Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Hamandishe and Spring.

An apology for absence was received from Leanne Trotter, Healthwatch Medway.

To approve the record of the meeting held on 12 August 2026.  

The record of the meeting held on 12 August 2026 was agreed signed as correct.

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

There were none.

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

Councillor Cook declared that the Medway’s Local SEND Reforms report mentions wider partnership working and training and she is director of the Leigh Institute, Leigh Academies Trust which oversees the running of a number of DfE funded and paid-for organisations which provide training and development to schools across the South East. Following advice from the Council Monitoring Officer, she declared a broader interest in the subject matter and would remain in the room to contribute to the discussions.  

Following consultation with the Director of People and Deputy Chief Executive, it was agreed that this meeting would be Children’s Social Care Reforms and Special Educational Needs and Disability Reforms themed.

Estimated time: 1 hour 30 Minutes.

The discussions and decisions for this item can be found at minute numbers 338a and 338b.

This report provides an update on progress implementing the national children's social care reforms in Medway.

The reforms aim to:

·        help families receive support earlier.

·        strengthen child protection arrangements.

·        increase support available to kinship carers.

·        improve the availability of local placements for children in care.

·        improve outcomes for care leavers.

Progress continues across all reform areas. During the reporting period significant developments have included further design of the Family Help model, implementation of Family Network Support Packages, progress towards a Multi-Agency Child Protection Team, expansion of support for kinship carers and continued development of plans to improve services for care leavers.

The report highlights achievements, next steps and areas where continued partnership working is required.

Discussion:

The report was introduced and a presentation delivered on the reforms.

Members raised several comments and questions which included:

Speech and Language - concern was highlighted regarding the waiting list and the lack of experts in place to address issues with wait times. The Committee was informed that there was a national shortage of therapist and recruitment remained an area of challenge. Services continued to explore a number of initiatives as part of the joint workforce strategy to address this issue.

Kinship – it was asked how it was decided at the point that a decision was made for kinship care, what level of support was provided to the family and reassurance given that this was the right decision for the child. The Committee was informed that there was a comprehensive process in place with various assessments undertaken on suitability of a prospective carer. There was extensive scrutiny prior to decision making which also involved advice from legal colleagues, in particular where more than one carer had been identified as potentially suitable. There were risk assessments in place at every level to ensure that the right decision was being made. There was on going provision of support and periodic assessment of placements, and kinship carers were also informed of whom to contact at any point for support and to raise any concerns.

Sufficiency – it was commented that there were several children placed outside of Medway and it was asked how consistent the support that was  provided to those children had been. The Committee was informed that this was an area of ongoing priority. There was a strong robust quality assurance process in place for children and young people placed outside of Medway. There was ongoing extensive work being undertaken to minimise the need for outside placements such as ongoing recruitment of foster carers,  working with local independent fostering agencies as well as providers outside of independent fostering agencies. Utilising  resources as part of the regional care co-operative and south east region home and families to build on fostering networks. The aspiration was for all Medway children to be cared for in Medway.

Apprenticeships – it was asked how inclusive the Council was and how many SEND children were being offered apprenticeships. The Committee was informed that the Council continued to explore different means of provision of opportunities for young people to enable them to gain experience of employment. There were workstreams in place to support care leavers and keeping young people motivated. The Head of Children’s Partnership Commissioning added that work had been undertaken on development of videos for care leavers and young people, in partnership with Mid-Kent college on content that could assist in improving their wellbeing. There was also work being undertaken on starting a podcast at the college and inviting guest speakers to talk specifically about work, training and further education.

Workforce – it  was asked what the workforce’s views were on the reforms, and what feedback had been received on the impact of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 338a

The report sets out Medway's Local SEND Reform Plan, approved jointly by Medway Council, NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board and the wider Local Area Partnership. The Plan sets out the next stages of whole-system reform creating a sustainable, inclusive, and outcomes-focused 0-25 SEND system.

The reform programme responds to significant growth in demand, increasing Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) requests, increasing reliance on specialist placements and persistent gaps in outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

SEND is not solely an education issue. Poor outcomes for children and young people with SEND are closely associated with health inequalities, poorer mental health, reduced school attendance, increased family stress, and poorer preparation for adulthood. The reform programme therefore seeks to improve educational, health and wellbeing outcomes through earlier intervention, stronger inclusion, integrated support, and improved access to services.

The Plan is closely aligned to Family Hubs, Best Start in Life and wider Children's Services reforms, creating a single preventative system where needs are identified earlier and support is delivered closer to home. Health partners are central to delivery, particularly through community therapies, mental health support, integrated commissioning, and the development of the Experts at Hand model. The programme adopts an invest-to-save approach, shifting resources towards prevention and mainstream inclusion to reduce reliance on expensive independent placements and improve long-term financial sustainability.

Discussion:

Budget – it was asked what financial benefits would be realised from streamlining provision as the reform changes continued to be developed. The  Committee was informed that in terms of the Family First programme, work was being undertaken on early intervention and statutory programmes on prevention to minimise escalation of issues. By putting in early resources, the aspiration was that there would be a reduction on the need for costly resources in the long term. It would however take time for the impact on the budget to be realised.

School outcomes -  it was highlighted that outcomes in some schools were better than that of others, whilst some schools performed very well in areas of SEN support, some did not. There were also some schools that were resistant to change and did not always recognise the bigger picture. It was asked if the larger schools in academy trusts would be partnered with smaller schools that  were not part of trusts to provide support. The Committee was informed that there was rise in referrals and request for assessments and work was being undertaken on how best to support and work with schools. The main challenge for schools was not always financial or with funding but more with maintaining a sufficiently trained workforce. There would be  work undertaken with schools in this area as well and some commissioning of support. This is part of the SEND reform plans and Experts at Hands to support capacity building within mainstream schools.

Inclusion - it was commented that careful consideration needed to be given to the expectation of schools to take on children with specialist needs and  understanding that main stream schooling was not right for every child. Additionally, to support children that were in specialist school to move into mainstream school, as often when children started in specialist provision from a young age they did not tend to transition to mainstream provision. The Committee was informed that children with very specialist needs would continue to be supported in specialist provision and decisions on where a child received education was made on an individual basis. Many of the children in mainstream school with additional needs were there as that was the right environment for them and there had not been a significant increase in the number of children with additional needs in mainstream schools. The increase noted in the report was as a result of children that were already in mainstream education that were waiting for their EHCP to be finalised as part of the backlog the local authority was addressing at the time.

Partnerships - in response to a question on ensuring that some responsibilities did not end up falling on a small number of organisations, and that the whole system would work to ensure that children received the right support when needed, the Committee was informed that the aspiration was to move away from the current system which was heavily diagnostic driven. The aim was for a needs based system, not one  ...  view the full minutes text for item 338b

The purpose of this report is to present the Medway Youth Justice Plan 2026-2029, Appendix 1, for consideration and approval. The Plan sets out strategic direction for youth justice services in Medway over the period 2026-2029 and fulfils the Council's statutory duty under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to prepare and publish a Youth Justice Plan. The Plan has been developed by the Youth Justice Partnership Board and its statutory partners, including Children's Services, Kent Police, Health, Education and Probation.

The Plan has been developed jointly with statutory and partnership agencies and responds directly to the findings of the HM Inspectorate of Probation inspection undertaken in May 2026. It outlines Medway's commitment to a Child First approach, reducing offending and reoffending, supporting victims, tackling disproportionality and strengthening the partnership response to risk and vulnerability.

Estimated time: 30 Minutes.

Discussion:

The Committee received the annual report and was informed that  the service was given the option to provide a one, two or three year plan and it was decided to produce and submit a three year plan as a result of Local Government Reorganisation,  which had now subsequently been paused.

This plan provided an opportunity of self-evaluation on progress of the service and trajectory of travel.

Medway Youth Justice  Plan 2026-2029 prioritised four areas of focus over three years which included prevention of offending and re offending,  victim support and safety, violence and harm, and fairness, equality and inclusion.

Members raised several comments and questions which included:

Improving experience of  young people - it was commented that 80% of young people felt listened to and asked what was being done to improve experiences of the 1 in 5 young people that were not in that 80%. The Committee was informed that the main priority demonstrated throughout the plan was on how to improve engagement with parents and young people to ensure their voice would be heard. There would be a focus on gathering of feedback in order to develop a systemic response to address concerns and improve experience.

Multi agency protocol- it was noted that the plan called for a multiagency protocol to addressing serious violence and equipping young people to be active bystanders and it was asked how widely the protocol would be implemented as it was important that it was not limited to the cohort that had contact with the youth justice system. The Committee was informed that the service would not be limiting intervention to young people referred to the service and there would be wider work undertaken on prevention. A white paper had been launched on tackling knife crime, and the plan reinforced the  compulsory requirement by local authorities to tackle the issue. Issues needed to be addressed on a collective partnership basis as the service could not solely tackle issues presented with serious violence.

Consistency in workforce- it was asked what was being done to ensure consistency in case workers and also push for diagnosis for neurodivergent young people in custody as it was vital to ensure consistency of case workers for that cohort to enable them to build relationships and gain understanding of why reoffending kept occurring. The Committee was informed that over the last 12 months in Medway, there had been little change in workforce and caseloads had been manageable. This had enabled case workers to actively reach out, support and work through individualised plans for those in youth custody. The youth justice service worked closely with children’s services to ensure a good offer of support for young people and that they were jointly supported by the youth justice service and other teams across the children’s directorate.

The service was ambitious, continued to look for gaps in its service and had recently developed an App to support practitioners due to the identified shortage in speech and language support. There was a CAMHS  ...  view the full minutes text for item 339.

The purpose of this report is to provide an account of the IRO service activity for the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, to consider the profile of the Local Authority cohort of children cared for, and trends and themes in how the Local Authority has discharged their duties for these children.

The IRO role is set within statutory framework of the Independent Reviewing Officers Handbook 2010 linked to the revised Care Planning Regulations and Guidance, established in the Children and Young People’s Act 2008, introduced in April 2011.

The IRO service provides high support and challenge to the Local Authority in respect of its corporate parenting and safeguarding duties towards children and young people they care for.

Estimated time: 30 Minutes.

Discussion:

The Committee received the report which detailed the Independent Reviewing Officer service activity for the period 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026.

Members raised several comments and questions which included:

It was commented that the report was concise and detailed. Service continuity was good, with a stable workforce and low turnover of staff.

Life story work - in response to a comment that how pivotal life story was  to a young person’s life and the priority that should be placed on completion of it for every child, the officer acknowledged its importance and that it was an area of focus  and improvement for the next year. It had been identified that often social workers were tentative about their ability to complete the work and practitioners needed support to help build their confidence in doing the work.

Voice of child - it was commented that the report was very adult led and there was little voice of the child in terms of the impact the work undertaken has on their lives. The Committee was informed that the report was written the way it was as it was a statutory report, however the comment was noted. The voice of the child was not evidenced as well as it could be, and this would be taken forward for consideration.

Escalation of concerns - it was asked how quickly concerns raised by IROs were addressed and the Committee was informed that concerns were raised formally then escalated through management. Rarely had concerns had to be escalated outside of the organisation.

Decision:

The Committee noted the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) Annual Report.

The Corporate Parenting Board Annual Report 2025-26 provides an overview of how Medway Council and its partners have fulfilled their corporate parenting responsibilities during the year and the progress made in improving outcomes for children in care and care leavers. The report highlights achievements in permanence, placement stability, education, health and participation whilst recognising the growing complexity of need and increasing demand across the care system.

The report also outlines the strategic priorities for 2026-27 and demonstrates how Medway is responding to national children's social care reforms, strengthening partnership working and ensuring that the voices of children and young people continue to inform service development and decision-making.

Estimated time: 30 Minutes.

Discussion:

The report was presented and the Committee was informed that services continued to deliver the Corporate Parenting Strategy launched in 2025 across five priority areas. There had been significant progress made in permanency planning, and reduction in children missing from home incidents.

There was a need to strengthen the housing pathways for care leavers, positive progress has been made since the specialist housing advisor joined the leaving care team to support care leavers to access housing. Overall performance in the service remained good.

There were however areas for improvement which included health and wellbeing support which continued to be strengthened however there was a disparity in health service and assessments for out of area placements which was an area of concern. Work was being undertaken with virtual schools to reduce suspension and exclusions from schools and increased assessments needed to be completed for children missing. There was a need for reduction of the number of young people Not In Employment Education or Training and improving lifelong links for care leavers.

Members raised several comments and questions which included:

The progress made in permanency matching had been noticeable and the extra work undertaken by Medway’s dedicated officers on provision of permanent stable home for children in care was commended.

Key achievements – it was commended that areas of key achievements were highlighted in the report, however, it was asked if details would be included in future reports of areas of underachievement. The Committee was informed that the biggest challenge had been with initial health assessment for children placed out of the area, this was explicit in the report and highlighted as an issue of concern. Other Integrated Care Boards has been contacted and this issue raised with them as well as continued challenge to partners on what could be done differently to facilitate completion of initial health assessments in a timely manner. This was a national issue; however, Medway must continue to hold colleague to account on this matter.

Staying put arrangements - it was noted that number of young people utilising this arrangement had increased and it was asked if this would continue to increase in the future where it had been identified that this arrangement was right for the young person as well as the foster parents. The Committee was informed that through early pathway planning, various aspects of a young person’s life including housing arrangements when they turned 18 were explored. One of barriers for foster carers was the inability to take on other children and issues with finance if they continued caring for the young person beyond 18. Where it had been identified that Staying put was right for the young person, the service worked extensively to ensure continuity of care arrangements. Discussions also took place on financial contributions expectation and commitment by the young person if they remained in the household as a means to help them to budget and manage finances. If they decided to attend university, costs were covered and they could return  ...  view the full minutes text for item 341.

This item advises Members of the current work programme and allows the Committee to adjust it in the light of latest priorities, issues and circumstances. It gives Members the opportunity to shape and direct the Committee’s activities over the year.

Estimated time: 5 Minutes.

Discussion:

The work programme was presented for information.

Decision:

a)     The Committee noted the report and agreed the work programme as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, subject to accepting the proposed changes outlined in italic text on Appendix 1.