Agenda item

Report of the Director of Community & Children’s Services.

The Sub Committee welcomed Senior Professional Advisor Rory McCallum on behalf of Jim Gamble, Independent Chair of the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Board, who presented the Board’s annual report for 2014/15.

Mr McCallum reported that this was a statutory report offering a transparent assessment of performance. The Director of Community & Children’s Services at the City of London Corporation had initiated a review of the services offered, which had resulted in worthwhile areas of work for the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Board in terms of sharpening its focus. The intention was to make the document as accessible as possible, and included case studies and examples to evidence impact. Members noted that previous reports had been remiss in drawing out City-specific issues, which had been addressed in this year’s report.

How is the Board going to use its Lay Members to add value to the work of safeguarding?

Mr McCallum advised that the Lay Members’ role was to build on public engagement and awareness, facilitating consistent communication between residents and the Board. This was carried out via a defined work plan (based on existing work in Hackney) which linked with community partnerships, voluntary organisations, and youth groups.

Is the Board satisfied with City take-up of training and, if not, how is the Board addressing this with partners?

Members noted that, although numbers had increased over the past year, the Board was not satisfied with City take-up of LSCB multi agency training; this was a multi-agency issue not limited to Corporation staff. Mr McCallum advised that the Board was intending to push on this in the coming year, and, in response to a Member’s request, undertook to forward a list of those responsible for advertising training events. It was noted that staff may be attending single agency training but it was important to emphasise the benefits available from the LSCB multi agency training.

How does the Board measure the effectiveness of the City’s Early Help arrangements and how effective does it think they are?

Mr McCallum reported that the Annual Report gave a snapshot of the effectiveness, and the progress could be measured in the changing statistics. He advised that the level of expertise was good, and the Board was very pleased with the ongoing scrutiny arrangements regarding quality.

Can you explain why these particular priorities have been identified for the Board?

Mr McCallum detailed the three priorities for the Board for the coming year:

The Local Safeguarding Context – this included Child Sexual Exploitation; Children Missing from Care, Home and Education; Preventing Radicalisation; Female Genital Mutilation; Neglect; and Domestic Violence. Members noted that the latter two were key to linking all these areas and implementing intervention strategies and support to address them all.

Early Help & Early Intervention – by front-loading resources, people could receive help earlier, reducing need later in life and theoretically reducing demand and therefore cost.

Strong Leadership and Strong Partnership – ensuring safeguarding is a topic at the forefront of leaders’ agendas, encouraging a discussion of issues at all levels of management, including frontline staff.

Despite statistics for Child Sexual Exploitation and Private Fostering being low or zero, these were included in the priorities for the Board – can more detail be provided?

Mr McCallum reported that just because no cases had been identified so far, this was no guarantee a case wouldn’t be reported in the near future. The Board was keen to remain vigilant, encouraging residents to report anything and equip them with the right questions to ask.

The Chairman thanked Rory McCallum for his presentation.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.