Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Katharine Simpson  01344 352308

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.

2.

Minutes of Previous Meeting

Minutes:

The minutes of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) meeting held on 27 March 2015 were approved as a correct record.

 

Matters Arising

 

·         The Early Help Sub-group would be conducting a programme of audits on a range of subject areas and it had been agreed that homelessness risks would be included in this work

·         A meeting to discuss and explore alternative approaches to the delivery of safeguarding training would take place on 2 June 2015. In order to broaden the scope of the work invitations to the meeting had been extended to representatives from the other two east Berkshire LSCBs and discussions would focus on the development of both short and long term efficiencies

·         A update on the review of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS) provision would be brought to the LSCB’s meeting in July

·         Initial work on a review of safeguarding practice in relation to disabled children had found that a solid evidence base needed to be developed to enable the LSCB to ascertain whether the area should be given a higher priority than it was currently.  To help with this an electronic audit would be carried out.  A response had been submitted in response to an NSPCC Research Questionnaire on the subject and this would be circulated

·         The outcomes of the recent Safeguarding Supervision Survey carried out on behalf of the Learning and Improvement Sub-group would be brought to the Board in July to enable consideration to be given as to how the learning from the survey might be disseminated 

3.

Performance Management Data

Minutes:

The Board received a report providing a new draft dataset for the LSCB.  For ease of reference, the dataset had been organised according to the LSCB’s priorities and would be used by the Board to ascertain any areas of concern that might need further investigation.  Consequently it was stressed that the dataset would focus on high level data rather than the more detailed information that would be incorporated into individual services’ annual reports.  Arising from the subsequent discussion the following points were noted:

 

·         Some way of reporting impact needed to be incorporated into the dataset.  It was agreed that this would be added into the commentary/narrative in each section

·         Data relating to the whole children’s workforce e.g. vacancy and sickness rates would be added

·         Data relating to the use of Appropriate Adults including how often their presence was requested and how long it took for an Appropriate Adult to arrive once the request had been made would be added

·         Children’s Centres and the Family Outreach Workers might be able to provide additional data in relation to neglect  (Action: Cherry Hall/Alison Burnell)

·         The practicality of collecting data relating to the identification of neglect during anti-natal screening was questioned as this was not something that midwives would routinely look for

·         There were different definitions for Missing and Absent Children and this distinction needed to be made clear in the dataset.  Additional potential data relating to these two groups would be identified (Action: Lorna Hunt/Sonia Johnstone)

·         Information relating to the number of referrals made to DASC and DASH would be incorporated

·         Consideration would be given to what indicators might be used to track parental mental health indicators (Action: Nancy Barber/Alison Burnell)

·         It was agreed that data relating to the number of children missing from education due to mental health issues would be included in the data set

·         It was suggested that data relating to the number of children who required tier 2 CAHMS services but who were unable to access it would be a useful indicator however it was questioned how this information would be collected

·         It was agreed that information relating to which agencies were submitting CAF referrals would be added to the data set

·         It was noted that data relating to child poverty indicators was out of date and that the information was not updated frequently.  Its relevance and usefulness was questioned

·         Data relating to the number of Section 47 investigations would be added

·         It was agreed that data relating to the following groups would be incorporated into the Vulnerable Groups section:

§  Children who were home educated

§  Those young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs)

§  Children with disabilities

§  Youth Offending (including offending by Looked after children and the number of overnight detentions in police custody)

 

It was acknowledged that those considered to be vulnerable to Child Sexual Exploitation at 17 years old were still vulnerable to exploitation when they reached 18 years old.  However many did not meet the eligibility criteria for adult social care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Local Safeguarding Children Board Resourcing and Funding update

Minutes:

The LSCB Chair had written formally to the Chief Executive’s of all contributing partner agencies informing them of the proposed increased in funding levels that would be requested for the next financial year.  To date the following responses had been received:

 

·         Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – The Commissioners would be taking a view on the proposal

·         National Probation Service – Following the recent restructure of Probation Services across the Country a national review of LSCB funding was under way

·         Thames Valley Police – Agreement had been given to a 22% increase in the budget for the current financial year.  A decision on next year’s contribution would be taken by Central Headquarters and this was still under review

·         West London Mental Health Trust (Broadmoor Hospital) had agreed to the additional funding request

 

A response was still awaited from the East Berkshire Clinical Commissioning Group and this would be followed up.  (Action: Debbie Hartrick) 

5.

Local Safeguarding Children Board Independent Chair's Report to the Chief Executive of Bracknell Forest Council

Minutes:

The Board received a report prepared by the LSCB’s Chair as part of her twice yearly meetings with the Leader, the Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning, the Chief Executive and the Director of Children, Young People and Learning at Bracknell Forest Council.

 

The report focused on the effectiveness of the LSCB in fulfilling its statutory functions as outlined in Working Together (2015) and set out the challenges which were being experienced by the LSCB and the actions taking place to address them.  The report also provided a summary of safeguarding practice amongst partner agencies and an overview of the partnership working that was taking place in the field of children’s safeguarding.

 

The Board noted the report.

 

 

 

6.

DfE Innovations Funding Application (Neglect Project)

Minutes:

The Board received a report providing an update on the bid for funding that had been submitted to the Department for Education’s (DfE) Innovation Fund. 

 

The bid had focused on the work that was taking place in the Borough to reduce the impact of neglect on children and had requested funding in order to improve capacity and resources in this key area.

 

It was reported that of the 50 bids that had been received from LSCBs across the Country, ten LSCBs had had their bids approved, twenty had seen their bids turned down and the rest had been asked to provide additional information before a decision was made.  Bracknell Forest’s bid had fallen into this latter category and additional information had been provided to the DfE. An update would be given to the Board once the outcome of the bid was known.

7.

Section 11 Pan Berkshire Local Safeguarding Children Board Sub-group Annual Report

Minutes:

The Board received a report providing an update on the work of the Section 11 Sub-group.  It was noted that this was an updated version of the report that had been brought to the LSCB’s meeting on 27 March 2015.

 

It was reported that the Sub-group had spent the past twelve months reviewing its processes and the tools available to assist with the Section 11 process.  The Sub-group was now well placed to take its work forward.  The Board acknowledged these changes however concern was expressed that these positive changes were not reflected in the report.  In addition the report failed to highlight any learning that had occurred over the reporting period.

 

Pan Berkshire partner agencies would be subjected to reviews of their Section 11 processes during the next six months.  The six Berkshire Local Authorities would also be reviewed and the timing of Bracknell Forest’s review would be confirmed.  (ACTION: Jonathan Picken)

 

The Board noted the report.

 

8.

Annual Principal Child and Family Social Work Report

Minutes:

It was agreed that due to lack of time consideration of this item would be deferred to the next meeting.  It was agreed that an update on the work of the Children’s Social Care Programme Board would also be given.

9.

Local Safeguarding Children Board Child Sexual Exploitation Strategy (Updated)

Minutes:

The Board received a report providing an updated version of the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Strategy.  The Strategy had been updated to reflect the learning arising from recent national reviews as well as give a more comprehensive overview of the disruption activity which was taking place across the Borough.

 

It was reported that a Communications Strategy would be developed to run alongside the main CSE strategy and this would include a focus on the website, social media and events with young people to ensure that their views are heard and incorporated into work to tackle CSE.

 

It was noted that partner agencies were undertaking a significant amount of work relating to CSE on an individual basis and this would need to be recorded formally by the CSE Strategy Group.

 

The LSCB noted that there continued to be a low take up of the CSE e-learning package and that work was taking place to explore how the take up might be improved.  It was noted that NWG provided staff training at very reasonable rates and it was suggested that this should be explored as a potential option.

 

The LSCB noted the report.

10.

Local Safeguarding Children Board Risk Register and Challenge Log

Minutes:

The LSCB considered a draft of the emerging risk register and challenge log for the LSCB.

 

The initial draft of the Challenge Log had been compiled using information from meetings of the LSCB and its sub-groups over the last twelve months and it was requested that people forward any further suggestions to Jonathan Picken for inclusion.  It was agreed that the Challenge Log would be updated to provide an at a glance indication of when a challenge had been mounted and who the challenge had been made to and the outcome.

 

A discussion took place over how challenges might be recorded more overtly in meeting minutes and it was agreed that consideration would be given to this outside the meeting.

 

It was agreed that the Risk Register would be updated to include a commentary outlining the potential impacts of any identified risks.  It was noted that capacity and resourcing as well as any risks that had been highlighted by the Chair in her bi-annual report to the Leader and Chief Executive of Bracknell Forest Council should be added to the Risk Register.

 

 

 

Contact Information

Democratic services

Email: committee@bracknell-forest.gov.uk