Agenda item

To consider the Council’s Corporate Safeguarding Protocol and note the outcome from the Ofsted Inspection.

Portfolio Holder – the Leader of the Council

Strategic Directorate – Assistant Chief Executive’s

The Leader introduced the report and highlighted that the new Corporate Safeguarding Protocol was a framework for the Council to ensure that safeguarding was embedded across all services and staff and Councillors were aware of their responsibilities.

The report outlined the duty of the Council to make appropriate arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and adults.  A range of development interventions, procedures and good practice were in place to ensure that every service and employee can demonstrate that they understood their duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people, and adults.

The Chief Executive cited the outcomes of the recent Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) which judged Children and Young People’s Services as “good”.  She noted that the support of the whole organisation was needed to achieve this standard.

The Chair invited questions from the Board.  It was noted that the report listed fundamental rights that should be afforded to children and young people and reflected in the way that services work with them.  It was outlined that the expectations cited arose from a piece of work with children and young people, however, the principles also extended to adults.

Further details were sought to establish what changes had been made to the refreshed protocol. It was outlined that there was a commitment to ensure that individual responsibilities and accountability for safeguarding were clarified and more focussed. The Chief Executive referred to the examples cited in her introduction which also included closer monitoring of e-learning activity.

An example was given of a safeguarding issue involving a local adult resident and the difficulties in seeking support. The Chief Executive asked that further discussions take place outside the meeting to establish the circumstances.

Clarification was requested to establish the frequency of reviews of criminal record disclosures (“DBS check”). It was explained that there was a three-year rolling programme of review for roles requiring enhanced checks, with basic checks taking place at the point of employment.

It was acknowledged that the report showed a journey of improvement across the Council. Assurance was sought about the process of transition from children to adult services. The Assistant Director for Children’s Safeguarding outlined that the process was well developed between services for those children receiving support who will have assessed needs as adults.

In addition to the Ofsted judgement of “good”, further details were requested on what additional measures were in place to benchmark performance.  It was highlighted that performance was monitored on a continuous basis. This process included close monitoring of a suite of performance measures; participation in regional benchmarking groups and review and practice days.  Ofsted also conducted an annual review and the authority was required to undertake a self-assessment.

Assurance was sought if staff were clear on what routes were available to raise concerns or seek advice if issues required escalation. It was explained that staff were actively encouraged to speak to colleagues in the MASH (children’s safeguarding hub) or First Contact (referrals to adult services) to establish what route was most appropriate. It was outlined that the Employee Survey questioned staff of their level of confidence to raise concerns and if improvements had been made year-on-year.  This data was used alongside practice and learning sessions to feed into improvements.

The Chair welcomed the commitment to training and outlined that Elected Members were actively looking at ways to strengthening their own commitment to learning and development in respect of safeguarding issues.

Resolved: 

1.    That the updated Corporate Safeguarding Protocol be approved by Cabinet.

2.    That the outcome of ‘Good’ from the recent Ofsted Inspection of Children and Young People’s Services be noted.