Council and democracy

Agenda item

Children's Safeguarding Arrangements

This item will be presented by Rory Patterson, Corporate Director, Children’s Services.  A report is provided in member’s papers

Minutes:

This item was presented by Rory Patterson, Corporate Director, Children’s Services.  Key points included:

·         The Children and Social Work Act 2017 and Working Together 2018 dissolved the requirement for Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards and required new arrangements to be put into place.   The Government had put forward a change in legislation for the country’s multi-agency safeguarding arrangements following a review of the performance and effectiveness of Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB).  It was found that generally they were not as effective as they could be, however, Thurrock’s LSCB was labelled as ‘Good’ during an inspection in 2016; Thurrock was one of only a small number given this judgement.

·         The name changed to Thurrock Local Safeguarding Children Partnership (Thurrock LSCP), all changes to come into effect on 7 May 2019.

·         Statutory Partners changed from five to three, removing CAFCASS and Probation as Statutory Partners of the LSCB.  They will become two of the “Relevant Agencies” identified to be a part of the new arrangements.  Relevant agencies are those agencies the Safeguarding Partners consider are required to be a part of the new arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

·         Serious Case Reviews changed to become Local or National Practice Reviews. The process for a review changes with new timescales and a slight change to the criteria that determines a review.  These will become more proactive and analytical.

·         The Child Death Review process was now separate and does not form part of the new arrangements.

·         An independent Chair was no longer required, however the safeguarding partners must ensure that independent scrutiny arrangements are in place.

·         Thurrock has had a strong partnership over the years although nationally the approach has been inconsistent.

·         A multi-functioning independent scrutiny process would be introduced. This would include an Annual Report and also comprise peer reviews, audits and individual scrutineers, including the voice of children, young people, families and communities, to ensure the new arrangements were working effectively.

·         Some structure changes to the existing LSCB would take place to meet the new arrangements, this would include changes to the sub-group structure and function.

·         The above changes have been submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) for comment, however at the time of the meeting, no comments have been received.

 

During discussions the following points were made:

·         Members commented that the changes were forward thinking and looked at contextual safeguarding approaches, with the three statutory partners undertaking equal responsibility and the value of the CCG, police and council owning the system jointly. 

·         David Archibald expressed that the changes linked back to the future of the CCG and upwards amalgamation; however there would be a need for local CCG involvement throughout the process

·         Jane Forster-Taylor agreed with the above and that a local footprint was needed; although there were local variations.  Southend was similar in practice to Thurrock.

·         Members commented that there were some boards that had been amalgamated between children and adults including Learning Disabilities and Special Educational Needs which would sit within the Children’s Board up to the age of 25.  It was also expressed that both children and adult boards required an equal profile and resources.

·         It was agreed that local partnerships were working well and that there was a firm commitment to retain local safeguarding arrangements. 

 

RESOLVED: The Health and Wellbeing Board noted the above changes.

 

Supporting documents: