To note the performance in relation to children’s safeguarding for the month of October 2015, together with trend data over the previous 12 months.

Adam Scott was welcomed as the new assistant director for safeguarding.

The director of children’s wellbeing introduced the safeguarding performance report, which included an update on performance, including responses to any whistleblowing concerns.

The cabinet member for young people and children’s wellbeing commented on the report’s reference to recruitment and retention and the ratio of permanent to agency staff. Improvements were welcomed as testament to the recruitment and retention policy being implemented. Although there was more to do, great strides were being made in relying more on permanent staff through the social worker academy. This provided stability for service users and team strength but also made a £600,000 saving.  The cabinet member congratulated the team for this outcome. 

The chairman welcomed the establishment of permanent staff based in the county.

A member commented on the figures contained in the performance report regarding the number of child protection plans, questioning whether or not this was positive.

In clarification, the assistant director explained that for a child to remain the subject of a child protection plan for more than two years it showed that the intervention was not effective and that the child was still at risk of significant harm.

It was agreed that whilst numbers were higher at this point in the year compared to this point in the previous year, compared with national standards, this was at a low level.

A member acknowledged the pressures on the multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) and issues regarding child protection plans and suggested this be an area for scrutiny in light of concerns around communication and people not getting feedback action taken in response to referrals. He gave an example of school safeguarding leads being uncertain of what action was being taken following a referral to the service.

The assistant director explained that there was a service standard to feed back on MASH action. There had been a multi-disciplinary audit on quality and timeliness summarised in the report, with positive outcomes. However, he clarified that if professionals were not getting feedback on referrals they could escalate the matter through the service.  The member commented that schools were aware of pressures in the service and were reluctant to escalate matters. In response, the importance of escalation was emphasised.  

A member referred to a recent report to the audit and governance committee on the risk register and asked about the risks associated with pre-appointment checking of workers. The director for children’s wellbeing confirmed that there had been a recent audit on agency workers and their appointment arrangements. Whilst reasonable assurance had been given, Changes were being made to how agency workers were appointed to strengthen arrangements further.

In answer to a further question in relation to overseas workers, it was clarified that this was a discrete group appointed through a specific agency and the most up to date references were used.  Work was being undertaken with regional directors to improve quality and references were being addressed as a particular concern. Some employers were reluctant to provide staff references for a number of reasons. It was further noted that agency workers move on very quickly and so there was less knowledge of their working history. However, there were steps being taken to develop a more robust system.

The chairman of the general overview and scrutiny committee commented on the link between dental care, which had not improved, and the safeguarding of quality of life.

In response, the director of public health confirmed that dental care was a concern for public health with action needed to reduce sugar in diets to support the national campaign and a mobile app for checking sugar content of products. It was noted that peer-led programmes carried a stronger message than from officers and this was being pursued in Shropshire.  Health visitors and school nurses also provided a role in raising issues.

The cabinet member for young people and children’s wellbeing commented that dental health was an important issue and this was recognised in the children and young people’s plan to improve the condition of teeth to reduce dental decay by the age of five. Assurance was given that this would remain a priority.

A member referred to a recent case in Wales that highlighted a home-educated child slipping through the net and sought assurance that the home schooling register was robust.

The director or children’s wellbeing confirmed that the safeguarding board was testing assurance mechanisms. There were in the region of 100 children who were educated at home and although numbers fluctuated, this number was increasing. There was an effective home education co-ordinator who worked closely with groups and families to build strong relationships with regular visiting, although there was no statutory basis for intervention unless there was a safeguarding concern and it recognised that the majority of families conducted home education well.   Mechanisms were in place to assist the identification of children slipping through the net.

The chairman commented on a higher proportion of children in the north of the city who had a CAF (common assessment framework). The assistant director explained that this was not considered untoward as it reflected the number of schools in the area, the level of professionals’ engagement and the rise in CAFs due to the commencement of the new term. This also reflected the strategy to encourage greater engagement with the early help agenda and it was to professionals’ credit that there was prompt action.  Remedial action was also being taken to address the number of children with child protection plans which created pressure on resources.

The chairman explained that intention was to move to quarterly exception reporting on performance data. A progress report on the Ofsted improvement plan was also planned to be presented to the next meeting.

RESOLVED

THAT:

(a)        the performance of children’s safeguarding be reviewed; and

(b)       future performance reports would focus on exception, rather than provide commentary on total performance.