The Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Gloucestershire County Council met on Thursday 5 March 2026 to discuss several key areas concerning young people and families. The meeting's agenda included updates on incorporating young people's voices into policy-making, the Youth Justice Plan, progress with the Families First programme, and performance reports on various children's services.

Motion 976: Incorporating Young People's Voice, Participation and Co-Production into Council Policy-Making

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to discussing progress on Motion 976, which aims to better integrate the views of young people into Gloucestershire County Council's policymaking processes. The report outlined the council's commitment to collaborating with young people, youth workers, and senior officers to identify specific needs of young people in Gloucestershire and how policymaking can better incorporate their perspectives. This includes developing a Voice, Participation and Co-production strategy. The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the consultation approach and early findings from testing a youth survey, with the aim of finalising survey questions and the consultation methodology. The report highlighted that young people are often impacted differently by policy decisions due to factors such as limited financial resources and less access to civil support structures. The council committed to developing a template for policy and resource allocation decisions to ensure young people's needs are sufficiently considered, as part of or alongside Equality Impact Assessments. The committee was asked to consider recommendations for the final report that will be presented to Full Council in May 2026.

Youth Justice Plan 2026/27 and Prevention Measures

The committee was scheduled to provide feedback on the Youth Justice Plan for 2026/27 and receive an update on prevention and early intervention measures. The Youth Justice Service (YJS) works with children aged 10-17 who are involved in, or at risk of offending, operating under a 'Child First' framework. The plan for 2026/27 builds on a three-year strategy (2025-2028) with core priorities including workforce and culture, victims, the 'Child First' approach, inclusion and belonging, and health and wellbeing. The report detailed key achievements in 2025/26, such as workforce integration within Children's Services, strengthening the response to victims, and implementing the 'Child First' framework through initiatives like 'Engagement Passports'. Performance data indicated that Gloucestershire's Youth Justice Service consistently performs well against national measures, with rates of first-time entrants, reoffending, and custody remaining lower than regional and national averages. The report also highlighted areas for development into 2026/27, including addressing recommendations from a recent HMIP inspection, and continuing the Turnaround Programme, which provides early intervention funding from the Ministry of Justice.

Families First Partnership Programme

An update was scheduled on the progress of Gloucestershire's Families First Partnership Programme, a national reform initiative aimed at transforming children's social care. The programme focuses on earlier, integrated intervention, stronger multi-agency collaboration, and empowering families. Key strands of reform include Family Help, which merges targeted early help and child in need services; Multi-agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs) to provide decisive responses where significant harm is suspected; and Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) to empower families in shaping solutions. The report indicated that the programme was on track for implementation by March 2027, with early statutory milestones met, including the publication of the local Kinship Offer and the offering of Family Group Decision Making meetings. The report also detailed a review of the Education Directorate's operating model, acknowledging rising demand, changes due to Covid-19, and evolving statutory guidance. Emerging models for Children's Services were presented, focusing on a place-based community approach, a school-based service, and an integrated targeted early help support service.

Performance Reports

The committee was also scheduled to review several performance reports:

• Quarter 3 2025/26 Performance Report: This report provided a strategic overview of the council's performance for the third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, covering Children's Social Care and Education. It included scorecards detailing performance against key measures, such as the percentage of children open to social care with few social workers, re-referral rates, and the completion of assessments within statutory timescales. The report also highlighted strategic risks, including failure to develop sufficient placement capacity and increasing demand for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
• Family Hub Performance: This report summarised performance across Gloucestershire's Family Hubs, including Children & Family Centres, Youth Hubs, outreach services, and the Virtual Family Hub. It detailed service activity, demand trends, community capacity building, and emerging needs. The report indicated strong engagement across physical hubs, with rising complexity of need related to SEND, parental mental health, and cost-of-living pressures. The Virtual Family Hub showed exceptionally high levels of engagement. The report also highlighted key areas for scrutiny consideration, such as rural access barriers and workforce sustainability.

Work Plan and Future Meetings

The committee was also scheduled to review its work plan and suggest items for future consideration. Dates for future meetings were noted, including those in May, July, September, and November 2026.