Date of meeting: 12 November 2025

Agencies represented:

Children’s Social Care;

Education

Youth Justice Service;

South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB);

Croydon Health Services;

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM);

Metropolitan Police;

Voluntary and Community Sector organisations;

Independent Scrutineer

CSCP Business Team

Chair: Amanda Andrews, Head of Service, Family Assessment Service

Quality Assurance Group reviews safeguarding effectiveness and strengthens focus on partnership accountability

Overview

The Croydon Safeguarding Children Partnership (CSCP) Quality Assurance Group met in November to review safeguarding performance, monitor quality assurance activity and examine how effectively agencies are working together to protect children and young people.

A significant focus of the meeting was understanding the impact of partnership activity through audit findings, performance data and safeguarding assurance reports. Members discussed emerging challenges affecting children and families, including housing pressures, workforce capacity, youth justice trends and multi-agency information sharing.

The Group also reviewed progress against the CSCP Business Plan and considered how learning from audits, inspections and quality assurance activity can continue to drive improvements in safeguarding practice across Croydon.

Positive work highlighted

Partners welcomed continued progress in the quality and range of safeguarding data being collected across the partnership. The CSCP Performance Dataset was recognised as an increasingly valuable tool for identifying risks, trends and areas requiring improvement, with agencies reporting that the data is helping to shape local practice.

The Group noted positive outcomes from recent quality assurance and inspection preparation work, including learning from the Youth Justice Service mock inspection. Strong multi-agency engagement was highlighted as a key strength, helping to improve readiness for future inspection activity.

Members also recognised the ongoing success of safeguarding engagement with faith groups and community organisations. Smaller faith organisations are increasingly seeking safeguarding advice and training, demonstrating growing awareness and commitment to safeguarding responsibilities.

Positive assurance was received regarding safeguarding arrangements within education services. High levels of engagement from schools and robust safeguarding oversight arrangements were recognised as strengths, alongside ongoing work to improve responses to emerging safeguarding issues.

The meeting also highlighted improvements in youth justice outcomes, including reductions in reoffending and fewer young people entering the youth justice system when compared with previous years.

Challenges discussed

Partners discussed the pressures affecting safeguarding services across organisations, including workforce capacity, organisational change and increasing demand. Concerns were raised regarding stress and workload pressures affecting some frontline services.

The impact of housing pressures on children and families was highlighted, including the increasing number of families placed in Croydon by other local authorities. Members discussed the safeguarding implications of housing instability, debt and poor-quality accommodation.

Challenges relating to multi-agency participation in safeguarding processes were also considered. Discussions focused on attendance at strategy meetings, information sharing and ensuring agencies have sufficient capacity to contribute effectively to safeguarding decision-making.

The Group reviewed data highlighting disproportionality within youth justice services and acknowledged the need for continued focus on understanding and addressing inequalities affecting some children and young people.

Concerns were also raised regarding attendance and report submission at Child Protection Conferences, with members emphasising the importance of strong multi-agency involvement in planning and decision-making for vulnerable children.

Key discussion items

• Progress against the CSCP Business Plan and quality assurance priorities.

• Learning from the Youth Justice Service mock inspection and future inspection readiness.

• Safeguarding engagement with faith groups and community organisations.

• Education safeguarding assurance and emerging themes within schools.

• Youth Justice Service performance, trends and outcomes for young people.

• Housing pressures and the impact on children, young people and families.

• Attendance and reporting at Child Protection Conferences.

• Workforce pressures, service changes and partnership capacity challenges.

  
  

Actions agreed

• Continue monitoring the impact of organisational changes across partner agencies.

• Develop further understanding of challenges within strategy discussions and multi-agency decision-making.

• Support ongoing safeguarding engagement and training opportunities for faith and community groups.

• Review safeguarding issues identified through education assurance activity and provide further updates.

• Assess the effectiveness of measures introduced to improve attendance at safeguarding training.

• Explore issues relating to Child Protection Conference attendance, report quality and timeliness.

• Strengthen understanding of disproportionality and its impact on children and young people.

• Continue using quality assurance findings, audits and performance data to drive partnership improvement.

  
  

Closing statement

The Quality Assurance Group reaffirmed its commitment to learning, challenge and continuous improvement. Members recognised the value of strong partnership working, effective scrutiny and meaningful engagement with communities in improving safeguarding arrangements.

The Group agreed that continued focus on quality assurance, equality, learning and accountability will remain central to improving outcomes for children and young people across Croydon.