The Children and Families Scrutiny Committee met on 10 September 2025, and discussed the Waltham Forest Youth Justice Annual Plan, the Family Hubs Programme, and the Scrutiny Report. The committee requested a report on improvements to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision and agreed to add items on child sexual exploitation and the rationalisation of the school estate to their forward plan.

SEND Inspection Findings and SEND Improvement Plan

The committee received an update on the SEND Inspection Findings and SEND Improvement Plan. Councillor Kizzy Gardiner, Portfolio Lead Member for Children and Young People, and Mr Kashif Nawaz, Assistant Director, SEND, introduced the report.

Nicky Crouch, Strategic Director, Children Services, addressed the challenges in staffing and recruitment, particularly for children's social care and social workers. She noted a shortfall in the right skill set, experience, and long-term commitment, as well as difficulties in retaining SEND case workers. She also highlighted the difficulty in recruiting educational psychologists, who are critical for finalising Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs).¹

Ms Crouch explained that the council remains responsible for children with SEND up to the age of 25, particularly regarding EHCPs for those in education or training. Daniel Phelps, Director of Children's Social Care, added that relevant officers would ensure an assessment of care needs is undertaken and that access to necessary provisions are in place through the Adult Services team and the Physical Disabilities Service.

Mr Nawaz addressed the rise in children with SEND in Waltham Forest, suggesting it might be due to the borough's attractive schools and services. He also noted that special needs may be hidden or take longer to diagnose in families where English is not the first language, and that increased understanding of special needs leads to earlier assessment requests. Councillor Gardiner added that a lack of school funding can lead to the escalation of children requiring EHCPs to acquire funding.

Mr Nawaz explained that the locality model was at the development stage and was established in many authorities across the country. He said there was an expectation from Central Government to find local solutions as demand in the north of the country may differ significantly from those in the south of the country in terms of geography and health inequalities.

A representative from the Youth Independent Advisory Group (YIAG) asked about early intervention for children aged 5 and above. Mr Nawaz confirmed that children under 5 have a well-established SEN Intervention pathway and officers were working towards a better understanding of those children who were in receipt of that pathway.

Ms Crouch stated that looked after children are typically visited every 6 weeks by social workers, and every 6 months by an Independent Reviewing Officer. She added that the frequency of visits may decrease if a child is in long-term care and settled in their placement.

Ms Crouch confirmed that there were 3,821 children with SEN needs and EHCPs, with 52% placed in mainstream schools, 3% in independent schools, 22% in special education provision, and the remainder in alternative provision or colleges.

Ms Crouch explained that identifying the needs of children with constant problems is complex due to multiple needs and broad diagnoses.

The committee requested a 6-monthly update report detailing changes and improvements made regarding SEN provision, including a red, amber, green (RAG) system to show if targets are being met. Ms Crouch agreed to provide these reports, clarifying that the committee's work should not duplicate discussions at the Strategic Partnership Board.

Mr Nawaz referred to the work being undertaken in neurodivergent schools, which included the rolling out of training for relevant staff. He also said that said that the service was working with Health partners and had jointly set up a neurodiversity awareness working party that was well established where they looked at toolkits, guidance and training.

A YIAG representative raised concerns about the recruitment and retention of EHCP case officers, citing poor communication and organisation as deterrents. Mr Nawaz acknowledged that it could take 6 to 8 weeks to receive an offer and highlighted efforts to improve the system, including converting agency staff to permanent positions and improving the time it takes to progress from interview to contract stage.

Mr Nawaz explained that a forum had been set up across the borough to look at resource provision and confirmed that there were 9 schools that had resource provisions attached to them. He said that the forum would look into issues such as placements, outcomes and financial arrangements.

Mr Nawaz referred to the performance dashboard which were well established and was brought every half-term to the SEND Strategic Board and the Board takes the partnership through all the areas that Health partners were currently working on which allows the partnership to see the impact the work is having, the direction of travel and what was working well or what needed improvement.

Ms Crouch said that colleagues in the Integrated Commissioning Board (ICB) had reprocured disability equipment and there were some issues with the monitoring of the contract in the early stages, which had since been addressed.

Councillor Gardiner confirmed that the council had submitted evidence in relation to the Government white paper on SEND funding, but the evidence submitted was not as robust as would have been preferred.

Councillor Gardiner referred to a recent education conference organised by the service where a attendee spoke about the SEND space nationally and in other countries. The attendee pointed to other systems where the EHCP does not follow the child in the same way that it would here, it goes to the school and as a result the school is more invested in providing more inclusive settings.

The committee noted the report and requested 6-monthly update reports on SEND inspection improvements, including a RAG system, and the SEND dashboard, subject to the SEND Strategic Board's permission.

The Scrutiny Report

The committee discussed the Scrutiny Report and the Draft Forward Plan 25-26. Rosie Whillock, Scrutiny Officer, requested any additions to the Forward Plan.

The committee discussed inviting head teachers to speak when considering a report on Virtual Schools. Ms Crouch confirmed that a report on attendance and inclusion would come to a future meeting and could cover annual review of performance.

The committee agreed to add an item on child sexual exploitation in conjunction with child criminal exploitation, and an item on the rationalisation of the school estate, to the forward plan.

The committee agreed that pre-meetings would take place virtually and in-person on an alternate basis, with the exact timing to be decided outside of the meeting.

The committee noted the report and agreed to the actions.

Waltham Forest Youth Justice Annual Plan

The committee received an update on the Youth Justice Plan.

Family Hubs Programme

The committee received an update on the Family Hubs Programme.