Agenda and minutes

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The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred Members present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein’.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Amin, Isilar-Gosling & Dunstall.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business (late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with as noted below).

There were no items of Urgent Business.

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no Declarations of Interest.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, Paragraph 29 of the Council’s Constitution.

None.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting on 13 February.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the previous meeting on 13 February 2025 were agreed as a correct record.

RESOLVED

That the Panel:

     I.        Noted the terms of reference attached at Appendix A of the report and Protocol attached at Appendix B of the report, for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and it’s Panels.

    II.        Noted the policy areas/remits and membership for each Scrutiny Panel for 2025/26, attached at Appendix C of the report.

RESOLVED

It was noted that:

1. Amanda Bernard was appointed to the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel as a non-voting co-opted member for the municipal year 2025/2026.
2. That Camilla Borthwick-Fox and Christine Cordon were appointed as voting co-opted members to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, participating at meetings when educational matters are being considered.
3. That Camilla Borthwick-Fox and Christine Cordon were appointed to the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Panel, as voting co-opted members, which has responsibility for considering educational matters

Verbal Update.

The Panel received a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Children, Schools & Families on developments within her portfolio, followed by a verbal question and answer session with the Cabinet Member. The following update was provided by the Cabinet Member:

·         The Cabinet Member advised that Haringey had achieved the highest grade in relation to the recent local area Ofsted/CQC inspection and that this had been confirmed by the inspection body.

·         The Council was moving forward with the Safety Valve programme and it was meeting most of its targets.

·         The OSSME unit was open for children with autism. Similarly, the base at Earlsmead was open with four children attending. It was hoped that this would increase to 15. Work was underway at Alexandra Park primary for children with emotional, social, mental health support needs. Work was also starting at the Brook for children with additional complex needs. The Cabinet Member commented that the government seemed to be developing a more inclusive approach to SEND with provision through mainstream schools.

·         The SEND white paper was expected in the autumn. It was commented that the organisation was lucky to have a DCS who was also vice-president of the association of Directors of Children’s Services.

·         The government has expanded Free School Meals but this won’t happen until September 2026. A lot of work was being done to understand how this would be delivered. The government had extended eligibility to children whose parents were on Universal Credit and removing the current income cap of £7400.

·         The Cabinet Member noted that there was also the Mayor’s free school meals programme and that there was work to be done to get families to apply for it who were also eligible for FSM through the government scheme. The Cabinet Member commented that children would not be bringing their pupil premium with them. There was a working group in place to look at these type of issues.

·         The Cabinet Member advised that she was hoping to convince schools to join a joint procurement exercise to reduce food costs to schools.

·         The Cabinet Member advised that she had visited the three government funded pilot breakfast clubs in Haringey – Earlham, Holy Trinity, and St. Mary Priory. The service has produced a video of the visit and the Cabinet Member encouraged Members to watch it.

·         The inaugural meeting of local authority governors took place and there were 15 governors in attendance. The Cabinet Member commented that there was work to be done to raise the level of knowledge of governors.

·         The Cabinet Member advised that the Council had submitted a long submission to the Select Committee on special needs. The Cabinet Member advised that she would send this round to head teachers and the chairs of governors.

The following arose during the discussion of this item:

a.    The Panel sought clarification about how the government’s announcement on Free School Meals (FSM) would interact with the Mayor of London’s pledge on FSM. In response, the Cabinet Member advised that the government funded  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Panel received a cover report and an accompanying presentation that provided an analysis of the performance data and trends for a set of performance measures relating to Looked After Children (LAC), Children on Child Protection Plans (CPP) and Children in Need (CIN). The presentation was introduced by Richard Hutton, Performance, Data and Analytics Manager as set out in the report at pages 39-52.  Ann Graham, Corporate Director of Children’s Services was also present for this item, along with Cllr Brabazon, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families. In addition, the Director of Early Help, Prevention and SEND, as well as the Director for Safeguarding and Social Care were also present for this agenda item. The following arose as part of the discussion of this item:

1. The Panel sought clarification about what was being done to investigate the reasons behind a drop in referrals from schools to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). In response, officers advised that the data was heavily scrutinised and cross referenced with other data from the Early Help service. The Director commented that a drop in referrals wasn’t necessarily celebrated, Instead it was about having the right referrals into the system at the right time. The Corporate Director advised that they monitored referrals and the wider system very closely. The Panel was advised that there was a triangulation between an increase in the uptake of Early Help services and a decrease in referrals to the MASH. The Family Hub model used in Early Years allowed the service to identify needs much earlier and this reduced referrals to the MASH.
2. In relation to a questions about Education Health & Care Plans (EHCPs), officers advised that performance for timeliness was very highly a couple of years ago at 97%, this had dropped slightly to 86%, however the national average was around forty percent. Officers acknowledged that the number of EHCPs was increasing, but it was commented that the census data showed that Haringey had seen a slower rate in increase at 4.7% than the London average (7.5%) and the national average at 10%. Officers attributed this slower rate of increase to the early intervention model and that fact that children were seen at a much earlier point in the system and this reduced the number who required an EHCP.
3. In response to a follow up question, officers acknowledged that they were seeing an increase in complexity, despite the fact that overall school numbers were down slightly.
4. The Panel queried the decreasing trend of immunisation figures and questioned why Haringey was performing worse than the national average. In response, officers advised that the figures related specifically to LAC and so it wasn’t influenced by families being sceptical of vaccinations or different take-up levels within different communities. It was often the older children within the LAC cohort who less likely to take up the offer of vaccination. Officers also noted that the LAC Nurse at Bounds Green Health Centre had recently retired and that there had been a decrease in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Panel received a report which provided an overview of activity in regard to private fostering for the municipal year 2024/25. The report was introduced by Sandy Bansil, Head of Children in Care and Placements as set out in the agenda pack at pages 53-68. Ann Graham, Corporate Director of Children’s Services was also present for this item, along with Cllr Brabazon, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families. In addition, the Director of Early Help, Prevention and SEND, as well as the Director for Safeguarding and Social Care were also present for this agenda item. The following arose as part of the discussion of this item:

a.    The Panel noted that a privately fostered child was defined as a child who was under the age of 16, or 18 if the child had a disability, and was placed for 28 consecutive days or more with an adult who was not a relative. A relative in this situation was defined as either a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt, and also included stepparents.

b.    The Panel welcomed the fact that the report included the voice of the child. Officers acknowledged that this was important, as it gave reassurance about the experience of children directly from the children themselves.

c.    In relation to numbers, officers advised that there were five children in private fostering arrangements in Haringey, with a further two notifications having been received which would require assessment. The Cabinet Member commented that this was an area that involved small numbers of children, but one that was difficult to regulate.

RESOLVED

Noted.

RESOLVED

     I.        That the current work programme for the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Panel was noted.

    II.        That the Panel gave consideration to the items and reports required for its meetings in 2025/26.

To consider any items admitted at item 3 above.

N/A

9 September 2025

18 November 2025

15 January 2026

26 February 2026

9 September 2025

18 November 2025

15 January 2026

26 February 2026