Agenda item

City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual report 2019/20

Report of the City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership.

Minutes:

Members received a report of The City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership relative to the City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) Annual Report 2019/20. New social care arrangements were established and had been implemented during the 2019/20 period, however the pandemic posed challenges in terms of consistent implementation. With two dedicated contingency oversight groups for the City Corporation and Hackney Council, this allows for more attention in each borough.

 

Members raised a number of questions and the following points were noted:

·         What permanent changes to the way operational and strategic safeguarding arrangements would be delivered post-pandemic? Virtual arrangements (ie. for meetings and visits) which were implemented due to the pandemic had changed the way the partnerships operated. The entirely virtual environment created challenges in terms of building relationships, and therefore it was hoped that a blended approach could be established once restrictions were eased.

·         How had the pandemic impacted identifying vulnerable children?  There had been a reduction in referrals due to the fact that children were not in school, which made it more difficult to identify vulnerable children as schools are typically where need and risk were identified.

·         Had there been an increase in mental health problems amongst young people? The pandemic had exacerbated known issues such as the negative impact of social media on young people’s mental health and cyber-crimes targeting young people.

·         Why had there been an increase in head injuries in babies and toddlers? The increased pressure in the home due factors (ie. working and schooling from home; potential job losses; increased alcohol consumption) made the young and vulnerable potentially more exposed to harm. A child safeguarding practice review had been commissioned as a result of a head injury case in Hackney and this would be published in the next 4-5 months. There had been no head injuries for children under 1 year of age. There had not been any cases in the CoL.

·         What kind of leverage do safeguarding partners have to enforce compliance with self-assessments from sectors? Legally, safeguarding partners can seek injunctions to enforce compliance, however collaboration was the preferred approach to emphasise the importance of cooperation in carrying out self-assessments.

·         How have the City of London Police (CoLP) been engaged with their safeguarding responsibilities? The CoLP have been very engaged with the strategic leadership team and the new arrangements show that the CoLP are a statutory partner for safeguarding.

·         As the CoLP have moved to sector policing, as opposed to community policing, how are the CoLP able to connect with communities and identify risks? Having officers embedded in communities was important to build trust and gain intelligence for community issues. Training opportunities were available to train police to focus on safeguarding over criminal justice in certain interventions, ie. in schools.

 

RESOLVED, that – Members noted the contents of the report, in particular the sections setting out progress on implementation of the new arrangements, COVID-19 and the strategic priorities of the CHSCP going forward.

Supporting documents: