Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Helal Uddin, sub-committee member and Cllr Asma Begum, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet member for Children, Youth Services and Equalities.

Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest, identified in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine: whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are also reminded to declare the nature of the interest at the earliest opportunity and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it is the Members’ responsibility to identify any interests and also update their register of interest form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of an interest, you are advised to seek advice prior the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest were made by the members.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the held on 21^st November and 8^th December 2021.

The minutes of the previous meeting of 21^st October and 8^th December 2021 were agreed to be an accurate record of the meetings and were approved by the Sub-Committee.

The Sub-Committee received a verbal update in relation to the continued impact Covid-19 was having on children and young people in Tower Hamlets.

Mr James Thomas, Corporate Director for Children & Culture introduced the item and stated all services were working in partnership to deliver the ‘bounce back’ strategic initiative. He said there were three distinct themes, (1) Bounce back with learning (2) Bounce back through play and (3) Bounce back with support.

Mr Thomas said they were in the recovery stage from the Omicron variant of Covid-19, and as Chair of the Safeguarding Partnership’s silver group they were looking closely at the impact the recent strain was having on social care services as well as schools. He said they needed to understand the demand and needs of children and families. He said there were five areas they were focussing on: (1) Early years and the lack of opportunities to socialise (2) mental health and emotional wellbeing (3) Domestic abuse and violence (4) family poverty and (5) SEND children and families.

Mr Steve Nyakatawa, Director of Education then provided the Sub-Committee with an update on the impact the latest variant was having on Education. Mr Nyakatawa said one of the key pressures was the absence of staff during the term and the shortage of agency staff to cover those absences. He said he was pleased no schools had been closed during the autumn term, with senior leadership teams reconfiguring classes and taking on teaching roles. He said schools were perusing the ‘Every Child Online’ campaign to ensure the issue of digital poverty was being addressed. Mr Nyakatawa said the Tower Hamlets Emotional Wellbeing Service had been providing support to children and schools.

Mr Nyakatawa stated they were working with the Tower Hamlets Education Partnership (THEP) to identify and support children with gaps in their reading and maths. He said THEP was supporting school leaders to address these gaps as well as support children taking exams over the Summer.

The Sub-Committee then heard from Ms Beasley- Murray Director of Supporting Families who stated that she had seen clear examples of good practice, since joining Tower Hamlets. She said the feedback from families, chairs and social workers was positive and showed how creatively everyone was working to protect and safeguard children. She said performance had dipped over Christmas due to the Omicron variant, with 77.6% of visits being completed within four weeks however this had recovered in January 2022 to 90%. Likewise, child protection visits had slightly dipped from 94.4% within 10 working days but had now recovered to 96.6%. Ms Beasley-Murray said they continued to put focus on performance and sickness rates and would be monitoring caseloads and impact on staff. Ms Beasley-Murray said the recruitment and retention of staff, whilst not an issue during the pandemic, was seeing a shift with many members of staff deciding to take a career break or return to visit family over an extended period. Ms Beasley-Murray said this shift was not unique to Tower Hamlets  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.1

Background papers attached.

The Chair Councillor Bex White appraised the Sub-Committee with the aims of the scrutiny session and said the Sub-Committee would first hear from services users; second comment on the written statement of action, following the Ofsted Inspection and ways to improve the quality of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP’s) and thirdly the Directorate’s action plan.

The Sub-Committee then heard from Mr James Thomas, Corporate Director for Children and Culture who stated that meeting the needs of children and young people especially those with Special Educational Needs and Disability was an absolute priority for the Safeguarding partnership. Mr Thomas said a joined-up system which met the range of need was crucial. He said as the Chair of the SEND Improvement Board, it was vital the voices of children and young people were at the centre of the improvement work. He said whilst positive outcomes, in particular educational outcomes were above the national average, improvement was required in relation to EHCP plans. He said many services fell short of expectation and work of underway to improve the user experience.

Service Users Perspective

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Ms Sornnaly Hossain, a Young Person with SEND and a member of ‘Our Time Youth Forum.’ Ms Hossain was supported by Ms Jenny Miller, manager of the Family Information and Support Service.

The main points to note were:

• Ms Sornnaly Hossain explained the achievements of the forum and the different activities the forum has been involved in. The presentation highlighted the challenges faced by SEND young people and the future aims of the forum.
• She said it was vital the voices of young people with SEND were heard and were listened to when shaping new policies or services.
• Ms Hossain highlighted the ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) cards the Our Time Forum had designed in collaboration with the Council and NHS.

The Sub-Committee then heard from Ms Sam Gager, Chair of the Independent Parent and Carer Forum.

The main points made by Ms Gager were:

• Parents of SEND children were at breaking point, because of the curtailments made to services during the pandemic and lockdown. She said may parents were finding it hard to cope with the daily pressures of managing and caring for SEND children.
• She said the Council needed to re-examine the respite offer available to parents. She said provision should be tailored to meet the different requirements and needs of every family, rather than be a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
• Ms Gager said it was important for parent representation on the various different Boards and forums, especially on CAMHS services so the voice of parents and children with SEND is heard.

In answer to questions and comments from members the following was noted:

• In response to what Councillors could do to help the Our Time Forum in their campaign for change, Ms Hossain said many children with SEND were isolated and therefore it would help if Councillors promoted inclusion and worked to dispel the ignorance about children with SEND  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.2

The Chair asked Mr James Thomas, Corporate Director for Children and Culture to provide a brief update in relation to the Independent Enquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IECSA).

Mr Thomas informed the Sub-Committee that IECSA had published a report in February reporting on child sexual exploitation by organised networks and web-based abuse. He said the review involved work done by councils and police, in six authorities during for 2017 2019. He said the report found significant weaknesses for that period. Mr Thomas reminded members that the Council had achieved a inadequate rating in the 2017 Ofsted inspection. He said IECSA recognised the positive improvements that had been made since then and said that tackling Child Sex Abuse, was a key priority for the Safeguarding Partnership, along with domestic abuse and violence and online safety.

Mr Thomas said the Safeguarding Partnership had signed off the Violence, Vulnerability and Exploitation strategy in Autumn 2020, with a dedicated child exploitation team involving multi-agencies. He said the partnership would be discussing the IECSA report at its next executive meeting in March and will consider the recommendations made in the report. He said it was clear they needed to further improve data collection and understand the issue locally, with particular focus on risk to children with disabilities.

The Chair recommended that the Sub-Committee look at the findings of the IECSA report and the response in the next municipal year, once Officers had had the chance to consider it.

The Chair thanked the Members and Officers of the Sub-Committee for their contributions over the year and said she believed the Sub-Committee had worked hard to make a difference to the lives of Children, young people and their families.