The Children and Families Scrutiny Panel were scheduled to meet on 11 September 2025 to discuss performance and transformation in children's services and learning, the youth justice service, and fostering recruitment and retention. The panel was also scheduled to review progress on recommendations made at previous meetings.

Fostering: Recruitment and Retention

The panel was scheduled to discuss a report from Steph Murray, Director of Children's Social Care, outlining Southampton City Council's strategy to recruit and retain foster carers. The report noted that ensuring enough skilled and knowledgeable foster carers is one of the biggest challenges currently facing the fostering sector. Good foster carers can make a huge difference in the life of a child, by providing them with a safe, stable and loving home so that they can thrive.

The report stated that in March 2024, 67% of the 83,630 looked after children in England lived in foster care. However, the number of approved mainstream fostering places has decreased by 5% nationally, while the number of children living in care has risen by 9% over the same period.

The report identified several factors affecting people's ability and willingness to consider becoming a local authority foster carer, including:

• The cost-of-living crisis
• Increased working-from-home opportunities
• Foster carer burnout
• Misconceptions about age eligibility
• Increased competition from Independent Fostering Agencies

The report included data on the number of approved foster placements in Southampton since 2017, which has gradually declined. | Collection year | Number of households | Number of places | |-----------------|-------------------------|------------------| | 2017 | 255 | 442 | | 2018 | 223 | 385 | | 2019 | 213 | 357 | | 2020 | 205 | 339 | | 2021 | 199 | 333 | | 2022 | 183 | 325 | | 2023 | 221 | 407 | | 2024 | 168 | 316 | | 2025 | 142 | 277 |

The report also included data on the number of enquiries received, applications progressed, and carers de-registered.

As of June 2025, there were 157 approved fostering households, comprising 114 mainstream foster carers and 43 kinship foster carers. The report stated that the immediate priority is to recruit and retain more carers and better utilise the carers the council already has.

The report detailed a number of actions that have been taken to improve fostering in Southampton, including:

• Conducting a city-wide survey to understand the landscape of fostering in Southampton
• Improving the assessment process
• Utilising existing carers in the recruitment process
• Launching a Fostering Advocates Scheme
• Implementing the Mockingbird Programme[^2] [^2]: The Mockingbird Programme is an extended family model that supports foster carers and the children they care for.
• Working with Newtons Impact Ltd to improve utilisation tracking and data visibility
• Developing a policy to support housing adaptations for approved carers' homes
• Implementing Foster Carer Forums
• Collaborating with LAFSE (Local Authority Fostering Service East)[^3] [^3]: LAFSE is a regional network for shared learning, joint marketing and resource development.
• Running a 'Little Bears' campaign
• Implementing a Placement Stability Panel
• Offering exit interviews for foster carers
• Providing comprehensive training, development and support for foster carers

The report stated that over the next 12 to 18 months, the council planned to focus on:

• Increasing its online presence
• Launching focused outreach to empty-nesters, diverse communities, and under-represented groups
• Considering how to develop more realistic advertisement narratives
• Developing a social media action plan
• Creating more engaging on-line content
• Highlighting what makes Southampton different
• Continuing community outreach
• Replicating the teddy-bear trail with different visions
• Focusing a campaign on the assessment process
• Rolling out the 'Care Friends' App
• Continuing to develop the training on offer
• Changing the narrative of the foster carer role
• Expanding the Mockingbird Programme
• Considering the feedback received from carers around issues with logistics
• Developing cultural competence
• Developing an Out of Hours telephone support service for foster carers

The report recommended that the Panel scrutinise the strategies outlined in the report and consider how scrutiny can actively support the recruitment and retention of foster carers.

The Youth Justice Service

The panel was scheduled to receive an update on the performance of the Youth Justice Service (YJS) in Southampton from Rob Henderson, Executive Director of Children and Learning. The report focused on issues discussed at the Children and Families Scrutiny Panel in March 2024:

• The number of children sentenced or remanded to custody
• Improvements in education outcomes
• Levels of serious youth violence

The report stated that in 2023/24, Southampton had an overall crime rate of 127 crimes per 1,000 population, significantly higher than the national average of 86 per 1,000 and the second highest amongst comparator Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs). However, police recorded crime in Southampton declined by 8.2% in 2023/24 compared to the previous year.

The report noted that Southampton had a crime severity score of 22.3 across all crimes in 2023/24, the highest among comparators, suggesting that Southampton has a more severe mix of crimes. From 2022/23 to 2023/24, there were notable increases in the volume of drug offences and drug affected crimes, as well as crimes involving a bladed implement.

The report included data on youth justice custody rates, which are a National Indicator. The data showed that Southampton had high custody rates in 2023, but that there had been a steady decline in rates into 2024. The current rates reflect the sentences of four incidences of custody in a 12 month period, up to the end of 2024, compared to 11 in 2023.

The report detailed work that has supported this progress, including:

• Offering alternative to custody packages for children at risk of remand and custody
• Using 'Turnaround' funding from the MOJ to be more proactive with children who have gone through police custody
• Providing creative and bespoke packages for children at most need through the education team
• Assertive representation of senior leaders at court
• Reviewing bail documents to strengthen the response to child first approaches
• A partnership response to serious youth violence
• Monitoring children's vulnerability in custody

The report also included data on remand rates, which are not a National Indicator. The report stated that there had been a reduction in the rates of remand into 2024/25 compared to the year before, with a shift from Youth Offending Institute into alternative options.

The report noted that costs for remanded children fall to the Local Authority due to those children also being looked after, and that costs for remand are substantial.

The report included data on Youth Justice First Time Entrant (FTE) rates, which are a National Indicator. The data showed that Southampton has been successful in tackling first time entrant rates over a period of three years, and is just above its statistical neighbour average.

The report detailed areas of focus that have enabled this, including:

• The Southampton Youth Justice youth diversion programme (YDP)
• A child first and trauma informed response in panel
• The voice of the child and family being routinely heard in the panel
• A more established multi agency presence at panel
• A robust and proactive Young People Service wrapped around YJS
• A multi-agency scrutiny panel

The report included data on youth justice reoffending rates, which are a National Indicator. The data showed that Southampton has the third highest rates in its statistical neighbour group, and that it consistently remains higher than both the national average and its statistic neighbour average.

The report stated that the city's strategic needs assessment identifies factors such as high levels of domestic abuse, neglect, parental mental health, substance misuse, deprivation and poverty as contributing to this picture.

The report detailed the service and partnership commitment to reducing reoffending through the annual youth justice action plan for the year 2025/26, including:

• A proactive response at the prevention stage
• A high-risk monthly meeting with oversight from Forensic CAMHS
• Liaison with other services in the statistical neighbour group with a view to peer learning
• A focused deterrent response
• Use of arrest tracker, review of all Youth Community Resolutions, and Turnaround funding
• Aligning the local youth justice strategy with adult probation strategic priorities
• Intelligence led prevention of offending
• Review of team and resource caseload
• Potential to replicate systems in other part of the county where police colleagues have created multi agency scrutiny and monitoring of investigations times
• Increasing the voice of the victim and police lead data to enhance board knowledge of victim need
• Increased data driven response to education, training and employment needs

The report included data on education, training and employment (ETE) outcomes for young people in the youth justice system. The report stated that the YJS has seen a steady increase in the number of children in suitable ETE, but that there are still challenges around maintaining suitability status.

The report detailed initiatives to ensure further improvements, including:

• The skills and development opportunities in the young people's hub
• The integrated education and health pathway (HELP) and work with SEND colleagues
• The Holiday and Food initiative
• Investment in time and resource to produce a tool to enable more effective oversight and in the moment outline of the cohorts ETE picture
• Southampton YJ are now an accreditation centre for Lazer awards
• The CSCS programme[^4] [^4]: CSCS stands for Construction Skills Certification Scheme.
• The development of another training pathway focused on coffee roasting, branding, marketing, and selling
• Trialling a dedicated hub tutor
• Links with the Royal Navy
• Successfully applying for alternative provision status
• Southampton YJ Partnership has achieved the Youth Justice SEND Quality Lead Award with a Child First Commendation in October 2024
• Southampton contributes to a child first effective partnership practice online seminar in July 2025
• Examples of good practice from Southampton are on the YJ Effective Practice Resource Hub for our education work

The report included information on serious youth violence, with the Youth Justice Board's operational definition of Serious Violence (SV) being any drug, robbery or violence against the person offence that has a gravity score of five or more. The report stated that Southampton tracks serious violence offences due to the significant risks to victims, communities, and public safety.

The report included data showing that while the city was significantly above all benchmarking comparators in 2023, over the last two years there has been a decrease in those levels.

The report detailed that Southampton nevertheless remains above its comparators in this area, with knife crime continuing to require a specific focus. The improvement plan includes:

• Moving youth justice under the governance of the Community Safety Partnership
• Funding from the Violent Reduction Unit to help create a model that works for the city

The report included information on the Focused Deterrence (FD) programme, which is for children aged 10 – 18 who are identified as being at risk of violence. The project has space for direct work with 30 children and aims to provide an intensive offer.

The report also included information on a focus on the St Mary's area, which has prominent levels of criminal exploitation and an increased risk of offending and being brought into the youth justice system. A location assessment was completed in February 2025 to understand the scale and nature of harm to young people in St Mary's, particularly linked to criminal exploitation, drug supply, and violence, and to inform targeted safeguarding responses.

From that assessment a partnership context plan was developed with a focus on targeted intervention to increase safety and reduce harm. Key actions included strengthen youth provision, especially evenings/weekends, continue detached outreach in hotspot areas, improve environmental safety, increase police visibility and coordinate disruption of adult exploiters, engage Saints Foundation and leisure centre operator (Testlands), gather youth voice, and build trust with community leaders.

Ongoing actions relating to this include:

• An integrated data dashboard for children most at risk
• Tracking of Focused Deterrent cohort from St Mary's
• Tracking ETE outcomes from the cohort through the newly developed data system
• Focusing the take up of the holiday diversionary programme from the St Mary's cohort
• Focusing the development of Community Guardians in St Marys locality
• Increasing the CPI activity in St Mary's area from children's services and the public via awareness raising campaigns
• Setting up a parent's support groups in the St Mary's locality
• Increase 7 days per week Youth Outreach in the St Mary's area, targeted at tackling CCE and Serious Youth Violence

The report recommended that the Panel review and challenge the detail within the report relating to the performance of the Youth Justice Service in Southampton, and receive six monthly updates on the 3 areas of focus.

Children and Learning - Performance and Transformation

The panel was scheduled to consider and challenge the performance of Children's Services and Learning in Southampton. The report included a summary of performance for Children's Services up to the end of July 2025.

The report included monthly performance data linked to the key outcomes of the council's governing strategy, Building for Brilliance. The strategy focuses on:

• Ensuring that children get the right support at the right time
• Developing strong, vibrant localities
• Supporting children to remain within, or return to, their birth families
• Promoting permanence and placement stability
• Building a permanent, stable, energised workforce
• Embedding the practice framework and practice standards

The report included data on a range of performance indicators, including:

• Number of referrals into Early Help
• Rate of statutory referrals
• Rate of assessments
• Number of children with a Child in Need (CiN) plan
• Number of Strategy Discussions held
• Rate of Section 47s completed[^5] [^5]: Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on local authorities to make enquiries to decide whether they should take action to protect children who are suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm.
• Rate of children subject to a Child Protection (CP) plan
• Rate of children open to the statutory service
• Number of Early Help assessments started
• Number of assessments completed
• Percentage of Strategy discussions resulting in a Section 47 enquiry
• Percentage of Section 47s resulting in an Initial Child Protection Conference (ICPC)
• Percentage of re-referrals within 12 months
• Percentage of referrals leading to No Further Action (NFA)
• Percentage of children subject to a 2nd or more CP plan
• Percentage of children subject to 2nd of more CP plan within 2 years
• Percentage of core group meetings held within timescale
• Percentage of CIN review meetings held within timescale
• Percentage of assessments completed within 45 days
• Percentage of initial health assessments in timescale
• Percentage of review health assessments in timescale
• Number of children subject to pre-proceedings
• Number of children in proceedings
• Rate of children in care
• Number of new care entrants
• Number of children ceasing care
• Number of children placed with parents (under a Care Order)
• Number of children placed in Kinship arrangements
• Percentage of children achieving a Care Arrangement Order (CAO) or Special Guardianship Order (SGO)
• Percentage of children returning home as part of care planning (Care Order discharged)
• Number of children in care placed with Southampton City Council (SCC) foster carers
• Percentage of children in care placed with SCC foster carers
• Number of children in care placed with an Independent Fostering Agency (IFA)
• Percentage of children in care placed with an IFA
• Number of children in care placed in residential children's homes
• Percentage of children in care placed in residential children's homes
• Number of children placed for adoption
• Number of children in care in unregulated or registered settings
• Percentage of children in care placed in unregulated or registered settings
• Percentage of children with 3 or more placements in a year
• Total number of children open to statutory teams
• Number of children held by case holding fully qualified social worker
• Full Time Equivalent (FTE) case-holding qualified social worker posts in service
• Total number of social workers with 20+ children
• Average number of children per 1FTE for social workers with 20+ children
• Average number of children per 1FTE for social workers in the top 40
• Average number of sick days in service
• Staff turnover rate for Childrens Social Care
• Percentage of children in our care that have been in care for 12+ months with same social worker for last 6 months
• Percentage of children open for 6+ months that have had 2 or more social workers in the last 6 months
• Number of audits allocated
• Number of audits completed
• Number of families contacted for feedback
• Number of audits moderated
• Percentage of audits of completed
• Percentage of audits that included family feedback
• Percentage of audits moderated up
• Percentage of audits moderated down
• Percentage of audits that involved the practitioner and/or their manager
• Percentage of audits graded 'outstanding' or 'good'
• Percentage of audits graded 'requires improvement'
• Percentage of audits graded 'inadequate'
• Number of children with Early Help plan
• Number of Children with CIN plan
• Number of children in our care
• Number of care leavers
• Number of children on CIN stepping up to CP
• Number of children on CIN or CP becoming looked after
• Percentage of children with Early Help plan with visit in timescales
• Percentage of children with Early Help plan with supervision in timescales
• Percentage of children with CIN plan with visit in timescales
• Percentage of children with CIN plan with supervision in timescales
• Percentage of children with CP plan with visit in timescales
• Percentage of children with CP plan with supervision in timescales
• Percentage of children in our care with visit in timescales
• Percentage of children in our care with supervision in timescales
• Percentage of care leavers in touch with local authority
• Percentage of care leavers with supervision in timescales
• Average duration of open CIN plans (weeks)
• Average duration of open CP plans (weeks)

The report also included a glossary of terms used in children's services.

The report recommended that the Panel consider and challenge the performance of Children's Services and Learning in Southampton.

Monitoring Scrutiny Recommendations

The panel was scheduled to consider a report from the Scrutiny Manager regarding responses to recommendations from previous meetings and provide feedback. The report included a table setting out the recommendations made at previous meetings of the Children and Families Scrutiny Panel, a summary of action taken in response to the recommendations, and the progress status for each recommendation.