The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the council's response to a recent [Inspection of Local Authority Children's Services (ILACS)]¹ report, which rated Harrow Council's children's services as 'inadequate' overall, despite awarding 'good' ratings to two of the four judgement categories. The committee noted the report and discussed actions being taken to improve the service, particularly for care leavers.

Ofsted Inspection and Action Plan

The committee reviewed the [Council Response to the Recent Inspection of Local Authority Children's Services Report][Council Response to the Recent Inspection of Local Authority Childrens Services Report.pdf], which followed an inspection that took place between 20 and 24 January 2025. The report highlighted that while children's services were rated 'good' in key areas for children under 18, an 'inadequate' rating for the experiences and progress of care leavers led to an overall judgement of 'inadequate'.

Councillor Paul Osborn, Leader of the Council, expressed his disappointment with the overall rating, but recognised it as an opportunity to improve service delivery for care leavers.

Parmjit Chahal, Strategic Director of Children's Services, outlined immediate actions taken to address case closures for 18-21 year olds and to increase the capacity of personal advisors. Key measures included:

• Reviewing all closed cases of care leavers by experienced managers.
• Keeping all cases open until care leavers reach 25, unless they specifically request otherwise after age 21.
• Establishing a weekly drop-in hub for care leavers needing support.

The committee discussed the [Ofsted Action Plan][Public reports pack Tuesday 08-Jul-2025 18.30 Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf], which included the following key recommendations:

• Leadership Stability and Capacity: The Council's Chief Officer Employment Panel approved a new senior leadership structure, increasing capacity through the appointment of a Director of Children's Social Care.
• Quality of Support for Care Leavers: Significant financial investment has led to a new standalone Leaving Care Service with a dedicated Head of Service and Service Manager.
• Identification of Risks to Care Leavers' Welfare: Arrangements are in place to track all missing care leavers through the weekly Missing Meeting with police colleagues.
• Quality and Accessibility of Pathway Plans: The new Leaving Care Service is staffed by experienced Personal Advisors who work collaboratively with care leavers to co-produce pathway plans.
• Quality of Help and Support for Homeless 16 and 17 Year Olds: The Homeless Protocol and Guidance has been revised, ensuring that the child's wider needs, family, and friends are considered alongside housing needs.
• Consistency in Response to Missing Care Leavers: A review of missing processes ensures that all missing care leavers are discussed at the weekly missing meeting with police.
• Consistency of Staffing: Separating children looked after under 18 from care leavers (18-25) and investing in more manageable caseloads will lead to greater stability.
• Quality of Supervision and Management Oversight: Increased management capacity across the children looked after and leaving care teams aims to improve the quality of supervisions.

Progress Reports

The committee requested access to progress reports every six weeks to monitor improvements. Officers advised that sharing the report, which is not a council document, would depend on the Department for Education (DfE)'s approval. Councillor Graham Henson suggested that if the advisor consents to the report being shared with scrutiny leads, it will be shared, and the scrutiny leads will continue to follow up and be updated on this.

Training for Personal Advisors

The committee questioned why personal advisors were not prioritised for training or afforded the same opportunities as social workers for professional development, referencing page 12 of the [Public reports pack][Public reports pack Tuesday 08-Jul-2025 18.30 Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf]. Parmjit Chahal, Strategic Director of Children's Services, responded that all personal advisors are being trained to deal with older children in care, creating the expertise to work with care leavers.

Housing for Care Leavers

The committee emphasised the need to protect the most vulnerable, and questioned how the 25 available properties for homelessness prevention would be prioritised for care leavers, given ever-increasing costs, particularly pertaining to housing. Officers responded that most care leavers live in the borough or neighbouring ones, but there is a national shortage of housing. Care leavers are also offered suitable alternatives, such as semi-independent and supported living.

Officers added that the latest data for London revealed an overspend of £350 million during the last quarter (2025) for temporary accommodation. Harrow Council had overspent by £10 million on housing, but had been proactive in increasing social care housing through council-owned accommodation or from housing associations. Alex, whose last name was not provided, noted that Mark Riddell, National Implementation Advisor for Care Leavers at the Department for Education, recognised that there is no magic wand to some of this given where we are with regards housing.

Missing Care Leavers

The committee raised concerns about care leavers going missing and asked whether there was an improvement plan for mitigating this. Officers advised that two unaccompanied asylum seekers had gone missing, one within days of coming into care, coinciding with an unsuccessful Home Office decision on his asylum application. The council is working with the Home Office, and a weekly analysis of those missing is provided during meetings, along with actions being undertaken to address the problem.

Staff Morale and Financial Position

The committee asked how the council's current financial position had affected service delivery and morale. Officers responded that the ILACS report findings had been shared with the workforce, with no blame apportioned. Staff were disappointed but committed to improvement.

Councillor June Baxter referred to financial implications on page 15 of the [Public reports pack][Public reports pack Tuesday 08-Jul-2025 18.30 Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf], and asked how the inspection had affected the morale of the existing team. Parmjit Chahal, Strategic Director of Children's Services, said that the council had not experienced the turnover that other local authorities sometimes experience, and that they had been able to recruit three permanent service managers.

Deterioration in Performance Since 2020

Referring to page 9 of the [Public reports pack][Public reports pack Tuesday 08-Jul-2025 18.30 Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf], the committee queried what could have triggered the deterioration in performance since 2020. Officers suggested that the merging of the service's two departments could have been a contributory factor, but not a causation factor. The committee requested an organisational chart of the service.

Single Points of Failure

The committee inquired whether there were single points of failure in the service and were advised that there were none.

Consistency of Staffing

Councillor Matthew Goodwin-Freeman asked about consistency and turnover of staffing, and requested an organisational structure chart to understand gaps and weaknesses. He also asked for a breakdown of agency staff being used in the department, and whether there were any officers that were single points of failure in the structure. Parmjit Chahal, Strategic Director of Children's Services, responded that 75% of staff were permanent at the time of the ILACS, and that the council is growing its own through recruiting newly qualified social workers.

Corporate Parenting

Councillor Charlotte asked about training for corporate parenting for members, and whether there were any plans in place to ensure that everyone is trained. Officers responded that they have been in conversations with the Local Government Association (LGA) regarding training for elected members, and that it is on the schedule to arrange briefings.