Hackney Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission: Behaviour Management & School Inclusion Call for Evidence

Councils that have a Mayor and Cabinet – like Hackney – must have an Overview and Scrutiny service. This is independent of the Council itself. 

Overview and Scrutiny helps the Council to improve local services by investigating issues that affect local people. In Hackney, the Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission reviews services that are important to children and young people and their families, and makes recommendations for improvement.

School inclusion in Hackney has been a longstanding concern of the Commission. During the past seven years, the Commission has undertaken related investigations into the outcomes of pupils who have been excluded, emotional-based school avoidance and children’s mental health and wellbeing. From this work it is clear that:

• The pandemic has had a significant impact on children’s mental health and wellbeing, which has also affected their behavioural and learning support needs.
• The rate of school exclusions and suspensions in Hackney is stubbornly high, and is higher than most other London boroughs.
• Some groups of children are disproportionately impacted by different approaches to behaviour management and school inclusion.

Undertaking a review of behaviour management and school inclusion is timely, as greater priority is being given to school inclusion within the new regulatory and inspection framework for schools.

This review began in February 2025. It has already heard evidence from a wide range of education agencies, research organisations, teachers unions, local authorities and voluntary sector organisations. These are: Education Agencies: Ofsted, Department for Education); research organisations (Education Policy Institute), education unions (NAHT, NASUWT, NEU), other local authorities (Enfield, Tower Hamlets, Greater London Authority) and voluntary sector organisations working nationally (Unicef, NurtureUK) and locally (Hackney Quest, Immediate Theatre, The Crib). 

This evidence has helped inform the Commission’s understanding of national policies and regulations, as well as providing national evidence of best practice and approaches to behaviour management and school inclusion.

You can view the evidence submitted on the Commission's webpage from meetings held between February 2025 and July 2025.

The Call for Evidence is anonymous, which means that you do not have to give your name, where you work or any other identifying information. Any information that the Commission uses in any reports or publications will be done so carefully, making sure that this does not identify anyone.

The Call for Evidence does ask for information about your age, gender and ethnic group, as this is to help the Commission know if it is reaching all sections of the community.

Information collected through the Call for Evidence will be analysed by the Commission, and any consistent themes that emerge will be used to develop recommendations for the Council and its partners.  

Your responses can help to make a difference. Recommendations from the Commission can help determine the policies and approaches of the Council.  The Commission’s previous review into the outcomes of school inclusion have been used to inform the development of the Hackney's education alternative learning service (HEALS).

The purpose of this survey is to inform the investigation of the Commission and is anonymous. If you have a complaint or want to raise a safeguarding concern or other related issue, further information is available from Hackney Education on how to do this.