The Children and Education Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee met on Monday 15 January 2024 to discuss safeguarding arrangements in Barnet and receive an update on Family Services performance. The committee resolved to request circulation of two reports: the Local Authority Designated Officer's Annual Report on Managing Allegations Against Staff and the North Central London Child Death Overview Panel Annual Report. They also noted the Cabinet Forward Plan and the Scrutiny Work Programme.

Safeguarding Children in Barnet

The sub-committee received an overview of safeguarding arrangements in Barnet and the work of the Barnet Safeguarding Children Partnership (BSCP). This partnership includes statutory membership from the Police, Health, and the Local Authority, with wider involvement from Education and other local organisations. An annual review of the BSCP's work is conducted by a multi-agency team of independent scrutineers.

Key points discussed included:

• Police involvement: The Detective Chief Inspector reported positive outcomes from recent child abuse reviews and noted that new measures had been implemented to improve the follow-up of missing children reports. However, concerns were raised about the equity and fairness of police funding.
• Education's role: The Chief Executive of BELS highlighted the close working relationship with the BSCP and the responsibility to keep children safe, including providing training for teachers and working with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).
• Child Death Overview Panels: The Designated Doctor for Children's Safeguarding stated that Barnet's statistics for unexpected child deaths had remained similar year-on-year.
• School absences and Elective Home Education: The Chief Executive of BELS confirmed that schools are responsible for attendance, and BELS has attendance officers. When a child leaves a school, the local authority is responsible for tracking them until they are settled in a new school. An Elective Home Education Officer ensures children receive a home education, working with the MASH if concerns arise.
• Referrals to MASH: The Director of Children's Social Care noted an upward trend in referrals to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), with Barnet having the seventh highest volume in London. Webinars with partners have been held to refresh understanding of thresholds, leading to a reduction in referral numbers.
• Areas for improvement: The Lead Scrutineer identified concerns including children suffering from neglect due to the cost of living and post-pandemic impacts, difficulties in signposting children to the correct services, serious youth violence, children's mental health post-pandemic, and the impact of staff shortages.
• Youth surveys and knife crime: The Strategic Lead for Children's Services explained that an independent research company used a representative sample of secondary school children for the young people's resident survey. The Detective Chief Inspector reported on a project to reduce crime in Grahame Park, which had led to seized drugs, weapons, and arrests.
• School exclusions: The Chief Executive of BELS stated that while school exclusions had increased nationally due to the pandemic, Barnet's rates were below the national average. Work is being undertaken with schools to prevent permanent exclusions and address disproportionality.
• Information sharing: The Director of Children's Social Care acknowledged ongoing challenges with information sharing due to the complexity of different organisations' systems.

The committee resolved to request the circulation of the Managing Allegations Against Staff in Barnet Annual Report by the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) April 2022-March 2023 and the North Central London Child Death Overview Panel Annual Report Annual Report 2020-21 .

Cabinet Forward Plan (Key Decision Schedule)

The committee noted the Cabinet Forward Plan (Key Decision Schedule) and requested that the Corporate Parenting Strategy be reported to a future meeting.

Scrutiny Work Programme

The committee noted the Forward Work Programme.

Task and Finish Group Update

The committee considered the Task and Finish Group update report. Members of the Elective Home Education Task and Finish Group sought clarification on meetings with headteachers and council officers, which the Principal Scrutiny Officer confirmed would be arranged. The committee noted the Task and Finish Group updates.

Family Services Quarterly Update

The Executive Director of Children's Services provided an overview of performance data, highlighting that most services remained stable, with improvements in the timeliness of assessments and recruitment in the children's workforce.

Key points discussed included:

• Timeliness of assessments: Delays were attributed to staffing shortages, which had since been resolved.
• Child Protection Plans: Increases in re-registrations for Child Protection Plans were being reviewed to ensure children were not removed from safeguarding arrangements prematurely.
• Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children: The committee noted the arrival of 36 additional unaccompanied asylum seeker children per month and the need to meet this demand.
• Children in care: The Executive Director of Children's Services stated that Barnet's rates of children in care were below the national average, and rises could be caused by isolated local incidents. He committed to reviewing the latest data on the number of children in care across London and reporting findings to the committee.
• Missing children in placement: The Director of Children's Social Care reported that 20 children had gone missing 54 times, often complex adolescents. Measures included return home interviews, risk assessments, and involving young people in planning. Police prioritisation for children at risk of exploitation was also noted.

The committee resolved to note the Family Services self-evaluation and progress and requested that officers provide details of the numbers of children in care across London.