The Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to meet on 4 November 2025 to discuss safeguarding and support services for children and young people in Islington. The agenda included verbal updates on government special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform, and the consideration of the Islington Safeguarding Children Annual Report, the Start for Life Programme Update, and the Child Protection Annual Report. The committee was also scheduled to discuss its work programme.

Islington Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report

The committee was scheduled to consider the Islington Safeguarding Children Partnership (ISCP) Annual Report ¹ for April 2024 to March 2025. The report reflects on the work of safeguarding partners over the past year, and the implementation of the new Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangement (MASA). The report highlights that safeguarding work during the reporting period focused on four key priorities:

• Addressing structural inequalities.
• Supporting children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) needs.
• Tackling neglect and parental factors.
• Strengthening early intervention and prevention.

The report also includes an overview by Alan Caton OBE, the ISCP Independent Chair/Scrutineer, who retired earlier in 2025, and an introduction by Ben Mant, the newly appointed scrutineer.

The report details the delivery framework for the Partnership Plan, which is underpinned by the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASA). It also summarises contributions from the Integrated Care Board (ICB), the Metropolitan Police, and the London Borough of Islington.

The report also contains data on:

• The effectiveness of children services contact/referral.
• The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).
• Local authority child protection.
• Family Group Conferences.
• Lifelong Links.
• Private Fostering.
• Corporate Parenting.
• The Children's Active Involvement Service (CAIS).
• The Quality Assurance Subgroup.
• The Family Wellbeing Subgroup.
• The Islington Family Help Pilot.
• The Education Subgroup.
• The Virtual School.
• Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE).
• The Adolescent Support Intervention Project (ASIP).
• The National Referral Mechanism.
• Young Islington, Youth Justice Plan 2025/2026.
• Young Islington, Youth Work – Impact Report 2024-2025.
• Whittington Health Safeguarding Activities.
• Initiatives: The Sunflower Project.
• Initiatives: Home Safe Prevention Project.
• The Training and Professional Development Subgroup.

Start for Life Programme Update

The committee was scheduled to discuss the Start for Life programme, which aims to join up and enhance services for families so they can access the support they need.

The report pack states that Islington Council has been one of 75 councils to receive funding from the Department for Education (DfE) to deliver the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme since autumn 2022.

The Start for Life programme focuses on 4 key areas of support for families: parenting support, infant feeding, early language and home learning environment, and perinatal mental health and parent infant-relationships.

The report pack notes that the Start for Life funding is time-limited, with a one-year extension to March 2026. It also notes that while the government has pledged continued support through the recently published 'Best Start in Life Strategy', funding details remain unclear, posing risks to service planning and sustainability.

Child Protection Annual Report

The committee was scheduled to discuss the Child Protection Annual Report, which provides an update on the progress being made in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of Islington's most vulnerable children for the reporting period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

As at the end of March 2025, Islington Safeguarding and Family Support Service was working with 941 children in need, 291 children who are looked after, 584 active care leavers and 123 children with child protection plans. 83% of child protection plans are due to emotional abuse or neglect.

The report pack notes that in December 2024, Ofsted judged Islington's overall effectiveness as Outstanding.

The report also provides information on:

• Governance Arrangements
• Islington's Motivational Practice Model and Partners in Practice Work
• Performance Management and Quality Assurance
• Missing Children
• Child Exploitation and Group Offending

Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to review its work programme for 2025/26. According to the report pack, the next meeting was scheduled for 15 December 2025, and would include discussion of the Quarter One Performance Report, Lifelong Corporate Parenting Responsibilities, and the Youth Services Annual Report.