The Children's Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to meet on 15 September 2025 to discuss Children and Young People's mental health, improvements to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) services, and alternative provision for children unable to attend mainstream education. The committee was also expected to review its work plan for the coming year.

SEND Improvement Programme

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the SEND improvement programme, which has reportedly made progress in stabilising the workforce and improving plan quality.

Key areas of focus in the SEND Improvement Update Final report included:

• Assessment processes and timeliness, including AI solutions
• Resolving disagreements, including tribunals
• Improved communication with families
• Addressing the high use of Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) and Alternative Provision (AP)
• Improving co-production across the system

The report noted that the number of children requiring an EHCP across England had increased by 140% between 2014 and 2023. It also stated that rising numbers of Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments (EHCNAs) requests were placing considerable pressure on the service, and that the introduction of AI solutions was being explored to help manage these demands and improve efficiency.

The report also included several appendices, including Appendix 1 for SEND Improvement Update which details ECHNA timescales, Appendix 2 for SEND Improvement Update which contains the SEND Improvement Board Scorecard, Appendix 3 LE of families SEND assessment and review which details the lived experience of families, and Appendix 4 LE of families -EOTAS which details the lived experience of families with children in EOTAS.

SEND Budget Pressures

The committee was scheduled to discuss SEND budget pressures. A report on SEND Budget Pressures 16072025 Cabinet noted that the outturn for 2024/25 was high needs expenditure of £111.9m compared with funding of £62.0m, creating a funding gap of £49.9m. The report stated that the high needs budget for 2025/26 was set with the expectation that the annual funding gap would grow to £57.5m.

The report also stated that the government recognised that the SEND system needed to change, and that plans were to be set out in a Schools White Paper in the autumn.

Alternative Provision Improvement Plan

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Alternative Provision Improvement Plan Final. The report stated that the council was developing a three-tier model of AP that promotes early intervention, targeted support, and specialist provision. The model is designed to reduce exclusions, improve outcomes, and ensure that AP is used as a short-term intervention rather than a long-term destination.

The report also outlined the rationale for change, the options considered, and the preferred approach, as well as the implications of the proposed model in relation to sustainability, public health, legal compliance, workforce development, and commissioning.

Children and Young People's Mental Health Transformation

The Children and Young Peoples (CYP) Mental Health (MH) Transformation update was also on the agenda. The report stated that the CYP Mental Health Transformation Programme (Your Mind Your Say ) had progressed into the Mobilisation and Implementation phase following full business case approval and Phase 1 funding.

The report noted that key priorities included mobilising early help and crisis response teams and expanding community access.

The report also stated that a Population Health Management dashboard would support outcome tracking and equity monitoring, and that CYP and family voices would remain central, with feedback mechanisms embedded throughout.

BCP Safeguarding Children Partnership Yearly Report

The BCP Safeguarding Children Partnership Yearly Report 2425 FINAL was scheduled to be submitted to the committee. The report stated that since the dissolution of the 'Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership', the new BCP Safeguarding Children Partnership had focussed on implementing new arrangements to fulfil the statutory responsibilities of the three statutory safeguarding partners. The three statutory safeguarding partners are BCP Council, NHS Dorset ICB¹ and Dorset Police.

The report provided an account of what had been done as part of local arrangements, the impact of learning from local and national reviews, how independent scrutiny had been applied to review and challenge safeguarding practice, how education partners were engaged with, and future improvements that can be made as to the effectiveness of local safeguarding arrangements.

Children's Services Compliments and Complaints Annual Report

The Childrens Services Compliments Complaints Annual Report 20242025 was also scheduled to be submitted to the committee. The report provided an update on the compliments, complaints and representations made to BCP Council about Children's Services during 2024-25.

Work Plan

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was asked to consider and identify work priorities for publication in a Work Plan, as detailed in the Childrens OS updated workplan 17 07 2025.