Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted by Cllr Abdullahi Nur, Mariella Ardron, Jagdeep Birdi, Nicholas Kyprios, Rebecca Timms and Kathleen Williams.

Any member of the Council who has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a matter to be considered at the meeting is reminded to disclose the interest to the meeting and to leave the Chamber while any discussion or vote on the matter takes place.

Members are also reminded that if they have any other significant interest in a matter to be considered at the meeting, which they feel should be declared in the public interest, such interests should be declared to the meeting. In such circumstances Members should consider whether their continued participation, in the matter relating to the interest, would be reasonable in the circumstances, particularly if the interest may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interests, or whether they should leave the Chamber while any discussion or vote on the matter takes place.

No declarations of interest were made.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 October 2025 are submitted for confirmation.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 October 2025 were agreed as a correct record subject to the below amendment at Agenda item 4, paragraph 9:

9.         Discussed the need for anti-racist practice in safeguarding to reflect a range of lived experiences. Officers reiterated that all partners had a duty to listen to all children and their families.

The Chair introduced the item and invited Council officers Harriet Duncan (Strategic Commissioner for Adult Learning) and Steven Lord (Head of Registration Services) to present the proposals for Adult and Family Learning and Registrars respectively.

The Strategic Commissioner for Adult Learning explained that the Council’s Adult Learning service was fully funded via a grant from the Greater London Authority, however the funding had been cut by 1.65% in year with a further 1.65% cut for 2026/27. The Committee:

1.     Discussed where Adult Learning activities were carried out. Officers advised the Council did not operate an in-house adult learning centre, choosing to instead commission services in community locations around the borough, allowing the Council to minimise expenditure in delivering the service.

2.     Discussed numbers of service users and opportunities to reach more residents. Officers said approximately 3000 residents accessed adult and family learning services, with around 4000 enrolments across over 400 courses. A higher number of courses for qualifications were being delivered, which had higher costs.

3.     Highlighted the need to effectively measure outcomes, including where qualifications led to employment, to understand which courses were creating the most value.

4.     Welcomed more alignment and integration of the adult learning service across the Council and with partners to improve reach and more effectively utilise funding.

The Head of Registration Services stated the Registrars service was funded directly via the Council’s General Fund as a statutory service. The service applied fees and charges for the recovery of costs and was able to generate significant revenue from wedding services at Chelsea Old Town Hall. The Committee:

5.     Asked if sufficient resources were allocated in the Budget proposals to continue to improve wedding facilities and sustain revenue growth. Officers advised the current level of resource would enable the service to continue to provide a high quality product, but this was contingent on effective facilities management contracts. A business case was being drafted for a proposed expansion into Chelsea Library to add capacity and drive further revenue growth.

6.     Discussed opportunities to increase fees and charges to maximise revenue growth. Officers were conscious of the possible detrimental effects of raising prices too high.

7.     Recommended the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Budget Working Group review uncontrollable costs across the Council.

The Chair invited the Executive Director for Children’s Services, Lead Strategic Finance Manager and Strategic Finance Manager to present the budget proposals for Children’s Services. They drew attention to the forecast overspend for 2025/26, the identification of significant savings proposals and the growth bid of £1m to meet the real costs of meeting the needs of care leavers.

The Committee:

8.     Discussed in detail the proposed savings. Officers were confident that savings would be achieved and that service quality would be maintained.

9.     Requested future budget reports cover in greater detail the departments transformation work.

10.   Welcomed further savings in transport for children with Special Educational Needs (SEND).

11.   Discussed plans to reduce departmental spend on high cost placements for children with complex needs, including methods of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair introduced the item and invited the Executive Director for Children’s Services, Lead Strategic Finance Manager and Strategic Finance Manager to present the report, before inviting comments or questions from members of the Committee. Members:

1.     Asked how the department prioritised different statutory duties. Officers stated that it was difficult to prioritise as all statutory services interacted to ensure children could thrive in a safe environment. The Council’s priority was to provide early identification and intervention support and ensure effective safeguarding of children by investing in quality, relationship driven, services.

2.     Discussed the benefits of funding voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations and called on the Council to find ways to maintain effective VCS funding.

3.     Noted significant expenditure for the provision of transport services for children with special educational needs and questioned whether it was sustainable. Officers advised the Council had significantly reduced the SEN transport spend by investing in local SEN provision and encouraging independent transport.

The Chair introduced the item and invited the Executive Director for Children’s Services, Lead Strategic Finance Manager and Strategic Finance Manager to present the report, before inviting comments or questions from members of the Committee. Members:

1.     Recognised the unsustainable nature of increases in costs for providing care for children with complex needs and asked what action the Council was taking to address the issue. Officers discussed a range of initiatives, including closer work with other London local authorities to share information and commissioning placements more effectively, and reimagining foster care.

2.     Discussed how best to scrutinise the issue in future. Officers suggested a report in 6-12 months highlighting key initiatives undertaken by the Council, work with neighbouring authorities, progress around the government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and key learning from initiatives implemented by other Councils.

3.     Discussed commissioning arrangements for high cost placements. Members noted the Youth Justice Board was able to commission placements at a much lower cost than Local Authorities.

The Chair invited comments or questions from other Councillors in attendance. They:

4.     Asked whether the department Council’s procurement department was playing an active role in managing the framework for high-cost provision. Officers advised that the Council was part of the West London Alliance public sector partnership, which was leading the development of frameworks such as dynamic purchasing vehicles to achieve best value for money. Officers suggested further work could be undertaken to support Children’s Services across London to develop more effective models to yield better outcomes.

The Chair introduced the report and invited the Committee to discuss the Work Programme. Members:

1.     Discussed the education themed meeting on 5 February 2026. Members were keen to seek input from headteachers and conduct visits to local schools ahead of the meeting. Members also suggested the 5 February 2026 meeting be held at a local school.

2.     Requested updates on the visits programme and work outside of meetings be summarised in the main Work Programme Report.