Newsletters
Our Regional Improvement Plan can be found here
If you would like to apply to be a SESLIP consultant, please follow this link to Kent Business Portal – KentBusinessPortal and after registering on the portal, search for Ref – SC240046 – SESLIP – DPS
Updates
Success – whose definition counts? A co-designed framework by and for young people leaving care
On 11 November Rees Centre published Success – whose definition counts? A co-designed framework by and for young people leaving care
The four-year project was co-designed with care-experienced young people and commissioned by Become, the national charity for children in care and young care leavers. Together, we developed a new ‘Success Survey’ and framework that centres what young people say actually matters: stability, community, self-belief, and pride in small everyday wins.
Details
Current national data frameworks measure success in terms of the absence of failure such as whether care leavers are not in education, employment or training (NEET), or not homeless. These indicators, the report finds, are limited and disconnected from the realities of care leavers’ lives.
Instead, care leavers in the study defined success as:
- A personal and evolving journey, not a fixed endpoint – “Success isn’t a destination others impose on us. It’s a journey we define for ourselves.”
- Pride in survival and resilience – “You should be proud because you’ve been through hell and back and you’re still standing.”
- Community over isolation – “It shouldn’t be called independence – it should be co-dependence. We need a community.”
- Success in the small things – from “buying your first mop” to “being able to decorate your own home.”
- Authenticity and identity – “Being able to be yourself without being judged, getting to where you need to be, and being proud of yourself.”
- Stability was an important part of success across all areas of life.
Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper
On 20 October DfE published the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper
Details
It offers further policy information about reforming the identification and support for young people who are NEET or at risk of being NEET and linking to a new Youth Guarantee scheme.
There will be new systems for monitoring attendance of young people at college and to support and expect schools to target support for students at risk of being NEET.
A headline target is for two-thirds of young people to participate in higher-level learning – academic, technical, or apprenticeships – by age 25 by 2040.
Home to school transport: LA data collection
Details
Using data from the 115 responding local authorities we have extrapolated the number of pre-16 pupils receiving HTST to estimate the number of pupils nationally.
- Approximately 470,000 pre-16 pupils are eligible for HTST (6% of all pre-16 pupils);
- around 180,000 pupils receive HTST because of their special educational needs and/or disability (SEND) (around 40% of pre-16 pupils using HTST) and
- around 290,000 (60% of pre-16 pupils using HTST) are eligible for reasons other than SEND.
- These estimates have been derived by calculating the average proportion of pupils receiving transport in London, urban and rural authorities and using these averages to estimate the number of eligible pupils in local authorities that did not respond.
Reminders From Previous Weeks
Independent review of Social Work England – call for evidence closes Wed 26 November
On 5 November DfE and DHSC launched an independent review of social work regulation
There is a press release here
Closing date 11:55pm on Wednesday 26 November 2025
Details
Dame Annie Hudson has been appointed to lead the review. Dame Annie brings extensive experience and insight from across the social work profession, including her previous role as Chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel and as a Director of Children’s Services.
ADCS is preparing a response will largely focus on the questions aimed at employers as well as the more general questions about the role and purpose of SWE and whether it is delivering on its statutory duties to promote public safety, promote confidence in social work and maintain a set of professional standards for social workers in England.
For more information please contact katy.block@adcs.org.uk
Repeal of the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989
On 22 October MoJ published Presumption of parental involvement review: final report
Details
The government has announced that it will repeal the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989. It has also outlined plans to automatically restrict parental responsibility in cases where a parent has been convicted of a serious sexual offence against a child, and where a child is born of rape, under amendments to the Victims and Courts Bill.
See press releases from the MoJ on
20 October here, and
Children in need, year to 31 March 2025
On 30 October DfE published the annual Children in need statistics for the year to 31 March 2025.
Details
There were 402,400 children “in need of help and protection as a result of risks to their development or health” according to the data release – a rise of 0.7% or 2,900 since 2024 and up 3.4% or 13,100 since 2020.
These include 171,780 cases in which mental health of a parent was recorded as a factor following assessment, compared with 165,480 in 2023/24.
A parent being a victim of domestic abuse was cited in 162,890 cases, compared with 160,600 in the previous year.
Child sexual exploitation concerns featured as a factor in 12,400 cases, lower than the 13,860 in the previous year.
There were 632,800 referrals for services provided by children’s social care departments – up 1.8% (11,000) compared with 2024 levels. However, this number is 1.6% lower than in 2020.
Suicides in children and young people across the academic year, England: September 2011 to August 2022
On 20 October ONS published Suicides in children and young people across the academic year, England: September 2011 to August 2022
Details
ONS analysed data covering almost 12 million children and young people aged between 15 and 25-years-old from September 2011 to August 2022. Findings include: there were 4,315 deaths by suicide across the period; and 440 young people died by suicide in 2021-22, up 47% from 300 deaths in 2011-12.
SESLIP QA Conference – NOW BOOKING
On Monday 8 December SESLIP is hosting a collaborative QA co-design event.
Headlines
On behalf of the SESLIP QA network, Kent Analytics has been research CSC QA processes and practices across the region.
This event will be an opportunity for QA leads and staff to participate in the co-design of new improved procedures based on the research findings.
SESLIP Targeted Support
The SESLIP Targeted Support scheme is now open to enquiries from children’s services authorities in the south east.
This project is funded by the DfE’s RIIA grant and is open to both CSC and SEND.
Details
The prospectus introduces our dedicated Targeted Support Core Team, which includes experienced, ex-local authority leaders, who have worked at director, assistant director and principal programme manager levels,
The core team’s practice is enhanced by collaboration with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from across the full range of children’s services.
A bespoke package will be agreed at scoping stage.
For more information, or to become involved as a subject matter expert, contact Claire@clairewoodcockconsulting.com
Regional Improvement Plan 2025-26
On 18 July 2025 SESLIP published our regional improvement plan for 2025-26
Headlines
The new regional improvement plan has 47 projects and a budget of just under £2m.
The plan incorporates our delivery plan for DfE’s RIIA grant of £1.6m to SESLIP for the current year
Tools & Templates
We have produced a Regional Improvement Plan (July 2025)
On 11 November Rees Centre published Success – whose definition counts? A co-designed framework by and for young people leaving care
On 5 November DfE and DHSC launched an independent review of social work regulation
On 30 October DfE published the annual Children in need statistics for the year to 31 March 2025.
On 28 October DfE published Academic year 2024/25 Home to school transport: LA data collection
On 22 October MoJ published Presumption of parental involvement review: final report
On 20 October DfE published the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper
On 20 October ONS published Suicides in children and young people across the academic year, England: September 2011 to August 2022
On 20 October The Children’s Commissioner published The Children’s Plan: Vision for Care
On 13 October The Domestic Abuse Commissioner published Everday Business
On 13 October Home+Future (the south east’s RCC) published Briefing 002 – cross regional placements
On 10 October The Youth Endowment Fund published Access to mental health support
On 6 October Ofsted published Children’s social care questionnaires 2025
On 3 October APSEND and CSTUK published Upstream – best practice examples from specialst, AP and mixed trust schools
On 3 October 2025 IFS published Support for children with disabilities and special educational needs as part of its Green Budget for 2025
On 2 October Kinship published its annual survey of Kinship carers “Handle with Care”
On 2 October 2025 EEF published an independent evaluation of the BITUP programme – a low cost programme to improve secondary school attendance.
On 26 September 2025 HMIPrisons published Children in custody 2024–25
An analysis of 12–18-year-olds’ perceptions of their experiences
in secure training centres and young offender institutions
On 25 September DfE published a research report, Family Routes: children who returned to care after leaving for adoption or to live with a special guardian
On 25 September 2025 the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse published Developing your strategic response to child sexual abuse – A guide for safeguarding children partnerships
On 24 September 2025 West Midlands ADCS Network (the RIIA) published its team excellence awards brochure for 2025
On 24 September Speech and Language UK published Transforming SEND: An Alternative White Paper
On 17 September APPG for SEND launched Reforming the SEND
System in England
On 16 September The Law Commission published Disabled Children’s Social Care: Final Report
On 13 September BJSW published Fabricated or induced illness in England: Examining mortality and serious harm an article by Andy Bilson and Alessandro Talia
On 12 September the PAC published Improving family court services for children
On 12 September NAO published Managing children’s residential care
On 10 September the Alliance for Youth Justice published From exploited to exploiter?
On 10 September Ofsted, CQC, HMICFRS and HMIProbation published new JTAI guidance for inspections of the response to child sexual abuse in the family environment