Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The minutes of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) meeting held on 30 January 2015 were approved as a correct record.

Matters Arising

·         Approximately 300 GPs had attended a recent briefing session on Child Sexual Exploitation. The session had been well received and feedback from the GPs who attended and the trainers would be provided to demonstrate impact

·         Further guidance on childcare disqualification requirements had now been published and further details in relation to its implications for the workforce would be circulated

·         Working Together to Safeguard Children had now been updated following a recent consultation period

·         The proposed LSCB Development Day would take place on 22 May.  The day would start at 9am with a short, focused LSCB meeting and this would be followed by the development session facilitated by Sue Woolmore the Chair of the National Association of Independent LSCB Chairs and a specialist trainer

·         Homelessness risks would be explored by the Early Intervention Sub-group  (Action: Sandra Davies/Clare Dorning)

The LSCB received a report providing an update on the work of the Training and Development Sub-group.

It was noted that the budget available to deliver LSCB programmed training events was overspent.  This was a situation which was unsustainable in the long term and was a significant risk for the LSCB. Arising from the subsequent discussion the following points were noted:

·         As one of the few areas still providing multi-agency training, Bracknell Forest courses were often attended by practitioners working outside the Borough.  It was suggested that attendance at future training courses could be restricted to practitioners from those areas covered by the East Berkshire Training Group

·         A large number of voluntary groups were part of larger national organisations with relatively healthy budgets and it had been decided that the reduced rate for voluntary and community groups would be withdrawn as the subsidy was considered unnecessary.  It had been recognised that this decision would impact on smaller local groups and there would be an element of discretion available when charging these groups

·         Incorporating child sexual exploitation into the training programme would attract larger audiences

·         More needed to be done to encourage e-learning

·         Budgets for single agency training had been restricted for some time and agencies were becoming more creative about how they delivered training.  It was agreed that consideration would be given to using these methods to help bring costs down. A report would be brought to the May or July meeting for consideration. (Action: Jonathan Picken/Debbie Hartrick/Philip Cook/Christine Campbell TVP Nominee)

The LSCB agreed that adopting Option 4, an approach that combined a range of elements, would be the most appropriate way forward. 

Kellie Williams, Community Safety Officer, presented a report providing an update on the work of the E-Safety Sub-group.  The report included a summary of the recent research into the misuse of technologies and the way that children and young people used technology to communicate, a summary of the progress made against agreed targets, a summary of the challenges faced by the Sub-group and a future look. 

The E-Safety Sub-group was a formal sub-group of the Community Safety Partnership and there were clear overlaps with the work of the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Groups and the Prevent Sub-group.  Consequently clear communication channels had been established to ensure that messages were consistent and reflective of the overlaps.  The Sub-group currently operated as an operational group rather than a strategic one and the Community Safety Partnership was in the process of reviewing the Group’s remit to ensure that proper reporting mechanisms were in place and that the Sub-group had clear lines of accountability in place.

This helpful national research perspective was outlined and it was noted that the whilst the behaviour of children and young people in Bracknell Forest was reflective of the national picture, work was underway to develop a data set that would provide the group with an accurate assessment of the local situation and enable the development of a more robust approach to performance monitoring in this area.  Other key areas of work for the coming year included:

·         Ensuring that access to inappropriate material (including pornographic, violent and terrorist material) was blocked on all council ICT systems including schools and working with other organisations that provided internet access to young people to do the same

·         Working with Vodafone to develop an e-safety mobile phone app for young people

It was reported that prosecutions for e-safety offences fell into two broad categories the first group involved those cases where older people were grooming children and these were discussed by the CSE Groups.  The second group of offences involved sixteen year olds who were having relationships with younger teenagers.  These latter cases were considered to be a safeguarding matter rather than a criminal matter and education was vital in these instances.

The continually evolving nature of technology meant that it was vital that practitioners regularly updated and refreshed their knowledge in this area and the development of e-safety training was being explored for example through the introduction of specific focused training for foster carers.

Education was seen as key to ensuring the safety of children and young people and that it was vital that agencies became more creative about how they interacted and engaged with young people when discussing the subject.  The education of parents was also seen as vital to the success of any work.

The Sub-group’s work had been funded by money allocated to the Community safety partnership by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Grant.  However cuts to this funding meant that this was no longer available to the Sub-group and that future work would have to be delivered within  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The LSCB received a report providing an update on the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Bracknell Forest and a report presented to the Bracknell Forest Health and Wellbeing Board in March 2015 outlining the national work on Tier 4 and the Berkshire wide work on Tiers 1 – 3.

It was reported that over the past two years there had been a 40% increase in the number of referrals made to the service a situation that meant that children and young people presenting with cases that had been assessed as being low risk could wait for up to eighteen months for treatment. This was a situation that was not unique to Bracknell Forest and reflected the current national picture but was of concern.

The Tier 3 service at Wokingham Hospital had been reclassified as Tier 4 inpatient provision and funding received from the Winter Pressures Fund had been used to reduce the waiting lists.  However it was recognised that more still needed to be done and work was taking place to improve services at tiers 1 to 3 and to raise awareness amongst schools and GPs of the range of services available at Tiers 1 and 2.   Additional funding had been invested in Tier 3 and the Clinical Commissioning Group and Local Authority had invested funding to enhance Tier 2.

Areas of development for the Service included making the completion of CSE E-learning packages mandatory for all CAMHS staff and ensuring that the learning from the recent Serious Case Reviews in Rotherham and Operation Bullfinch were embedded in training and practice.

It was acknowledged that a peer review of the CAHMS service would provide useful learning going forward however due to the number of significant recent and ongoing changes to the service it was considered a more appropriate action once the changes had bedded in.  In the interim, work was taking place to develop a more robust data set for performance monitoring purposes.

The LSCB thanked Nancy Barber for her clear report on the service’s current status.  The CAMHS service was a key priority for the Health and Wellbeing Board and they would continue to closely monitor the situation.  The LSCB would also receive regular updates on progress.

The Board received a draft report providing an update on the work of the Section 11 Sub-group.  The report included a summary of the Sub-group’s activity over the past twelve months, an overview of the challenges faced by the Sub-group and a forward look.

It had been agreed that the Section 11 Sub-Group would continue to operate on a pan-Berkshire basis however work needed to be done to strengthen and clarify the Sub-group’s reporting lines i.e. members representing LSCBs and to make clear the differences being made by the Sub-group’s work.  It was stressed that in addition to the annual report, at least 6-monthly reports should be provided for the LSCB. 

The LSCB was informed that whilst the level of challenge and peer support provided for some agencies including the Police, ambulance service and adult services was of a high standard the levels of challenge given to other areas including other local authority children’s services was not as robust.

A new toolkit had been developed to improve the quality of section 11 returns and it was hoped that this would help improve standards.  It would be confirmed whether this was available online.

It was stressed that the Sub-group was being asked to complete a substantial amount of work and it was questioned whether this was realistic and whether the appropriate level of support was in place.  It was agreed that the matter would be raised with the Berkshire LSCB Chairs.

It was agreed that as the host LSCB any barriers to the Sub-group’s work would be reported to the Chair so that action could be initiated if required.

The LSCB considered an update in respect of the Early Intervention Sub-group’s work.  The report included a summary of progress made against targets, identified areas for further development and an overview of the key challenges faced by the Sub-group. 

It was reported that during 2014, 242 Common Assessment Frameworks (CAF) assessments had been completed and of these 95 had been completed as part of a Family CAF.  During the same period, 237 referrals had been made to the Early Intervention Hub and 7 cases had subsequently been stepped up to Children’s Social Care and 49 cases had been stepped down from Children’s Social Care. Compared to other local authorities in the south east Bracknell Forest had the third highest completion rate for CAFs.

Thresholds were a fundamental issue for LSCBs to oversee and recent updated guidance had been circulated.  The chair reminded the Board that it was their responsibility was disseminated and shared with the wider children’s workforce.

Further work would also take on board learning arising from the recent LSCB audit on Early Help and the Early Help Strategy would be refreshed in April 2015.

There were concerns that membership of the Sub-group had diminished over the past year and it was vital to the success of the process that the right people were present at meetings.  It was requested that concerns over attendance from health representatives be forwarded to Nancy Barber in the first instance.

Findings from work on Early Help involving Children’s Centres could be presented at a future LSCB Forum.

The LSCB noted the recommendations for LSCBs arising from the recent findings of a thematic inspection of early help services for children and families provided by local authorities and their partners.  It was agreed that the implications of the report would be considered in more detail by the Learning and Improvement Sub-group. (Action: Learning and Improvement Sub-group)

The LSCB received and noted the minutes from the meeting of the Council’s Corporate Parenting Advisory Panel held on 10 December 2014.  It was reported that the Panel met quarterly to consider matters relating to the Authority’s role as corporate parent to the Borough’s 103 Looked After Children and 70 care leavers.  At the Panel’s most recent meeting on 25 March 2015 discussions had focused on CSE, Regulation 33 visits, accommodation for care leavers and the outcomes of an audit of children placed out of area.  Missing children would be the focus of the Panel’s next meeting in June.

It was agreed that the LSCB would receive these minutes to maintain an oversight of work to safeguard Looked After Children in addition to the IRO’s Annual Report.

Suggestions for agenda items would be welcomed from the LSCB.

The LSCB was provided with an update on the work of Bracknell Forest’s Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).  The LSCB was informed that a key change in the recently published Working Together guidance was that those already in post did not have to be social work qualified, however any new LADO appointments must be social work qualified.  It was reported that Bracknell Forest’s LADOs were qualified social workers.

Within Bracknell Forest work was taking place to establish a more consistent approach to recording allegations and notifications received and, in partnership with other LADOs in the region, the development of a regional dataset that could be used to track performance.

National police concerns about the delays in the completion of forensic analysis of computer files had been noted and the LSCB Learning and Improvement Sub-Group would be monitoring the situation.

The LSCB noted the update.

The LSCB received and noted a report setting out a proposed review of safeguarding practice in relation to disabled children and the establishment of a Task and Finish Group.  (Action: Jonathan Picken to convene and report to a future LSCB) 

The LSCB was informed that a mixed response had been received to the Chair’s formal request for increased funding contributions to the Chief Executive’s of contributing partner agencies.  The majority of agencies had issued ‘holding statements’ in response to the request with definite answers expected in April.  West London Mental Health Trust had agreed to the proposed funding increase.

It was agreed that the matter would be revisited at the LSCB meeting in May when decisions would be made about which work areas would be prioritised going forward should the funding not be increased. 

The LSCB received and noted a summary of the out comes of the task undertaken by LSCB members to collect their views of the effectiveness of the LSCB.  These would be used to inform the upcoming LSCB Development Day in May.

·         Work to develop a new multi-agency data set for the LSCB was well advanced and the draft dataset would be circulated for comment to LSCB members and considered at the LSCB meeting in May

·         A number of returns had been received in response to the LSCB online safeguarding supervision survey however more returns would increase the survey’s robustness.  The survey would be recirculated and it was requested that partners encourage their staff to complete the survey by the closing date of 1 April 2015.  This was an action agreed following the Serious Case Review on Child C.