Vicky Metheringham, Service Director for
Family help, Safeguarding and Permanence, gave an update on
performance data to 31st January 2026 -
- Initial child protection conferences
– there had been a decline in performance in the timeliness
of initial child protection conferences in January 2026. The main
reason for the decline was a delay in invitation lists being sent
to partners and family. This left insufficient time to schedule the
conference given that partner agencies needed time to provide the
required information. Solutions to improve the situation included
reinstating oversight from the service manager and head of service,
and meeting with managers to review the workflow and agreeing
practical improvements. The timeliness of section 47 investigations
were reviewed twice a week resulting in a notable improvement since
January 2026. Where delays had occurred, social workers continued
to see those children and clear safety plans were put in place with
partners to ensure the delay did not expose the children to
unnecessary risk.
- Child protection visits –
there had been a reduction in child protection visits according to
the data, however weekly performance reports from team managers
explained the children were seen, but that there was an issue with
recording in a timely way on the electronic social care record.
Proactive steps had been taken to address the issue. When children
were not seen, this was mainly due to the family not being in at
the time that the practitioner made the visit.
- Child protection review conferences
– there had been an apparent decrease in the timeliness of
child protection review conferences. This was because a small
number of child protection reviews had been rescheduled and
therefore convened outside statutory time scales. Reasons for
rescheduling were mixed, but included ensuring that parents and
partners could attend. In two instances the report from the social
worker had not been available due to Christmas leave, and the
importance of ensuring the reports were ready was recognised. The
overall 12-month average of review conferences which had taken
place on time, was 91%, which was above the national average
picture.
In answer to a question, the Panel were
advised that the planned approach was to create a dedicated
multi-agency child protection team that would redefine roles and
responsibilities. This would bring greater consistency and
oversight of decision making, and allow for more reflection during
decision-making conversations. The most experienced social work
practitioners would lead the child protection decision making.
Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director for Learning
and Inclusion, gave an update on the January 2026 exclusion and
suspensions performance data and highlighted key points which
included -
- 13 notifications of permanent
exclusions had been made, of which 4 children were at SEN support,
2 had an EHCP and one was a child looked after. In terms of
answering a question on whether exclusions were proportionate, the
following assurance was given:
- When a permanent exclusion
notification was received for a young person receiving SEND
support, the learning and inclusion team would already have
reviewed the evidence behind the notification and been assured that
the decision-making processes followed were in line with statutory
guidance.
- Schools were required to provide
detail of reasonable adjustments and interventions implemented, and
the involvement of external professionals and the risk factors
involved.
- The inclusion team had also explored
with schools whether alternatives to exclusion could be
considered.
- Governing bodies were required to
review every permanent exclusion through a governor disciplinary
committee meeting where written and verbal representations were
considered, to determine whether the exclusion would be upheld or
whether the leadership was directed to reinstate the pupil.
- The LA worked with schools to engage
with the inclusion team where youngsters received more than one
suspension, to provide earlier support from the outreach team,
alternative provision or time at a different school.
- For children and young people who
were looked after, the inclusion team worked closely with the
virtual school.
- Fortnightly monitoring for
exclusions and suspensions took place.
- Suspensions were significantly lower
than at a similar period last year.
In answer to a question regarding the training
of school governors, Jo-Anne Sanders advised the Panel that school
governor training was commissioned.
Jo-Anne Sanders gave an update on
January’s performance data on EHCPs and highlighted key
points which included -
- In January, 5,144 EHCPs were
maintained by Kirklees, with 68 EHCPs issued and 81 new requests
received.
- Statutory compliance of issuing
EHCPs in January was low, at 2.9%, due to challenges across the
partnership and the spike in applications during June and July
2025.
- Plans were being issued at 21 or 22
weeks, just outside time scales.
- Systems were in place with the
liquid logic portal and it was possible to pinpoint the stage of
each plan and identify hold-ups.
- In response to the Scrutiny Panel
request for data around complaints, mediations, and tribunals,
quarterly data and analysis would be provided at future
meetings.
- In January 2026, 23 complaints had
been made - 12 of those were at stage
one, one of was at stage two. 7 complaints had been
received from MPs and Councillor
Enquiries and 3 subject access requests had been submitted.
- No Ombudsman enquiries had been
registered and no complaints were at stage three.
- Where concerns were raised, more
were being resolved at the first stage.
- The biggest driver for complaints
was around placement and provision, which was a nationwide
issue.
- In response, time and energy had
been invested into early resolution, with casework officers trying
to keep communication channels open with families.
- There had been an increase in
requests for tribunals, due to system pressure and placement
related appeals. Decision making undertaken across panels was
broadly robust and most decisions were upheld.
- There had been investment in staff
training and capacity within the mediation and tribunal teams to
manage complexity and timeliness.
- Learning from mediation and
tribunals was being used to inform service improvement.
RESOLVED –
1)
That the verbal updates be noted and officers be thanked for the
level of detail provided.
2)
That the data on complaints, tribunals and mediations be included
in the data booklet for consideration by the Panel at future
meetings.