Agenda

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Meeting held on 27 January 2026.

To note the latest updates to the recommendation tracker.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/documents/s2305/Public%20Items%20-%20Meeting%20Procedure%20Rules.pdf 

The deadline for the submission of public questions is 3 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

To receive a verbal update from the Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs).

BCP Council adopted ‘A shared vision for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 2024-28’ in May 2024. 

The shared vision is the corporate strategy which sets out the council’s vision, priorities and ambitions as well as the principles which underpin the way the council works as it develops and delivers its services. 

Incorporated in the vision is a set of measures of progress for achieving the vision, priorities and ambitions. 

This is the performance monitoring report for Quarter Three 25-26, presenting an update on the progress measures. 

The council’s delivery against its priorities and ambitions can also be monitored through the performance dashboardwhich is available on the council’s website providing up-to-date real time information on the progress measures.

To receive a verbal update from John Coughlan, DfE Advisor to BCP Council on SEND improvement Journey.

This report provides an overview of the Families First Partnership (FFP) programme, the Government’s national reform programme for children’s social care, and sets out the proposed approach to local implementation.

FFP underpins delivery of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the Government’s Plan for Change, and aligns with the NHS 10 Year reform agenda, providing a single delivery framework at place level. The programme aims to reduce crisis driven statutory intervention through earlier preventative measures, safely reduce the number of children entering care, and improve outcomes for children and families through family centred practice and stronger partnership working.

The report outlines the local governance and programme management arrangements, including the establishment of a Strategic FFP Board and a multi?disciplinary transformation team, alongside arrangements for partner engagement, workforce development and learning from national pathfinders. It sets out the Council’s priority delivery workstreams, including early help pathway development, front door reform, a Family Help pilot, planning for multi?agency child protection arrangements, and options appraisal for Family Group Decision Making.

In relation to the items of business appearing below, the Committee is asked to consider the following resolution: -

‘That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 2 in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act and that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs such interest in disclosing the information.’

This report provides a baseline assessment of the Children in Care (CiC) position at the end of Quarter 3 (December 2025) and sets out the mitigations already in train and further invest-to-save proposals.

CiC numbers have continued to rise to 628 (84.5 per 10,000), an increase of 13% (73 children) since Q4 2024/25. Forecast CiC expenditure for 2025/26 is £53.27m, c.11% (£5.4m) above budget, driven by rising demand and the increasing complexity and cost of provision.

The service has strengthened demand management and cost control through Early Help, the Reunification Team, employment of permanent Alternatively Qualified Practitioners, “It Takes a Family” (ITAF) and Mockingbird models, as well as the Creative Care Panel. To accelerate impact from 2026/27, an Outline Business Case proposes a Children in Care Transformation Programme (phase 1 investment £500k) comprising a full-system review and a CiC Strategy, with anticipated part-year savings of c.£1m in 2026/27.

The local area partnership SEND inspection took place in November 2025 and the final report was published by Ofsted on the 6^th February 2026. The report concludes that the local area partnership’s arrangements lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND, and that partners must work jointly to secure the necessary improvements.

Inspectors recognised clear progress and strengthened foundations since the previous inspection. The report highlights:

·       Increased stability in leadership and a strong shared vision across education, health and care. 

·       Improving lived experiences for many children and young people with SEND, with tangible examples of better multi?agency working and strengthened workforce capacity.

·       More responsive health support, better partnership functioning, and growing opportunities for children and young people to have their voices heard.

Inspection findings also reaffirm that improvement work since 2021, such as the strengthened SEND partnership structures, the development of the Belonging Strategy and improvements in communication and co?production, has set a strong platform for continued change.

Overall, the inspection confirms that the partnership is moving firmly in the right direction and must now embed improvements so that positive experiences become the norm across the BCP area.

The Council has a statutory duty to provide working families of children aged 0-14 (18 with SEND) enough childcare places in its area, where reasonably practicable.  Each year Research and Children’s Services colleagues assess the position of the market, providing parents, councillors, schools and private businesses ward level information as a planning tool to support access or expansion of places, while highlighting areas of focus or concern.

With significant government expansion of early years childcare now fully embedded this information and data is vital for private businesses seeking to enter the market and help the Council fulfil its ongoing statutory duties and the content of the assessment concludes that the Council is meeting its statutory duties.

In addition to a briefing report (appendix 1) the data that helped form the assessment is accessible here.

To receive a verbal update from the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People.

The Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee is asked to consider and identify work priorities for publication in a Work Plan.