 2025, and will initially be for 3 years with the option to extend it for a further 2 years.

The report pack also contains a copy of the current Home to School Assistance with Travel Policy, adopted in March 2021. The policy provides details about the criteria used by the Council to determine a child's eligibility for assistance with travel. For children aged 5-16 these criteria include:

• Whether the child has any Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND)
• Whether the child's nearest suitable school is beyond the statutory walking distance
• Whether the child comes from a low-income background
• Whether there are any exceptional circumstances, like an unsafe walking route or a parental disability.

The policy confirms that Waltham Forest Council will always aim to support children in developing independent travel skills to enable them to be independent as they grow up. It confirms that when deciding on the method of transport assistance, the Council will give preference to Independent Travel Training (ITT) that aims to equip young people with the skills they need to travel to school independently. If this is not suitable, they will consider reimbursing the costs of travel to parents and carers, providing a personal travel budget, a place on a shared minibus or taxi.

The report confirms that the Council are going to run an open procedure procurement exercise, inviting prospective bidders to submit bids based on either the existing operating model, or a revised model where the Council will provide a vehicle depot for the bus fleet.

Sufficiency Strategy - Children Looked After and Care Leavers 2024 - 2027

The report pack contains a report that introduces the Council's Sufficiency Strategy for Children Looked After and Care Leavers 2024 - 2027. The strategy is intended to support the Council in delivering its duties under Section 22G of the Children’s Act 1989 which requires Councils to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, that there is sufficient accommodation within their area to meet the needs of those children for whom they have Corporate Parenting responsibility.

The report notes that the strategy was informed by a consultation that was conducted from October to December 2023 and gathered feedback from young people, professionals and service providers.

The strategy focuses on three priorities:

1. Ensuring children and young people are thriving at home and in alternative care settings.
2. Ensuring all children and young people have access to safe, stable and supportive accommodation.
3. Supporting young people by building their independence.

To improve outcomes related to Priority 1, the strategy proposes the following actions:

• Increasing the pool of local foster carers. This will be achieved by creating a recruitment hub for a cluster of 5 North-East London Councils, creating three additional Mockingbird constellations in addition to the existing three, and joining the London Borough of Newham's Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for independent fostering arrangements.
• Improving the adoption and permanence service, by providing better support and training to the Permanence team and working in partnership with the Regional Adoption Agency (RAA).
• Promoting Early Permanence in partnership with the adoption specialists, Coram.

To improve outcomes related to Priority 2, the strategy proposes the following actions:

• Extending and expanding the existing framework for provision of 16+ Semi-Independent Accommodation (SIA) and Support.
• Extending operating hours of Lester House, the in-house Children's Residential, Respite and Contact Centre, to 24/7.
• Reviewing the effectiveness and value for money of existing Children's Residential care home providers and considering whether to join the London Borough of Newham's DPS for residential provision.
• Working with national children's service providers to redevelop existing Council property to provide supported lodgings, gap homes and specialist accommodation.
• Creating an emergency accommodation suite as an alternative to accommodating children in Police stations under a Police Protection Order.
• Creating a 'Crash Pad' for use as an alternative to taking children into care.

To improve outcomes related to Priority 3, the strategy proposes the following actions:

• Creating a new Leaving Care Hub on the site of the former George Mitchell Secondary School Craft, Design and Technology block in Farmer Road, Leyton.
• Working with the Housing Department to increase the availability of gap homes and supported lodgings.
• Improving employment outcomes for care leavers by working in partnership with local businesses and voluntary sector organisations.

Corporate Parenting Board Annual Report

The report pack contains the Annual Report of the Corporate Parenting Board which is responsible for overseeing the delivery of the Council's Corporate Parenting Strategy. The strategy identifies five priorities that are intended to guide the activities of all of the corporate parenting services:

1. Safety and Stability
2. Health and Wellbeing
3. Identity and Belonging
4. Education and Employment
5. Independence and Preparation for the Future

The report provides a summary of the six meetings held during 2023/24 and highlights of the discussion that took place during those meetings.

The report contains a number of appendices, providing details of the activities of each of the Council's corporate parenting services in 2023/24. These services are:

• Adoption Services (delivered in partnership with Coram Ambitious for Adoption)
• Fostering and Permanence Services
• Health (delivered in partnership with the North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT))
• Independent Reviewing Service
• Leaving Care Service
• Virtual School
• Voice and Influence Service.

The report notes that in April 2023 the Council designated care leavers as a protected characteristic. This decision is intended to ensure that the particular needs of care leavers are met by all Council services.

The appendices include a number of statistics about the performance of the services, for example noting that as of March 2024 there were 309 children in care and 411 care leavers, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

The report also notes that there are currently three Mockingbird Constellations operating in the borough, with a further three planned for 2024. Mockingbird is a model of foster care that provides peer support and short-break care to foster families.