Agenda and minutes

Venue: Conference Room 3 - Civic Centre

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

Items
No. Item

20.

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:

Apologies for Councillor Burke and Catherine Hobbs were noted. 

21.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting (including matters arising) pdf icon PDF 63 KB

To approve and sign as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 March 2017 and to deal with any matters arising, attached.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 9th March, 2017 be approved and signed as a correct record.

22.

Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) Annual Report 2015-16 pdf icon PDF 71 KB

Report of the Independent Chair of the LSCB providing an assessment of the performance and effectiveness of Safeguarding services in Southampton.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel considered the report of the Independent Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board looking at whether the Board’s Annual Report provides a rigorous and transparent assessment of the performance and effectiveness of local safeguarding services.

 

Following discussions with Keith Makin, Independent Chair of the LSCB, Chief Superintendent Richard John, Head of Public Protection, Hampshire Constabulary, Dr Hilary Smith, Designated Doctor and Phil Bullingham, Service Lead, Southampton City Council, it was noted that safeguarding in Southampton continued to be a challenge and that there were children and young people in the City that faced significant challenges and risks in their lives. 

 

Despite the continuing problems improvements had been made regarding safeguarding children in Southampton.  Of note were improvements to the referrals process, the integrity of data and school absenteeism.

 

The Panel were made aware of two areas that were emerging as current priorities:

 

1.  Neglect – following the work of a task and finish group a new policy had been established providing a revised toolkit for agencies to work with in identifying neglect.

2.  E-Safety – reflecting the increase in the misuse of social media leading to potential self-harm concerns. 

 

The Panel questioned the effects of transformation on safeguarding service specifically the rapid move to digitalisation and proposed reductions in front line staff.  They were reassured that the right challenges continue to be made by the Board who had confidence in the systems in place. 

 

RESOLVED:

 

(i)  That the draft 2016/17 LSCB Annual Report be discussed at the 27 July meeting of the Children and Families Scrutiny Panel;

(ii)  That the Panel are provided with an update at the July meeting of the progress made implementing recommendations made following serious case reviews;

(iii)  That the 2017/18 LSCB Annual Report provides additional context to the child death figures within the report without enabling individuals to be identified. 

(iv)  The Panel encouraged the LSCB to consider the issue of mental health support to post 16 students in 2017/18.

 

23.

Outcomes of the Joint Local Area Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities Inspection in Southampton pdf icon PDF 62 KB

Report of the Chair of the Panel recommending that the Panel consider the findings from the recent SEND Inspection. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel considered the report of the Chair of the Children’s and Families Scrutiny Panel and received a presentation detailing the findings from the joint local area special educational needs and/or disabilities inspection in Southampton. 

 

RESOLVED to monitor the progress made against the recommendations within the Ofsted report on an annual basis.   

 

24.

Children and Families - Performance pdf icon PDF 66 KB

Report of the Service Director, Legal and Governance providing an overview of performance across Children and Families Services since February 2017.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel considered the report of the Service Director, Legal and Governance providing an overview of performance across Children and Families Services since February 2017.

 

It was encouraging to note that the number of cases per staff ratio was decreasing and savings could be realised as the service was reorganised.

 

25.

Monitoring Scrutiny Recommendations pdf icon PDF 60 KB

Report of the Service Director, Legal and Governance relating to recommendations made at previous meetings of the Panel.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel noted the report of the Service Director, Legal and Governance setting out progress on recommendations made at the previous meeting.