Agenda item

The B&NES Community Safety & Safeguarding Partnership (BCSSP) is introducing its Annual Report for 2023-2024, alongside its priorities to be actioned in the Strategic Plan 2024-2027.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education introduced the report to the Panel and highlighted the following areas from it.

Multi-agency Learning & Practice Development

·  2 serious incident notifications have been received and progressed to Rapid Reviews.

·  1 Child Safeguarding Practice Review (CSPR) has been completed jointly with South Gloucestershire.

·  4 SAR reports have been concluded and a learning event held in relation to self-neglect.

·  No Domestic Homicide Reviews have been received.

What has happened as a result of reviews?

·  BSW wide under 1’s work and the development of new multi-agency policy and procedure.

·  Implementation of the ICON (responding to infant crying) programme across BSW. 

·  A self-neglect and mental capacity learning event.

·  Improving how we capture and reflect the voice of the child/adult/parent/carer.

·  A business case submitted to the executive board to implement change in how we manage self-neglect cases.

Multi-agency Training & Workforce Development

·  The appointment of a BCSSP trainer has mitigated the need to use external trainers as frequently, which has enabled greater focus on local practice issues.

·  76 training sessions held.

·  27 different training topics covered.

Commitments 2024-2025

·  Community Safety Priorities: Priority 1: To develop the strategic oversight and scrutiny of the CSP arrangements.

·  Priority 2: We will further develop our work with partners to prevent people from becoming involved in and reduce instances of serious violence.

·  Safeguarding Children Priorities: Priority 1: We will strengthen the role of education in the partnership.

·  Priority 2: Ensure a child-centred approach with a whole family focus.

·  Safeguarding Adults Priorities: Priority 1: Improve understanding of and support professionals to work with those individuals who self-neglect.

·  Priority 2: We will create confidence in practitioners in the application of the Mental Capacity Act and understanding of the interplay with the Mental health Act.

·  Overarching Priorities: Priority 1: Have policies and procedures that are current and in line with best practice.

·  Priority 2: We will create confidence in practitioners to be professionally curious and improve this practice.

Kevin Burnett commented that it would be useful to understand the exact measures / success criteria BCSSP are using to judge themselves as no specific targets have been given.

Kevin Burnett referred to further areas within the report, including Section 11 Audits, Safeguarding Adult Audits, training and risks and asked multiple questions.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that she would report back to the Partnership that a lack of year-on-year benchmarking data within the report made it difficult to analyse and assess its performance.

She added that the targets for the Partnership are set nationally and that generally there was good engagement from schools in relation to Section 11 Audits. She asked if the questions could be forwarded to her in writing to allow for responses to be drafted.

Kevin Burnett replied that he would circulate his questions to her. He added that he was concerned over the number of missing children within Avon & Somerset, particularly in B&NES.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that they had recently reviewed the Missing Children protocol and who undertakes the interviews when children have been identified as missing. She added that the numbers given will represent the number of incidents, not necessarily the number of children and therefore this may be due to a cohort of children / young people who go missing frequently.

She explained that they work closely with the Youth Justice Board in terms of identifying those children who are at risk of crime and promote use of the Compass Service which is a preventative service for those who are at risk of offending. She added that over the course of the year there have been a number of concerns in relation to County Lines and other criminal activities and that they have worked closely with Police colleagues on these issues.

Councillor Liz Hardman said that she shared the concerns that had been raised. She said that she was worried about the Child Protection figures, especially as it shows that B&NES is the worst in the country for initial child protection conferences, after the threshold has been met, being held within the required timescales. She asked if the training being received was part of the problem.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that at the next Children’s focussed Panel that as well as receiving the IRO Annual Report they include a discussion in relation to Child Protection as she believed that some of the local performance figures were better than had been reported.

Councillor Paul Crossley asked how physically disabled people were being addressed within this process.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that the Disabled Children’s Team works across all services and would discuss with them further about how this information can be included in future reports.

Councillor Crossley asked if there were differences to be noted from the report in terms of racial background.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that what they do know, from the Youth Justice figures, is that there is an over representation of both BAME and SEND young people. She added that a sub-group has been arranged to assess what further work can be done on this issue.

Councillor Joanna Wright referred to the Self Neglect Policy and asked within which department does it sit.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that the Policy sits within Adults Services and was formed following a number of Safeguarding Adult Reviews concerning the choices that individuals were making or presenting with self neglect. She added that work has been carried out recently to update the guidance and the training in this area. She said that she would ask the Director of Adult Services to provide a further response to the November meeting of the Panel.

Councillor Wright asked how it was to documented that information sharing and improvement of communication was being addressed. She added that she would have like to have seen ‘actual children’s voices’ within the report and felt that issues such as Police involvement in safeguarding and domestic abuse safeguarding were also missing from the report.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that the voice of Children & Young People is heard clearly when their representatives from the Youth Forum attend an annual meeting of the Safeguarding Board and discuss their priority areas. She added that within the Sub-Groups there was always a focus on the voice of the child and particularly within the Youth Justice Board we discuss their experiences with the Police and data in relation to stop and search incidents are analysed.

Councillor Lesley Mansell said that she shared the concerns raised by Councillor Hardman. She asked what actions are being taken to address the increase in Child Abuse offences and what awareness was being carried out in schools. She also asked why an Equalities Impact Assessment was not required for this report.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that she would take those comments and inform the report author.

Councillor Ruth Malloy referred to the figures relating to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and the fact they had reduced in the past 12 months. She asked what could be done to further increase the reporting of this often ‘hidden’ form of abuse.

 The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that they look to promote and ensure that all bodies are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and to report any concerns at the earliest opportunity to Children’s Social Care and to remain as vigilant as possible.

The Chair asked how online CSE was recorded and how were protocols being designed to ensure a better process for Serious Case Reviews are established.

The Director of Children’s Services & Education replied that all bodies within the Partnership receive training and support with regard to online CSE to be able to advise families / individuals accordingly. She added that there is an almost constant review of policy, procedures and training to attempt to ensure that there is good and effective communication in place. She added that she had attend a meeting with Avon & Somerset Police and said that they were looking at ways in which their communication systems can be improved with the Local Authority.

The Panel RESOLVED to note the Annual Report and Executive Summary for the BCSSP and asked that their queries and additional areas for consideration that they had raised during their debate be addressed in 2024-2025.