The Children and Education Scrutiny Sub-Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss the performance of Education, Health and Care Plans¹ (EHCP) for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and to review the provision of mental health services for children and young people in Tower Hamlets.

Children and Young People's Mental Health

The sub-committee is scheduled to discuss a report on children and young people's mental health. The report notes that mental health is a dynamic state of wellbeing allowing people to cope with life and contribute to their communities, and that early intervention is crucial, as many mental health issues begin in childhood.

The report states that the national rate of mental illness has increased significantly since 2017, with events like the Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living increases negatively impacting children and parents. It also notes that mental health needs recorded in primary care for Tower Hamlets children aged 5-19 are far lower than national estimates would suggest.

The report states that Tower Hamlets has a wide range of resources in place for children and young people's mental health and wellbeing, and that the council is working to optimise the resources available and improve co-production with children and families.

The report also includes a Children and Young People Mental Health Needs Assessment, which provides an updated local picture of the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people aged 0-19 in Tower Hamlets, including risk factors for developing poor mental health.

The report identifies a number of key findings:

• Demand is expected to increase.
• Mental health challenges and parent-infant relationship difficulties are high among 0-4 year olds, but there is limited provision.
• It is not clear whether mild-moderate levels of need can be met by current service offerings.
• Data regarding protected characteristics and vulnerabilities is not readily available, so equity of access, experience, and outcomes is not fully understood.
• Families report challenges with accessing mental health promoting activities due to time and cost of living.
• There is a lack of cultural tailoring regarding mental health communication.
• Services and organisations do not always have a good understanding of each other's roles and how to refer or signpost.
• Insight from co-production activities does not get shared beyond the immediate project.

The report outlines a number of future priorities, including:

• Enhancing system co-ordination and integration.
• Developing and implementing cross-system, inclusive communication approaches.
• Improving data quality.
• Addressing inequities in interventions.
• Maximising the impact of participation and co-production with children and their families.

The Tower Hamlets Education Welfare Service (THEWS) is mentioned in the report as providing direct services to 75 schools, including 1:1 support for children in primary school experiencing anxiety. The Behaviour Support Team in Education Services also has an anti-bullying offer for schools, including guidance and advice on policy development, recording and monitoring, and specific incidents.

The report also references external assurance of services, including the inspection of Tower Hamlets local authority children's services in November 2024, and the Area SEND inspection of Tower Hamlets Local Area Partnership in June 2025.

SEND: EHCP Performance Review

The sub-committee is scheduled to discuss the performance and quality of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

The report pack includes a presentation that will cover findings from the SEND local area inspection, improvements to the quality and performance of EHCPs, the approach to quality assurance, timeliness of new EHCPs and annual reviews, oversight of quality and performance, strengthening multi-agency working, and the view from the SEND Parent Carer Forum.

The report notes that leaders across the partnership should ensure that:

preparing for adulthood (PfA) outcomes across education, health and social care are more effectively planned from Year 9 onwards

EHC plans accurately reflect children and young people's health and social care needs and provision

amended EHC plans are issued in a consistently timely way

older young people with outdated EHC plans are prioritised.

The report also outlines a number of improvements that have been made to the EHCP process, including bringing EHCP writing in-house, introducing a SENAR register and advice tracker, introducing a new EHCP Quality Assurance Framework and multi-agency audit process, appointing a new dedicated SEND worker in the Multi Agency Support Team (MAST), initiating training across the SEN Service and children's social care, and establishing the Designated Social Care Officer (DSCO) as point of escalation for 1-1 consultations around EHCPs.

The report states that a new EHCP quality assurance framework is in place, supported by a programme of training on quality of advice and plan writing. It also notes that a multi-agency audit focused on the quality of EHCPs has taken place, attended by practitioners from across health, education and social care.

The report includes data on the timeliness of new EHCPs, noting that for the 2025 calendar year (January to September) 44.4% of all Plans issued are within 20 weeks. This is 4.7% higher than the 2024 calendar year position for LBTH (39.7%), but slightly lower than the 2024 calendar year National average of 46.4%.

The report also includes data on the timeliness of annual reviews, noting that 85.5% of plans received an annual review in the 2024/25 academic year. This is higher than the 51.5% reported for LBTH for the 2024 calendar year, and higher than the 2024 London average (80.6%), but lower than the 2024 National average (86.5%).

The report outlines a number of ways in which multi-agency working will be strengthened, including developing a multi-agency EHCP process map, re-establishing a SEND multi-agency audit group, jointly funding locum speech and language therapists, appointing a 0.4 FTE Deputy Designated Clinical Officer (DCO) using ICB SEND investment, and appointing additional Transitions Worker and a new Transition Coordinator.

The report also includes a view from Samantha Gager, Chair of the Tower Hamlets Independent SEND Parents Forum.

Other Items

The agenda includes apologies for absence, and declarations of interest, where councillors are required to declare any personal or pecuniary interests they may have in the items to be discussed.

The sub-committee will also confirm the minutes of the previous meeting held on 22 September 2025.