The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met on Wednesday 5 November 2025 to discuss the pressures on the Education, Health, and Care (EHC) process and the Barking and Dagenham Community Safety Partnership's strategy. Key discussions included the challenges faced in meeting EHC plan timescales, the increasing demand for SEND services, and the development of a new community safety strategy for 2026-2030.

The EHC Process and Key Challenges

The committee received a detailed presentation on the complexities of the Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan process, highlighting significant pressures on the service, schools, and parents. Denise Watts, Head of SEND Statutory Services, explained that the statutory process, primarily governed by Chapter 9 of the SEND Code of Practice, has strict timescales, with a duty to issue a final plan within 20 weeks of a referral. However, the data presented showed that the council's performance in issuing plans within this timeframe was significantly below the national average, standing at 27% in 2024 compared to the national figure of 45.9%. The average wait time for EHC plans issued beyond 20 weeks was currently 27 weeks, down from 34 weeks in 2023.

Several factors were identified as contributing to these delays and challenges. Demand for EHC assessments has more than doubled between 2021 and 2025, with requests from parents increasing significantly. This surge in demand, coupled with a static budget, has stretched resources. Schools, particularly primary schools, are facing increased pressure as they must fund the first £6,000 for each child with SEND from their core budgets, while also experiencing falling mainstream pupil numbers and funding.

The complexity of needs is also increasing, with a rise in children requiring specialist provision. The council is experiencing a significant number of children with SEND moving into the borough, placing further pressure on local provision and specialist school places. Professionals, particularly health colleagues, face tight timescales for providing advice, and waiting lists can lead to delays. The report also highlighted recruitment and retention issues within the EHC team, with several vacancies for EHC coordinators, exacerbated by competition from neighbouring authorities offering better caseload management.

In response to these challenges, the council has implemented an improvement plan called SEND Development and Resilience, focusing on strengthening the workforce, improving information and communication, expanding statutory service capacity, and enhancing partnerships. New posts, such as an EHC Quality and High Needs Tracking Lead, have been created, and the council is actively recruiting to vacant EHC coordinator positions. Efforts are also underway to improve digital systems, including the Synergy case management system, to enhance transparency and communication with families.

Barking and Dagenham Community Safety Partnership

The committee reviewed the work of the Barking and Dagenham Community Safety Partnership (CSP) and the development of its new strategy for 2026-2030. Superintendent Biju Premnaf, co-chair of the CSP, and Councillor Darren Garney, also a co-chair, introduced the report, emphasizing the importance of multi-agency collaboration to tackle crime, disorder, and anti-social behaviour. The CSP brings together the police, local authority, fire, health, and probation services.

Anthony Lewis, Interim Director of Enforcement and Community Safety, presented the report, outlining the CSP's statutory role under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Serious Violence Duty. The report detailed the process for developing the new strategy, which includes a strategic assessment and community consultation. The committee was asked to adopt the CSP Scrutiny Protocol, which formalises the relationship between the committee and the CSP.

The report highlighted a mixed picture of crime trends in the borough. While overall police-recorded crime saw a slight increase of just under 2% over the past year, driven by increases in violence without injury, drug offences, and sexual offences, there were significant reductions in theft, vehicle crime, and violence with injury. However, analytical challenges exist in comparing year-on-year data due to changes in police recording methodology. The estimated societal cost of crime in the borough for the past 12 months was £205 million.

The development of the new community safety strategy for 2026-2030 is underway, with a focus on addressing key priorities such as serious youth violence, violence against women and girls, hate crime, and residential burglary. The report also included a presentation on the Youth At Risk Matrix (YARM) project, a flagship initiative aimed at supporting young people at risk of serious youth violence. The project, which started in 2018, has shown clear reductions in young people supported by YARM entering the criminal justice system and has secured funding until 2029.

Councillors raised concerns about the increase in arson incidents in their wards and the effectiveness of current strategies. They also questioned the reliability of crime statistics due to recording changes and sought clarity on the strategy of strategies approach. The committee was assured that efforts were being made to address arson through multi-agency prevention plans and that the complexity of the strategy framework was due to the consolidation of various statutory duties.

Work Programme

The committee noted that its work programme would be subject to changes. The budget scrutiny, originally scheduled for January 12th, would now be brought forward. Additionally, the timing of the review into the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection of adult social care was dependent on the inspection's outcome. Arrangements were also being made to move the item on the BD Group from January 12th to an earlier date.