Apologies for absence were
received from Councillor Irina von Wiese, Councillor Margy Newens,
Councillor John Hartley, Councillor Mohamed Deen and Co-opted
members Martin Brecknell and Mannah Kargbo.
2.
Notification of any items of business which the chair deems urgent
Share this item
In special circumstances, an item of business may be
added to an agenda within five clear working days of the
meeting.
Minutes:
There were no items of business
which the Chair deemed urgent.
3.
Disclosure of interests and dispensations.
Share this item
Members to declare any interests and dispensations
in respect of any item of business to be considered at this
meeting.
Minutes:
There were no disclosures of
interests or dispensations in respect of any items of business on
the agenda.
4.
Minutes
Share this item
To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the
meeting held on 6 October 2025.
The minutes of the meeting held
on 6 October 2025 were approved as a correct record.
5.
Cabinet Member Interview - Children, Education and Refugees
Share this item
To interview Councillor Jasmine
Ali, Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Refugees covering a
holistic overview of key strategies and projects under the cabinet
member portfolio including Breakfast Clubs in Schools.
Minutes:
The commission received a
presentation and updates from Councillor Jasmine Ali, Cabinet
Member for Children, Education and Refugees, accompanied by
officer, Alastair [Director of Children’s Services], on
topics under the cabinet member portfolio.
Councillor Ali outlined her
leadership vision for children’s services within the borough,
aligned with the Southwark 2030 vision for residents and
communities, with a particular emphasis on:
Giving children and
young people a good start in life and a great childhood that builds
a solid foundation for adulthood.
Responding to the
continued impacts of Covid?19 and the cost?of?living crisis on
family life, child development and mental health.
Ensuring that
children and young people, especially those facing disadvantage,
receive excellent services from the council and its
partners.
Councillor Ali also highlighted
that the administration’s approach remains rooted in early
help and prevention, robust safeguarding, and ensuring that no
child “falls through the gaps” of the
system.
Councillor Ali thanked the
commission and the Chair for their work on the recent review of
Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) processes, including
members’ direct observation of EHCP practice and
recommendations, noting that most of the commission’s
recommendations have been accepted and will be embedded in
practice.
Councillor Ali further spoke
about SEND and EHCP’s in Southwark
High demand for EHCPs
in Southwark, with rates above the national average.
Improved timeliness
of EHCP completion since the commission’s previous review,
though demand and complexity remain high.
Continued focus on
evidence?based, preventative approaches in early years.
Southwark’s
permanent exclusion rate is the 14th lowest in the country,
approximately a quarter of the national rate, but there is no
complacency and work continues to reduce exclusions
further.
A listening project
has been undertaken with around 20 families and children who have
experienced exclusion, with findings being grouped into typologies
to preserve anonymity and to inform policy and practice
change.
An increasing
recognition by schools that they must respond to need rather than
waiting for formal diagnosis (e.g. autism, ADHD, broader
neurodivergence), particularly in the wake of Covid?19, to avoid
behaviour?only responses to emerging SEND needs.
Councillor Ali emphasised that
many exclusion cases are linked to unmet or emerging SEND rather
than “bad behaviour”, and explained that headteachers
had responded constructively when presented with family experiences
from the listening project
The commission heard that the
council is actively building capacity in SEND provision,
including:
Repurposing school buildings and spaces where there are falling
rolls to increase SEND places.
Expanding existing SEND provision in schools.
A
recently agreed £5.7m investment in Ivydale Primary School to
make the older building more suitable for the current cohort, and
to adapt the newer building specifically for SEND
provision.
Growth
of the SEND Children and Family Hub to support families earlier and
more holistically.
Councillor Ali reported on the
recent Annual Standards Report to Cabinet, which showed:
99% of Southwark
schools are judged good or outstanding by Ofsted, including 100% of
special schools.
Southwark Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP)
Share this item
To receive the SSCP Annual
Report for 2024/25 from Alasdair Smith, Director of
Children’s Services
·Major Changes- Children’s well-being and
schools bill in parliament, scrutiny of safe-guarding work, core
child protection activity and reduction of children in child
protection plan
The commission then received a presentation
from Alastair [Director of Children’s Services], in
his capacity as current Chair of the Southwark Safeguarding
Children Partnership (SSCP), on the 2024–25 Annual
Report and safeguarding arrangements.
Alasdair outlined the
partnership arrangements, including:
The statutory
partnership between Local Authority, Police and Health leaders,
with the role of Chair rotating annually between these
agencies.
Key sub?groups,
including:
Learning Network
– disseminating learning from reviews and audits, refreshed
with strong public health input.
Child Safeguarding
Practice Review (CSPR) Sub?group – considering serious
incidents and determining learning and review activity in line with
statutory guidance.
Quality and
Effectiveness Sub?group – the “engine room” of
the partnership, scrutinising performance data, audits and
practice.
MACE (Multi?Agency
Child Exploitation) arrangements – focusing on extra?familial
risks, including criminal and sexual exploitation.
MASH Strategic
Partnership Board – overseeing the multi?agency safeguarding
hub (MASH), which acts as the front door for referrals.
The commission’s
attention was drawn to key data in the report (Section 6),
including:
A lower number of
children subject to child protection plans than historically, now
closer to statistical neighbours.
However, high levels
of child protection activity overall, particularly Section 47
enquiries:
A local rate of 262
per 10,000 children, compared with 225 for statistical neighbours,
172 for London and 187 for England.
The need to balance
proactive safeguarding with respect for family life and
proportionality, acknowledging that intrusive involvement must be
justified and ethical.
Alasdair highlighted several
areas of focus for the partnership:
Neglect:
Neglect remains one
of the largest categories for children on child protection
plans.
The partnership has
developed a neglect strategy, shaped by learning from Covid?19 and
the cost?of?living crisis, to better distinguish between
poverty?related hardship and neglect, and to ensure families
receive support rather than punitive responses where
appropriate.
Domestic
abuse:
Ongoing work to
strengthen the multi?agency response and to learn from serious
incidents.
Child safeguarding
practice reviews:
Rapid learning from
cases, such as the review related to “Child H”, with an
emphasis on disseminating learning early rather than waiting for
long reports.
The partnership has increased
engagement with schools and education, recognising:
The critical role of
attendance data, suspensions and exclusions in identifying
safeguarding risks.
The complexity of
coordinating with a diverse group of schools and academy trusts,
and the steps taken to involve them systematically in the SSCP
Executive and sub?groups.
The commission heard that the
partnership intends to focus on Awaab’s Law and the
implications of new statutory duties regarding:
Damp, mould,
overcrowding and disrepair in homes where children
live.
The need for a
stronger multi?agency response when poor housing conditions
contribute to risk, including clarity about responsibilities and
escalation pathways for professionals in and out of the
home.
Members asked questions and
raised the following points:
The need for clearer
data and trend information in the annual report, particularly
around the areas of focus (neglect, sexual abuse and
housing?related risks).
To receive an update from
officers Danny Edwards, Head of Economy and Nick Wollf, Employment
and Skills Manager on employment support for those facing health
and disability barriers to work, delivered through the Connect to
Work programme.
The commission then received a
presentation from Nick Wolfe, Employment and Skills Manager, and
Kim Weatherston, Principal Programme Officer for Supported
Employment, on the Connect to Work programme and its role in
supporting residents with health and disability barriers into
sustainable employment.
Officers explained
that:
Connect to Work is a
12?month, voluntary, supported employment programme, funded by the
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as part of the national Get
Britain Working strategy.
The programme
supports Southwark residents who:
Have long?term health
conditions or disabilities.
Are economically
inactive; and/or
Are in work but at
risk of falling out due to health or disability.
The programme is
designed for local delivery, tailored to community needs and the
borough labour market, with an emphasis on integration with health,
housing and social care services.
In London, delivery
is devolved via Central London Forward (CLF). Southwark is expected
to have among the highest participation, with around 700 starts per
year and over 2,000 residents supported over five years, and
£8.3m allocated to Southwark’s delivery up to March
2030.
The commission noted the link
to the Director of Public Health’s recent annual report on
employment and health, highlighting the impact of worklessness on
physical and mental health.
Connect to Work is open to
Southwark residents aged 18+ with the right to live and work in the
UK and not on other DWP?funded programmes (e.g. Restart, Work and
Health Programme). The commission was informed that:
The programme can
support some residents with no recourse to public funds, where they
can demonstrate their right to work.
Priority groups
include:
Carers and
ex?carers;
People experiencing
homelessness or in temporary accommodation;
Care leavers;
Refugees and
resettled communities (Afghan, Ukrainian);
Survivors of domestic
abuse and modern slavery;
People with substance
misuse issues;
Young people at risk
of crime and gangs;
Ex?offenders;
Members and veterans
of the armed forces.
The programme uses two
evidence?based models:
Individual Placement
and Support (IPS):
Focuses on residents
out of work with health conditions, closely integrated with health
professionals (e.g. GPs, primary care networks, South London and
Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust).
Prioritises rapid job
search based on what the person wants to do, with on?going in?work
support and health input.
Supported Employment
Quality Framework (SEQF):
Focused on residents
with learning disabilities and neurodivergent
conditions.
Smaller caseloads and
intensive support, including workplace visits and employer coaching
on reasonable adjustments, Access to Work and inclusive
practice.
Approximately 75% of
participants are expected to join the IPS strand and 25% the SEQF
strand.
Each participant works with a
dedicated Employment Specialist for up to 12 months and while in
work. The support offer includes:
Vocational profiling
(including daily routines, strengths and aspirations, not just past
employment history).
CV development,
interview preparation and targeted job search based on the
resident’s preferences.
Financial coaching
and benefit calculations early in the programme, including:
Modelling part?time
and full?time hours;
Childcare
support;
Impacts on Universal
Credit, PIP and other benefits.
The commission then discussed
its work programme for the remainder of the municipal
year.
Key points included:
Two remaining
meetings scheduled for 2 February 2026 and 26 February 2026, which
are relatively close together due to the forthcoming local
elections.
The commission also
discussed intentions to:
Hold remaining
Cabinet Member interviews with Councillor John Batteson (Cabinet
Member for Climate Emergency, Jobs and Business) and Councillor
Ellie Cumber (Cabinet Member/Deputy role covering Parks and
Culture), subject to confirmation of portfolios.
Continue scrutiny of
Keeping Education Strong, secondary place planning and links
between schools, skills and the local economy.
Return to commercial
property, high streets and small business support, building on
evidence received from the Blue Bermondsey BID and previous
discussion of rent reviews, repairs and council?tenant
communications.
Take forward work on
care leavers, youth employment and Southwark Works, including the
interface with Connect to Work and corporate parenting
responsibilities.
The commission also
discussed:
Draft initial
recommendations on the commercial property portfolio and high
street item (based on the 6 October meeting) for consideration at a
future meeting, including:
Pilots between
housing and commercial services;
Backlog of cases and
business experience survey;
Improvements to
navigation of council processes;
Greater agility in
dealing with small business issues.
Members were invited to send
any additional work programme ideas to the Chair, Vice?Chair and
Scrutiny Officer by email.
PDF 149 KB