Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the LSCB meeting on 23 September 2016 were approved as a correct record.

Matters Arising

• Lucy Cooke reported that a specialist practitioner had been found to deliver in-house Domestic Abuse training to NHS colleagues across Berkshire. It was suggested that this training would be picked up in work to recognise single agency training.
• It was reported that an audit was underway to review partner agencies and their work with the LADO. This audit would be overseen by the LISG and its findings reported into its next meeting.(Action: Angella Wells)
• It was clarified that the cohort of children being excluded from Primary Schools had grown, together with an increase in exclusions more generally.  An analysis of this increase would be picked up by the LISG.
• Lisa McNally provided data for Self Harm referrals. Bracknell Forest had a historically low rate of self harm within the 15 to 24 year old age range. In 2014/15, Bracknell Forest had the lowest rate of self harm amongst young people in the South East resulting in 42 presentations to A&E. In 2015/16, this had increased to 97 presentations, and in the first 6 months of 2016/17, there had been 47 presentations. There had been a similar trend of increase across Berkshire, but national comparisons were not yet available. The LSCB recognised the increase, and resolved to try and understand the cause through the LISG. It was suggested that pastoral leads in schools be approached regarding this increase, and that the LSCB training programme be adapted to incorporate training on self-harm (Action: Jonathan Picken).
• It was reported that the issue with Children’s Social Care representation on the Pan-Berkshire LSCB S11 group had been resolved as there were now three representatives on the panel.
• It was reported that the Threshold guidance implementation focus groups had identified good examples of implementation work, and that workshops would be conducted in mid-December and mid-January and be co-presented with operational leads to give practical implementation advice to partner agencies.
• Lisa McNally confirmed that all necessary partners would be consulted on the future commissioning of the health visitor and school nursing service, and that an update would be brought to the Board in January 2017 (Action: Lisa McNally).
• Lorna Hunt updated that of the initial five bids submitted to the DfE Innovation fund, three were still under consideration which were for Signs of Safety, Family Safeguarding and the Cornerstone fostering project.
• It was confirmed that the LSCB Annual Report had been finalised, published and presented to the Local Authority Executive and would be submitted to Strategic Partnerships in December and the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Peter Floyd, Lay Member for the LSCB presented the Lay Member Annual Update report.

Peter highlighted the progress made against proposals from the 2015 Lay Member report:

• Members of the group had undertaken a number of community engagement activities
• Peter had participated in a steering group to explore / co-ordinate the promotion of key safeguarding messages, and this had resulted in him undertaking the Chair role of the newly created Community and Engagement Sub-group.
• Peter had resolved to play the role of ‘Cassandra’ in meetings, bringing an important challenge to the work.
• Peter had resolved to recruit a second lay member (with a different profile / background / experiences) and introduced Hassen Boodoo, the new second Lay Member to the Board.

Peter reported on the networking undertaken by the Lay Member:

• Thames Valley Lay Members Group had last met in March and Peter reported that he would speak to the Chair of this group regarding its future arrangements.
• South East Region Lay Members Group had suffered from a high turnover of Lay Members. Peter commented that the group had useful insights, although he did not agree with all of their suggestions.

Consultation

• Building on previous consultation with the Youth Council, consultation with young people had recently been undertaken with students from Kennel Lane special school and the school Council’s at Edgbarrow and Ranelagh. Secondaries. There had been good feedback from these groups with high consistency in the views expressed, but concerns had been raised regarding the lack of diversity amongst this group and how fuller engagement could be undertaken. This is being actively addressed by the Community and Engagement sub group.

The LSCB welcomed Hassen Boodoo to the membership, and thanked Peter for his report and encouraged both Lay Members to continue with their role of Cassandra.

a.    Early Help update (Karen Frost) – report to follow

b.    CAF Annual Report 2015-16 (Debbie Greatrex)

c.    EI Hub Annual Report 2015-16 (Debbie Greatrex)

Early Help Update

Karen Frost presented the Overview and Update of Bracknell Forest Early Help Services report.

Karen explained that through a strategic review of the service, the Prevention and Early Intervention team had been reformed. The report set out the number of services being provided within the service. Existing teams had integrated to work more closely together to increase frontline delivery and reduce management levels.  Karen commented that the changes had resulted in a more focussed and targeted service, and had made it easier to identify and respond to gaps in provision.

Karen commented that Children’s Centres were still working for the 0-5 age range, but had also increased their intervention with schools and the PVI sector. Health visitors were co-located. The Child Development Centre had been established as a continuum for the Children’s Centres and effectively supports multi-professional working with children with disabilities.

Describing the work of the Family Intervention Team (FIT), Karen commented that outreach workers had become more integrated, supervision had been improved and the Signs of Safety methodology had been implemented across the service. The relationship and interface between FIT and Children’s Social Care colleagues had been clarified. The Youth Services team had become a targeted service to work particularly with the more vulnerable young people.

Karen reported that a Looked After Child had  worked with her as part of  Youth Takeover Day, and that the young person had given important insight into the successes and areas for improvement in the Early Help service. The young person was keen to work together to further develop the service.

Arising from discussion, it was commented that:

• Since the Early Help service had reconfigured, primary schools had found that there had been less engagement with schools. Karen responded that all Family Support workers based in schools came under the Early Help network, and that the service would become more involved in a school if a problem arose. This will require monitoring and the LSCB will be informed of progress (Action: Karen Frost)
• Public Health commented that they had found the integrated service particularly useful, as it crossed over between Adult and Children’s services.
• It was noted that a key element of work in Tier 2 involved the Hub.

Early Intervention Hub Annual Report 2015-16

Debbie Greatrex presented the Early Intervention Hub’s Annual Report for 2015-16.

32% of Hub users had been stepped down from Children’s Social Care, and there had been fewer Tier 2 cases in the reporting period than previously. Work had been underway to monitor and review the CAFs, and this had resulted in 79% of the Hub users coming through CAFs.

21% of children in the Hub had been identified to have come into contact with Domestic Abuse. Debbie reported concerns over the lack of provision for children with additional emotional needs as a result of Domestic Abuse, following news that the PICADA programme was to no longer be commissioned although the Safe Project was proving similar services. The Board recognised that the DA Executive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

Jonathan Picken presented the update report on the Pan Berkshire LSCB Sub Group hosting arrangements. This had been discussed at the pan Berkshire Chairs group in October and revisions agreed.

There had been issues with consistency in the groups due to a high turnover of Business Managers and the withdrawal by Slough LSCB from hosting the Policy and Procedures sub group.

Colleagues were notified that the CDOP Subgroup was hosted by West Berkshire LSCB rather than Berkshire Public Health as stated on the document.

Jonathan informed the Board that the Pan Berkshire CSE Subgroup would be handed from Bracknell Forest to Slough LSCB to host. The primary aim of the group under Bracknell Forest’s oversight was to look for opportunities to work collaboratively across the 6 LSCBs and this had resulted in a revised screening tool, which had come to fruition.

The Policy and Procedure Subgroup was due to be transferred to Bracknell Forest, supported by Reading LSCB. Angella Wells had agreed to chair the group, and the Board expressed their thanks for this. Bracknell Forest had formally requested handover information updates regarding work already achieved through the group and outstanding work for 16/17.

Jonathan Picken agreed to recirculate a revised document. (Action: Jonathan Picken)

The LSCB received the LSCB Performance Report for Quarter 1 2016-17. The report had already been considered by the LISG sub group and actions already undertaken and in progress.

Angella Wells agreed to communicate the data regarding the number of domestic abuse cases seen in Children’s Social Care and ICPCs, and to explain whether the higher number of completed CAFs and referrals to the EI Hub had had an impact on this. (Action: Angella Wells)

It was highlighted that there had been a demonstrative improvement in Missing Children Return interviews in Quarter 2. Work was ongoing to look for trends in this data and a fuller narrative would be requested (Action Angella Wells)

It was suggested that future data may include further information on the proportion of children with disabilities in order to improve the Board’s knowledge of these children (Action: All)

It was agreed that the Quarter 2 data would be presented to the LISG in December 2016 and to the LSCB in January 2017.

The LSCB received the LSCB Risk/Challenge Log.

With regard to item 2 on the log, it was reported that there had been a suggestion of a mechanism to send information from SEMRAC meetings to GPs to alert risk of CSE. Although the idea of improved information sharing was approved in principle, the method and procedure was felt disproportionate and communication was expected to be facilitated by those representatives attending .

With regard to item 7, it was noted that although the disbanding of the e-safety subgroup had been proposed by the Community Safety Partnership, the LSCB had not been satisfied with the contingency plan to replace it. The Children and Young People’s Partnership had been tasked with forming a task and finish group to assess the scope of e-safety work, however the group which was formed appears to have been unclear of their remit and had focussed on sexting as its primary issue. It had been resolved by the CYPP that a scoping exercise was in order to better understand existing e-safety work across the Council and partners before embarking on a new group. The issue would be raised and discussed at the Children and Young People’s Partnership in January 2017 (Action: Nikki Edwards).

With regard to item 8, it was reported that a survey had been conducted across partners on work with disabled children. To assist the LISG’s focus on Disabled children, a report was requested from key partners to assess the quality and effectiveness of their work with disabled children. In order to focus the remit, it was requested that these reports focus particularly on SEN work and identify the pinch points following changes to the SEN provision. (Action: LISG to progress)

With regard to item 19, it was requested that the template for partners’ attendance monitoring at CP Chairs meetings be recirculated and clarified. (Action: Alison Burnell)

All colleagues were reminded to update any actions on the Challenge log where available. (Action: all)

Mairead Panetta presented the MASH update report.

The MASH had launched in May 2016, and there had been good multi-agency working and co-operation across the Council since the launch. The MASH had both co-located staff and virtual staff, and were anticipating the Youth Service and the Missing Person police representative to co-locate in the near future.

There had been 24 families involved in the ‘confidential MASH’, and an effective pre-MASH screening process had been established. Colleagues were reminded that the MASH was a consent based model.

Work was ongoing to establish and implement the standards of the MASH.

Mairead and partners commented on the generally positive outlook of the MASH.

In response to questions, the following points were noted:

• The majority of referrals to the MASH come through the Police, although a large number came from schools and an increasing number of these related to sexting. The MASH Manager did not feel that there had been any inappropriate referrals.
• It was suggested that LSCB partners needed to be appraised of the thresholds for a referral to the MASH , which was also being clarified within the ongoing implementation training and will be considered by the Communications and Consultation sub group.
• Colleagues noticed that the contacts table of the MASH report did not total 100%, and asked for the remaining percentages to be included.
• A multi-agency Performance Board met monthly to assess the work of the MASH.
• There had been fewer referrals to the MASH from the voluntary and community sector than anticipated, and it was requested that this channel should be monitored.
•  Partners reported that the referral pathway was much clearer as a result of the MASH and TVP very positive on the impact.
• It was requested that in addition to the sources of referrals to the MASH, it would be useful to monitor the destination of outward referrals from the MASH.
• It was agreed core performance data should be included in the LSCB dataset.
• Although it was recognised that there were many anecdotal successes arising from the MASH, an external reviewer had been commissioned to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the service. A report on the MASH evaluation would be available for the March LSCB (Action: Mairead Panetta)

The LSCB thanked Mairead for her report and recognised positive evidence provided and recognised external evaluation would provide further evidence and areas for improvement.

Angella Wells presented the Closing Summary Report of Safeguarding Practice Diagnostic Action Plan.

The Board noted the following updates:

• It was noted that Mosaic (IT system) had been implemented and work was ongoing to embed the system by staff training. The new system had improved live data provision.
• Implementation of the Threshold Guidance was underway, and the guidance was becoming embedded.
• Work was continuing to review and embed chronology training in service provision.
• An audit /review would be conducted to clarify learning and impact of the review of case transfer responsibilities and would be reported in to the LISG (Action: Angella Wells).
• Toolkits and a quality assurance strategy had been developed to inform on timetabling and forward planning of work and how this linked with LSCB planned audit programme.
• Signs of Safety had been rolled out, and progress was continuing.

It was commented that the SPD action plan continued to form part of wider evaluation work, along with monthly performance monitoring in order to prepare for inspection.

Arising from a question regarding promotion of the Signs of Safety model, it was agreed that although all partners in the LSCB were aware of the methodology, promotion through the Communications and Engagement sub-group may assist families and partner agencies’ understanding of the strength based approach. Deviation from the model would be challenged by Children’s Social Care (Action: Peter Floyd).

The Board thanked Angella for the report and recognised the ongoing improvement work in Children’s Social Care.

Councillor Barnard explained the Overview and Scrutiny function of the Council. A group of Councillors had formed a working group to conduct independent information gathering on Child Sexual Exploitation in Bracknell Forest. Councillor Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning and Nikki Edwards, Director of Children, Young People and Learning were due to give feedback on the recommendations made within the report.

The LSCB raised concerns regarding item 4.7 in the report which referred to treatment of children between the ages of 13 and 18 as young people, rather than children. The Board were concerned that although a distinction between children and young people could be made when speaking with them, clarity was required to ensure that all people under 18 were legally considered children and needed protecting as such. The Board noted this particularly with regard to recent SCRs involving teenagers. 

Lorna Hunt introduced the recommendations made with regard to the LSCB which were:

• To undertake a stocktake and record of all CSE school training delivered in the last two years in order to identify and remedy any gaps
• To evaluate how CSE is incorporated into the Council-wide training programmes

The Board raised concerns regarding the recommendations, suggesting that all recommendations from the report should come to the LSCB to administer and delegate out to subgroups and partners. All partners were asked to consider all recommendations and make changes/amendments if necessary. It was suggested that the CSE Strategic Sub-group should consider all the recommendations made at their December meeting and respond to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. 

Any additional comments regarding the report were requested to be sent to Nikki Edwards for feedback to the working group.

Jonathan Picken presented the proposed LSCB Budget for 2016-17, which was fully committed.

Jonathan commented that he was mindful of necessary savings and had been looking identify efficiencies within the budget.

The cost of running the Policies and Procedures subgroup was not yet known, and it was noted that this would come out of the LSCB budget.

There was a proposal to run a Faith and Community event under the Communications and Marketing budget, in conjunction with Involve.

Alex Walters introduced a report outlining the Ofsted criteria for the effectiveness of the Local Safeguarding Children Board, with evidence and progress captured. This document had been initially discussed at an LSCB partnership session on 11/11/16 which had focussed on LSCB inspection and considered recent inspections and had been attended by Esther Blake from Reading LSCB to discuss their recent experience of an Ofsted inspection.

The next possible Ofsted inspection date was 16 January 2017, and colleagues were reminded that the inspection would certainly happen within a year. The LSCB was also reminded of the Peer Challenge which was programmed for the end of January 2017 and further information on this would be circulated early in the New Year.

Alex Walters presented the Report of the Independent Chair, which summarised progress made by the LSCB over the past 6 months. Partners were encouraged to ask questions of the report and its contents.

Alex Walters presented the Joint Board Partnership Protocol which had been reviewed and provisionally agreed by the LSCB at the last meeting.

Commented were awaited from the other Partnership Boards and this would then be formally signed off.

The next meeting of the LSCB was scheduled for 27 January 2017.

Lorna Hunt notified the Board of the development of a Regional adoption agency from Adopt Berkshire to a joint approach with Oxfordshire as the lead agency and Swindon Councils, intended to begin in September 2017.

Ian Boswell reported that a Channel Panel had been formed to work with a young person living in the Borough and any learning from this process would be shared via the LISG (Action: Jonathan Picken).

Lisa McNally reported that Adult Social Care, Health and Housing were holding an Asset Based Community Development event on 6 December 2016 to map out voluntary groups working in the Borough. Although the focus was on adults services, the remit would extend to include children’s services and all partners were invited.

Alison Burnell notified the Board of a Thresholds animation developed with the Public Health team which would be released shortly.

Jonathan Picken reported on the inspection preparation underway for the JTAI, with Domestic Abuse training underway.

a.    Information Sharing Protocol

b.    Adult Safeguarding Board Annual Report

c.    Children and Young People’s Partnership Board Minutes - 11 October 2016

d.    Community Safety Partnership Minutes – 19 September 2016

e.    Health and Wellbeing Board minutes – 15 September 2016

The Board received and noted the following Information Items which were circulated electronically with the agenda:

·         Information Sharing Protocol

·         Children and Young People’s Partnership Board minutes – 11 October 2016

·         CSP Minutes – 19 September 2016

·         Heath and Wellbeing Board minutes – 15 September 2016