Agenda item

The Chair welcomed Christine Cassell, the Independent Chair of Rotherham Local Safeguarding Children Board, to present the Board’s annual report for the year 2016-17.

The context for this report is one of increasing demand for family support and child protection services both locally and nationally whilst all public sector budgets are reducing.  The role of local safeguarding children boards in this context is particularly important in requiring assurance that local services are appropriately targeted and resourced to ensure that children are protected. 

The Independent Chair outlined that drawing on single and multi-agency audits and reviews and from inspection monitoring, that the safeguarding system in Rotherham, with the local authority as the lead agency, is becoming more compliant with statutory requirements and is beginning to improve in the quality of the assessment, decision making and planning for children at risk.  Rotherham Safeguarding Children Board will continue to monitor the improvements in the quality of safeguarding practice and will focus in particular on the quality and compliance of multi-agency meetings which are held when a child is considered to be at risk of harm. 

During the course of the year the Children and Social Work Act gained Royal Assent which has considerable implications for the role of the Board. The Act abolishes the requirement for a Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) but does not abolish the requirement for partners to work together. Responsibility for co-ordinating safeguarding activity is now jointly shared between the local authority, the Chief Police Officer and the local Clinical Commissioning Group.

The report detailed the Board’s activity in relation to the priority areas outlining areas of improvement and concern. This activity focussed on monitoring and improving responses to child sexual exploitation, neglect, early help and the safeguarding of children who are looked after by the local authority. The LSCB has sought evidence that agencies are individually and collectively listening to children and young people and taking account of their views both in plans for individual children and in wider strategic planning of services.

Discussion ensued on the report with the following issues raised/clarified:-

Clarification was sought on a series of issues raised in the 2016-17 Voice of the Child Lifestyle Survey in relation to bullying, alcohol use and sexual activity. The Independent Chair had met with the Youth Cabinet who had identified that bullying remained a concern The expectation was that schools would take the lead in this work. There were ongoing discussions with the Youth Cabinet to ensure that the work of the Board reflected the voice of young people. Alcohol use had not been identified as a priority issue by the LSCB but the Deputy Strategic Director gave assurance about action taken by school nurses and Public Health to raise awareness. It was outlined that the survey was self-reported, therefore services were triangulating evidence from case-files and partners (e.g. referrals to Accident and Emergency Departments or reports of anti-social behaviour relating to alcohol misuse) to establish if this required further action. Similarly, in respect of unprotected sexual activity, further investigation of data had identified that there had not been a rise in teenage pregnancies although there were concerns about a rise in numbers of care leavers who were becoming parents. Action was being taken with this cohort to understand the reasons behind this and how it can be addressed.

The Chair reminded the Committee that the most recent Voice of the Child would be considered in the new year.

Clarification was sought about action taken by South Yorkshire Police (SYP) to address the issues raised in the PEEL review about the low-numbers of staff who had not received specialist child abuse investigator training. The Independent Chair outlined that SYP had been recently inspected and expected an update on the issues once the results are published.

A question was raised in respect of the low proportion of early help assessments undertaken within timescales.  The Deputy Strategic Director explained that the target had been set locally and was not a statutory target. Whilst there had been a slight improvement, this target was proving difficult to meet consistently and work was underway to establish the reasons behind this. Although timeliness of assessment is a concern, the Deputy Strategic Director stressed the importance of the quality of the assessment and building relationships with clients which may not always be possible within the timescales. The LSCB has monitored quality and how the voice of the child is reflected in this work.

An update was requested in respect of the Section 47 investigations and the concerns raised in the Ofsted Monitoring Visit of February 2017. The Independent Chair outlined that the LSCB continues to monitor this critical area. The Deputy Strategic Director detailed actions taken to improve practice including the adoption of signs of safety methodology. A recent audit had established that 97% of Section 47 investigations had identified that children were at risk of or experiencing harm confirming that the investigations were appropriate. The Independent Chair also outlined the role of partner agencies in reaching good decisions based on the presenting issues.

The views of the Independent Chair were sought on the rising number of Looked After Children and the Authority’s sufficiency strategy. The Independent Chair was satisfied that the right decisions were being taken in respect of children being in care. The Deputy Strategic Director outlined that the majority of children were in care because the Courts had directed that this was appropriate and therefore thresholds were being met. Increasing numbers of children were being placed in extended families and work is underway to return more children home safely, with parental support in place. Other initiatives such as Edge of Care and Family Group Conferencing were having an impact on reducing numbers of children taken into care and this would be monitored further. The national shortage of quality placements was also reflected in Rotherham, however, examples were given of steps taken to minimise disruption in placements and assurance given in respect of the increasing numbers of permanent arrangements in place.

Clarification was sought on actions taken by SYP in relation to inspection feedback which highlighted that its response to victims of domestic abuse was inconsistent. The Independent Chair outlined that the LSCB had looked at multi-agency responses to domestic abuse were there was a child affected. It had conducted an audit over the summer which had highlighted good practice and areas of improvement. The LSCB was also undertaking a longitudinal study of responses. The Independent Chair expected the findings of the recent inspection of SYP and any actions arising to be fed into the Board in due course.

Questions were asked about what further actions had been put in place to address the additional vulnerabilities of disabled children. A further report would be submitted to the Performance and Quality Assurance sub-group. The Deputy Strategic Director outlined that there was a specialist team in place to work with disabled children to ensure that any additional needs would be addressed.

Further details were sought in respect of the work undertaken by the CSE and Missing Group to disseminate information to different communities about the risks of CSE and if this work was having an impact. Positive examples were given about engagement and different approaches which were being adapted to the needs of individual communities. The Chair requested that a further update be brought back to this committee in six months’ time.

Views were sought on the potential impact of the unsuccessful bid for funding on post-abuse support for survivors of CSE. The Independent Chair drew the distinction between support for victims and survivors who are children which are the responsibility of LSCB and the focus of the bid to support adult survivors who are not. The wider response is of concern and from the LSCB’s perspective, whilst it does not directly relate to its work, the failure to secure this funding will have a negative impact.

The Deputy Strategic Director was asked to clarify adoption figures and if the lower numbers were due to lack of prospective adopters. The variance was due to case law interpretation however, the importance of finding adoptive families for older children and sibling groups was reiterated.

The Independent Chair was asked for her observations on areas of improvements and any areas that caused her concern. The major improvement has been the move from compliance to improving practice. There is positive partner commitment to safeguarding and a shift in staff confidence and enthusiasm. The Independent Chair gave assurance, as demonstrated through the report, that the LSCB will continue to challenge at a strategic level about the level of resourcing, support to staff and if services are being commissioned appropriately in addition to challenging services through case audits.

The Chair thanked the Independent Chair for her attendance and comprehensive report.

Resolved:

1)    That the Improving Lives Select Commission receive the LSCB Annual Report 2016-17;

2)    That a further update be provided on the impact of the work of the CSE and Missing Sub-Group in six months’ time.