The Children, Education and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee of West Northamptonshire Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday 27 January 2026. The meeting's agenda includes discussions on support for care leavers, the annual report from the Virtual School, and the proposed framework for non-school alternative provision.

Support for Care Leavers

A significant portion of the meeting is set to focus on the support provided to care leavers. The committee will consider the Care Experienced Pledge, which encourages local organisations to support individuals with care experience. Additionally, there will be a review of how care leavers are supported in education, employment, and training (EET), with data indicating that 204 out of 548 care leavers aged 17-24 are currently not in education, employment, or training (NEET). The report highlights a growing population of vulnerable care leavers and outlines targeted interventions, partnership successes with organisations like the NHS and Waitrose, and ongoing challenges such as rising NEET levels nationally and barriers related to health and emotional wellbeing. The report recommends advocating for expanded work experience opportunities and strengthening partnerships with private organisations. The committee will also receive an update on the Care Leavers Housing Pathway, although details for this specific item are noted as [to follow] . The overall aim of this agenda item is to scrutinise how West Northamptonshire Council and the wider community fulfil their roles as corporate parents to support those in and leaving care.

Virtual School Annual Report 2024-25

The committee is scheduled to receive and consider the annual report from the Northamptonshire Virtual School for the 2024-25 academic year. This report details the Virtual School's structure, activities, and achievements. It outlines the role of the Virtual School in promoting the educational achievement of children in care, including maintaining a roll of these children, monitoring their attendance and progress, and promoting the completion of Personal Education Plans (PEPs). The report highlights strengths such as high PEP compliance rates and positive feedback on the support provided by Virtual School Officers. It also addresses progress in areas like attendance and data systems, and identifies future areas for development, including strategic oversight, data systems, attendance, post-16 support, and early years speech and language. The report includes detailed data on the Virtual School cohort, including gender, ethnicity, and the prevalence of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), as well as outcomes in early years, phonics, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4, and post-16 EET.

Non-School Alternative Provision Framework

The committee will consider West Northamptonshire Council's proposed future approach to commissioning non-school alternative provision (AP). Alternative provision is defined by the Department for Education (DfE) as education arranged for children who would not otherwise receive suitable education due to exclusion, illness, or other reasons. Non-school AP includes providers not registered with Ofsted or ISI, such as therapeutic settings, vocational training providers, and tutoring services. Currently, the council does not have formal frameworks in place and relies on spot contracts and individual agreements. The proposal is to develop a quality assurance framework for both existing and new providers, creating a multi-supplier open framework that will reopen for new providers twice a year. This framework will be divided into six lots: Tutoring, Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH), Vocational, Re-engagement, Post 16, and Specialist. The proposal aims to ensure procurement compliance, improve quality and consistency, enhance value for money, and prepare the authority for future DfE requirements. The estimated budget for this framework over five years is £40 million, funded from the Designated Schools Grant.

Review of Committee Work Programme

The committee will review and note its work programme for the 2025/26 period. This includes considering the proposed scrutiny review of the in-housing of Northamptonshire Partnership Homes housing stock and services, and deciding whether to add the Getting social housing in West Northants up to the Decent Homes Standard scrutiny review proposal to the programme. The work programme document outlines various topics scheduled for discussion throughout the year, including support for children and young people with SEND, family help and family hubs, and access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).