The Children and Families Scrutiny Committee met to review annual reports concerning the Virtual School, the Independent Reviewing Officer service, and Children's Social Care complaints. The committee also considered a report on the overall scrutiny activity for the year and discussed future planning for the committee's work.

Virtual School Annual Report

The committee was scheduled to review the Virtual School Annual Report for 2024-25. This report outlines the educational outcomes for Waltham Forest's Children in Care and care-experienced young people in Years 11 and 13. It also provides data on attendance rates, including persistent and severe absence. The report details the statutory duty of the Virtual School to promote the educational progress of children in care, highlighting the challenges faced by this cohort and the support provided by various agencies. The report includes specific data on GCSE outcomes for Year 11 pupils, noting improvements in English GCSE passes and robust outcomes for children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). It also addresses the challenges faced by young people who finish Year 11 without recognised qualifications, with a particular focus on Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and those experiencing mental ill-health or criminal exploitation. For Year 13, the report highlights the number of students completing A-Levels or equivalent qualifications and a sustained rise in the proportion of care-experienced young people remaining in full-time education at age 18. The report also details school attendance rates, persistent and severe absence, and the correlation between absence and poorer academic and wellbeing outcomes. The implications of the report cover finance, legal, equalities, sustainability, and council infrastructure, noting no direct implications as it covers an existing policy.

Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) Annual Report 2024-2025

The committee was scheduled to review the annual report for the Independent Reviewing Service for 2024-25. This service is part of Children's Services and is responsible for reviewing the care plans of children looked after by Waltham Forest Council. The report details that on 31 March 2025, there were 292 children looked after by the council, including 29 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. In 2024-25, the Independent Reviewing Service chaired 674 child-care review meetings, with 97% held within statutory timescales. The report highlights that 97% of children over the age of 4 gave their views on their care plans, with Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) ensuring children's views are gathered even if they do not attend formal meetings. The report also states that 93% of children had a permanency plan within four months of becoming looked after, and 98% of completed Pathway Plans were deemed satisfactory. The IRO service raised 46 formal alerts in 2024-25 to challenge practice. The report outlines key messages for 2024-25, including providing constructive challenge, consulting and communicating with children and young people, consolidating good practice, and learning, developing, and innovating. It also details activity related to fostering household annual reviews.

Children's Social Care Annual Complaints Report 2024-25

The committee was scheduled to review the Children's Social Care Annual Complaints Report for 2024-25. This report provides an overview and analysis of complaints received between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. It notes that Waltham Forest Children's Services received an overall 'Good' judgement from Ofsted, with 'Outstanding' for the experiences and progress of children in care. Areas for improvement identified include the use of the Public Law Outline (PLO) in neglect cases, the quality of supervision and audits, and ensuring care leavers fully understand their plans, rights, and entitlements. The report details that the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) issued six published decisions relating to Children's Social Care, with two complaints upheld. These upheld findings related to a failure to apply appropriate financial remedy and a failure to implement agreed Ombudsman recommendations. The report outlines strengthened oversight arrangements, including the future role of Adjudication Officers and the implementation of the iCasework system for tracking actions. Priorities for 2025-26 focus on strengthening PLO practice, improving supervision and audits, enhancing care leaver communication, and deepening multi-agency work. Due to data migration to the iCasework system, full visual dashboards and year-on-year trend analysis were not available for this reporting period.

The Scrutiny Report

The committee was scheduled to review The Scrutiny Report, which includes a summary of committee activity for the 2025-26 municipal year, an action tracker, and a recommendation tracker. Members were invited to review and comment on the draft summary of committee activity for the annual report, suggest items for the 2026-27 forward plan, and review and approve the action and recommendation trackers from the previous meeting. The report also notes that there were no key decisions falling under the remit of this scrutiny committee. The committee was invited to view the 2025-26 Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan, which outlines the work programme for the committee, factoring in statutory reports, major decisions, themed reviews, and policy areas of interest. The forward plan is a working document, and suggestions for the 2026-27 work programme can be made at any time.

The committee was also scheduled to discuss the Virtual School Annual Report¹, the Independent Review Officer (IRO) Annual Report 2024-2025², the Children's Social Care Annual Complaints Report 2024-25³, and The Scrutiny Report⁴.