Issue - items at meetings - Safeguarding Practice - Update

Report of the Director of Children’s Services (copy attached).

1.       That the actions taken to continue to monitor and strengthen safeguarding and child protection arrangements across the CYPT partnership and the LSCB be noted.

2.       That, with the Chair of the LSCB, the Board considers what further actions should be taken, including development of a formal protocol between the CYPT Board and the LSCB, to clarify governance arrangements for safeguarding and child protection in the city including the relationship between the two boards.

33.1    The Board considered a report of the Director of Children’s Services concerning the update on the safeguarding practice, which summarised the actions taken following the previous safeguarding report to the Board on 8 June 2009 and provided the context for discussion with the Independent Chair of the Local Children’s Safeguarding Board (LSCB) (for copy see minute book).

33.2    The Director of Children’s Services welcomed Alan Bedford, the new Chair of the LSCB. She reported that, for openness reasons, it was a requirement that an independent person took on this role in order to facilitate external scrutiny to the safeguarding practice.

33.3    The Chair of the LSCB thanked the Board for the invitation to attend the meeting. He advised that the role of the LSCB and its independent chair entailed a different dynamic from other bodies. He noted that this body assumed a scrutiny role to some extent and that, amongst other functions, it was in place to ensure shared childcare procedures, to ensure that practice was being adhered to and that training was also being overseen across the area.

33.2    The Independent Chair referred to the top priorities of the LSCB and drew attention to some of them.

·        He advised that various procedures were already in place; he noted, however, that the challenge laid in (i) ensuring that actions were taking place and (ii) in finding that what is happening on the ground was being done as it should be;

·        He referred to the interagency collaboration as something that would also be looked at and considered;

·        He stressed the need for ensuring confidence about using childcare procedures;

·        He welcomed the opportunity for reflection through thorough supervision of staff, ensuring that difficulties and workload were shared, debated and managed;

·        He advised that resources were under pressure whilst workload was increasing, and noted that it was important to know how to manage this current situation;

·        He noted the importance of the LSCB and the CYPT Board working together by building a strong partnership, also through sharing good practice; he also referred to the need for a check and balance responsibility and hoped this would work out well between the two bodies.

33.5    The Independent Chair also noted that he had had the opportunity to visit various services and meet with the Chief Executives of different key organisations. He stated that this had been a helpful exercise to find out what was in place and he felt that all were on board with the required strategies.

33.6    The Board referred to the pressure on resources and money. Members sought clarification about how they could ensure that, through their interface work, the partnership would not disadvantage one agency over another by disproportionate financial input.

33.7    The Independent Chair noted that the LSCB was not an alternative source of funding, but was rather working from existing structures. He stated that one of the objectives of the LSCB was to identify existing resources from which to work with and advised that this matter was top on the agenda for its meeting in December 2009. The Director of Children’s Services also reassured members that a balanced contribution would be the approach that all partners would be considering.

33.8    The Chairman, on behalf of the Board, thanked the Independent Chair of the LSCB for attending the meeting and addressing the Board on the work of the LSCB and the matter of safeguarding.

33.9    RESOLVED - That, having considered the information and the reasons set out in the report, the Board accepted the following recommendations:

(1)      That the actions taken to continue to monitor and strengthen safeguarding and child protection arrangements across the CYPT partnership and the LSCB be noted.

(2)      That, with the Chair of the LSCB, the Board considers what further actions should be taken, including development of a formal protocol between the CYPT Board and the LSCB, to clarify governance arrangements for safeguarding and child protection in the city including the relationship between the two boards.