Issue - meetings

The People and Communities Directorate would like to set out for the Panel the work of the Local Safeguarding Children Board during 2015-16 and the priorities for 2016-17 work programme along with further areas to be actioned during 2017 - 18.

The Chair stated that she was very impressed by the report and that the breakdown by Sub-Group was very welcome. She did though highlight the use of acronyms without definition.

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) & Missing Sub-Group

She asked if B&NES Council regularly engaged specialist agencies to support complex cases.

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care replied that they try to cover most cases within the Council. He added that an expert on CSE has been employed to provide support.

The Chair asked what emphasis has been given to moving towards a whole place budgeting approach to service delivery.

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that the LSCB has received some guidance on this matter and that discussions were ongoing.

The Chair asked how open and effective is our information sharing with other statutory agencies.

The Head of Safeguarding & Quality Assurance replied that she was confident that we have good arrangements in place. She added that the Board were going to look at this area of work in more detail over the coming year.

The Chair asked what steps have been taken by B&NES Council to ensure all teaching staff are appropriately trained in identifying children at risk of suffering poor mental health.

The Strategic Director for People & Communities replied that this would be picked in many areas of work including; PSHE Training, Public Health Award, Assist Training and Attachment Aware.

The Chair asked when B&NES Council was last subject to a Local Government Association safeguarding children peer review.

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care replied that the Council would need to request such a review. He added they had recently been involved in Peer Reviews carried out by Gloucestershire and Somerset on the topics of CSE and Social Work Supervision.

The Head of Safeguarding & Quality Assurance added that the Council has also been involved in Section 11 Audits alongside other Local Authorities.

Councillor Liz Hardman if we can be assured that there  are sufficient safeguarding measures in place, given the continuing financial pressures on funding, especially if funding is at a national or sub regional level rather than a local level, as well as the challenge of recruiting and retaining social workers.

The Head of Safeguarding & Quality Assurance replied that the Board maintains a risk register so that it is fully aware of any financial pressures.

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care added that there were currently no Social Worker vacancies, which was a positive position to be in. He said that the Council has worked hard on this area of work over the past 18 months and had introduced a Social Work micro site to its website.

Councillor Liz Hardman asked how effective is our multi agency approach in dealing with missing children, bearing in mind the link between children missing from home or care and sexual exploitation.

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care replied that partner engagement on this issue has been brilliant and that the CSE / Missing Sub-Group  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41