Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Emily Goodwin/Pat Wood, Democratic Support Officer  Tel: 023 8083 2302

Items
No. Item

23.

Apologies and Changes in Panel Membership (If Any)

To note any changes in membership of the Panel made in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.3.

Minutes:

The apologies of Councillor Taggart, Councillor Keogh and also of Appointed Member Catherine Hobbs were noted.

 

 

24.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting (including matters arising) pdf icon PDF 61 KB

To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings held on 29 November 2018 and to deal with any matters arising.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2018 be approved and signed as a correct record.

 

 

25.

Local Safeguarding Children Report (LSCB) Annual Report 2017-18 pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Report of the Independent Chair of the Southampton Local Safeguarding Children Board recommending that the Panel receive the LSCB Report and utilise the information contained to inform its work.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel considered the report of the Independent Chair of the Southampton Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) which presented the LSCB Annual Report 2017-18 and outlined changes to statutory guidance relating to partnership arrangements for safeguarding children and young people.

 

Keith Makin - Independent Chair of the LSCB; Tony Rawlinson – Acting Chief Superintendent, Hampshire Constabulary; Katherine Elsmore – Head of Safeguarding, NHS Southampton Clinical Commissioning Group; Siobhan West - Associate Designated Nurse for Safeguarding, NHS Southampton Clinical Commissioning Group; Jane White – Service Lead, Children’s Social Care, Southampton City Council and Phil Bullingham – Service Lead, Safeguarding, Improvement, Governance and Quality Assurance, Southampton City Council were present and with the consent of the chair addressed the meeting.

 

The Panel noted the following:

·  That the LSCB partnership extended across a wide range of organisations.

·  That elective home education increased in Southampton in the past year.

·  That neglect has been a key focus for the LSCB and the new policies, procedures, training and tool kit that have been implemented across the partnership have enhanced the ability of practitioners to recognise and respond to signs of neglect.

·  That the LSCB has sought to improve auditing and quality assurance across safeguarding services in Southampton.

·  That the LSCB commissioned and completed a thematic report on online safety and the recommendations had been agreed.

·  That the LSCB’s focus on improving safety and outcomes for those children at risk of going missing, being exploited or trafficked has increased collaborative activity and preventative interventions.

 

RESOLVED

1)  That a briefing note outlining the key measures within the Home Education (Duty of Local Authorities) Bill is circulated to the Panel.

2)  That the Panel are provided with an update on progress with regards to the implementation of the recommendations from the thematic report on on-line safety.  The Panel requested specific detail relating to the adoption by schools of anonymous reporting tools.

3)  That a precis of the collaborative activity undertaken by the LSCB relating to the issue of County Lines drug supply is circulated to the Panel.

 

 

26.

Children and Families - Performance pdf icon PDF 67 KB

Report of the Director, Legal and Governance providing an overview of performance across Children and Families Services since November 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel considered the report of the Director, Legal and Governance which provided an overview of performance across Children and Families Services since August 2018.

 

The Panel also note the performance summary from the Chair and the response provided by officers.

 

Jane White – Service Lead, Children’s Social Care, Southampton City Council and Phil Bullingham – Service Lead, Safeguarding, Improvement, Governance and Quality Assurance, Southampton City Council were present and with the consent of the chair addressed the meeting.

 

In discussion with officers it was noted that:

·  The indicator M4, measured the number of new referrals of children aged 13+ where child sexual exploitation was a factor.  The indicator did not represent cases already open to Children and Families where child sexual exploitation was a factor, if case records included the completion of a Sexual Exploitation Risk Assessment Form (SERAF) for a child, it indicated that a child was vulnerable.

·  The Performance Board had identified the number of Looked After Children placed out of county, who did not have a record of a return interview following a missing episode needed to be addressed.

 

RESOLVED that consideration is given to including in the suite of performance measures the number of children and young people subject to a SERAF.

 

 

27.

Monitoring Scrutiny Recommendations pdf icon PDF 60 KB

Report of the Director, Legal and Governance enabling the Panel to monitor and track progress on recommendations made at previous meetings.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel received and noted the report of the Director, Legal and Governance that enabled the Panel to monitor and track progress on recommendations made at previous meetings.

 

The Panel noted the following:

·  That Social Finance were unable to attend the meeting to provide a demonstration of the new app developed to support Care Leavers.

·  That an invitation to the 2019 Southampton Care Leaver Awards would be given to members of the Children and Families Scrutiny Panel.

·  That case studies highlighting positive examples where Looked After Children have returned to their parents had been circulated.

·  That consideration had been given to how elected members could be utilised to support, mentor and advise Care Leavers.  Research had looked at good examples in other Local Authorities, which identified that for members, leaders and managers within the council to provide mentoring for young people and Care Leavers, a system to match mentors in terms of the skill set and interests with Looked After Children and Care Leavers would require a CV to enable the matching process.  It was suggested that Mentoring is offered to young people when they are in Year 10 so that the offer is embedded when the young person becomes at risk of not being in Education, Employment or Training, and that the offer could be extended to local business who are interested in sponsoring a young person in care.

 

RESOLVED

1)  That Social Finance would be invited to provide a demonstration of the new app developed to support Care Leavers at the meeting in March 2019.