Agenda item

To consider the findings and recommendations of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board’s spotlight review into modern slavery.

The Vice-Chair welcomed the Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Finance and Customer Services to the meeting.

In the absence of the Chair of OSMB, Cllr Browne introduced the report.  The review was prompted following the Council’s adoption of the Charter against Modern Slavery, to examine the effectiveness of partnership interventions which aim to tackle modern slavery in Rotherham.

The report details the lines of inquiry; invited witnesses and background information; a summary of its discussions and key findings. By its very nature, this spotlight review was an overview rather than in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of partnership arrangements in place to address modern slavery in Rotherham. In the course of the review, there was an opportunity to discuss with partners the key challenges faced in dealing this issue, explore what was working well and exchange ideas on areas for improvement.

The Cabinet Member, officers and partners were thanked for their openness in responding to enquiries. The review group were assured by the commitment across the South Yorkshire Modern Slavery Partnership to tackle exploitation. The examples given showed the complexity and sensitivity of this work and the part each agency plays.

The Vice-Chair invited the Cabinet Member and Assistant Director to comment on the review. The Cabinet Member welcomed its findings, commenting on the positive partnership working and areas for improvements. The Assistant Director noted that officers had found this work valuable. It was outlined that training and awareness raising was being delivered and a network of champions were in place.

It was noted that the recommendations reference good practice in other authorities. Clarification was sought on if the Council benchmarked itself against other authorities and implemented relevant learning. It was confirmed that the Council was an active member of a sub-regional forum and worked with third sector organisations.

Resolved:

1.    That Overview and Scrutiny Board approves the following recommendations:

               i.       That the Safer Rotherham Partnership (SRP) gives consideration to rolling out a targeted learning and development offer/campaign to raise awareness of modern slavery, how to spot the signs, risks and how to raise concerns and make referrals:

a)  to front-line staff across key agencies;

b)  to elected members;

c)   to the general public and targeted business such as letting agencies (commercial and residential).

              ii.       That the SRP gives consideration to mapping the local modern slavery landscape to identify high risk industries and hot spots (using the example of Bristol City Council).

            iii.       That consideration is given to establishing an RMBC Internal Governance Group including representation from services who may encounter modern slavery (for example, Procurement, Licensing, Environmental Health, Training Standards, Neighbourhood teams, Social Care and Housing).

            iv.       That consideration is given to how young adults at risk or experiencing modern slavery are safeguarded during the transition from children to adult services and are age assessed appropriately.

             v.       That consideration is given to developing referral pathways to ensure that modern slavery victims (both adult and child) have access to appropriate support (housing, advocacy, mental health support) on a timely basis.

            vi.       That consideration is given to re-launching the Strategic Partnership information sharing group at the earliest opportunity to improve the way that agencies can share data and intelligence, including examining how IT systems can work better together.

           vii.       That consideration is given to widening the levels of investigation and auditing of contracts procured by the Council to focus on the ‘layers’ of sub-contractors, including binding specifications to audit or ‘dip sample’ contracts along the supply chain.

         viii.       That consideration is given to how the Procurement Team can engage with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) Supply Chain Advisor to improve processes, joint working and awareness.

            ix.       That consideration be given to allowing victim advocates to make representations to Housing Assessment Panels on behalf of victims of modern slavery.

2.    That the recommendations as approved, be submitted to Cabinet for consideration and response.

3.    That the recommendations as approved, be submitted to the Safer Rotherham Partnership for dissemination to the South Yorkshire Modern Slavery Partnership for consideration and response.