Croydon's Scrutiny Children & Young People Sub-Committee met on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, to review the progress of the local plan and discuss various aspects of children's services. The committee received an update on the transformation of the Children, Young People and Education (CYPE) Directorate, which serves approximately 95,000 children and young people.
Councillor Andy Stranack, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, highlighted significant demand pressures, including high referral rates to children's social care and a rapid increase in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). The factors contributing to the surge in EHCPs include rising levels of identified need and parental requests for statutory support. Furthermore, an anticipated rise in EHCPs as parents sought to secure them before legislation changes in 2029, alongside an influx of EHCPs from other Local Authorities, have impacted Croydon's spend and the number of children with plans.
To address these challenges, Croydon has appointed Newton as its Strategic Transformation Partner. Phase One of this partnership, focusing on understanding current performance and designing new service models, has reached draft completion. Newton's assessment has identified key findings such as the need for a more integrated system, a focus on relational and trauma-informed practice, simpler and more coherent pathway models, and improved data utilisation. The diagnostic work has also highlighted key drivers of demand and cost, identified opportunities to strengthen early intervention, and provided an evidence base for reshaping services.
The CYPE Directorate is undergoing a comprehensive end-to-end redesign of services. Emerging themes include the need for closer alignment between education, social care, and partners, shared ownership of outcomes, and aligned pathways. There is also a focus on embedding relational and trauma-informed practice as the foundation of all service delivery. The emerging design points towards a simpler and more coherent pathway model with clearer routes into support, better alignment between early help and statutory services, and reduced duplication. Additionally, there is an emphasis on improving data usage, including better integration of datasets, stronger analytics capability, and improved use of insight to inform decision-making. The work also identifies opportunities to improve organisational efficiency and effectiveness through clearer structures and alignment of roles to end-to-end pathways.
The committee also reviewed the Early Help, Children's Social Care and Education performance dashboard for March 2026. Councillor Michael Neal, Chair of the Sub-Committee, noted improvements in the proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds not in education, employment, or training (NEET), which has improved to 4.4%. This positive movement is attributable to the work of a temporary NEET Tracker and Engagement Worker, whose consistent and proactive engagement has demonstrably improved outcomes.
However, concerns remain regarding the issuance of EHCPs. Only 50% of EHCPs were issued within the 20-week target. Mitigation measures are in place, including prioritisation of cases, flexible use of available resources, securing temporary agency staff, and the use of overtime for Educational Psychologists, alongside strengthened multi-agency collaboration.
A decision on whether to proceed to Phase Two, which will involve piloting and implementing redesigned services, is pending.
Read the full public reports pack here: Public reports pack 30th Jun 2026
