The Children's & Education Select Committee of Buckinghamshire Council scheduled a meeting to discuss performance monitoring, receive an update on the Ofsted Improvement Plan, and discuss the committee's work programme. The meeting was scheduled to take place at The Oculus, Buckinghamshire Council, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury HP19 8FF. The meeting may have been filmed for live or subsequent broadcast on the council's website.

Ofsted Improvement Plan

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Ofsted Recommendations Improvement Plan. The report pack included the recommendation that:

For members to note (a) the outcome of the recent Ofsted inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers and (b) the Ofsted Recommendations Improvement Plan (see Appendix) in response to the findings

Following an inspection by Ofsted between 27 January and 7 February 2025, the council's services for children in need of help and protection, children in care, and care leavers were judged to require improvement. However, the experiences and progress of children in care was judged to be good.

The inspection report identified areas for improvement, including:

• The quality and robustness of management oversight to promote consistently effective social work
• The quality and effectiveness of the service to children who are at risk from neglect
• The consistency and timeliness of work to engage a child's wider family
• The efficacy of transition planning for older children in care and disabled young people leaving care
• The quality and effectiveness of pathway plans for care leavers
• The quality of service and support to care leavers aged 21+
• The engagement and participation of care-experienced children and young people in the corporate parenting board.

The report pack stated that work was underway to address these areas, including revisions to the quality assurance process and the supervision framework.

The post-Ofsted action plan was designed to complement and enhance ongoing initiatives within Children's Services, with the aim of creating a cohesive and comprehensive approach to continuous improvement for children and young people.

The Improvement Plan was submitted to Ofsted by the deadline of 21 August 2025.

Performance Monitoring

The committee was scheduled to review the performance indicators for the committee's area of remit, including a discussion of the Education and Children's Services Portfolio of Councillor Adekunle Osibogun, Cabinet Member for Education & Children's Services.

The report pack included data on the following performance indicators:

• Percentage of children looked after visited within timescales
• Percentage of new Education, Health and Care plans¹ issued within 20 weeks (excluding exceptions)
• Percentage of initial Family Support Plans completed within 31 working days
• Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) Annual Reviews
• Percentage of children with Initial Child Protection Conferences completed within 15 working days of the strategy discussion
• Percentage of children's social care assessments completed in 45 working days
• Percentage of 19-21-year-olds who have left care that are in education, employment or training
• Percentage of children subject to a Child Protection Plan who have been seen within timescales
• Percentage of Children in Need who have been seen within timescales
• Percentage of re-referrals within 12 months
• Percentage of eligible two-year-olds registered to receive funded early education entitlements
• Percentage of Buckinghamshire schools that are good or outstanding

Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to discuss its work programme and agree on items for the next meeting.