1 DRAFT MINUTES OF THE READING LOCAL SAFEGUARDING

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE
READING LOCAL SAFEGUARDING BOARD MEETING
19th March 2014
Tilehurst B Suite, The Avenue
2pm – 4.30pm
Attended:
Member
Stephen Barber
Karen Reeve
Deborah
Glassbrook
Stuart Greenfield
Anne Farley
Anderson Connell
Helen Taylor
Hannah Powell
Bernadette Adams
Ruth Perry
Cllr Jan Gavin
Penny Cooper
Role
Independent LSCB Chair – Reading, West Berks and Wokingham
Head of Children’s Services, Reading Borough Council (RBC)
Interim Head of Safeguarding & Quality Assurance, RBC
Initial
SB
KR
DG
Superintendent, Thames Valley Police
Reading LSCB Lay Member
Reading LSCB Lay Member
RCVYS Representative
Senior Probation Officer, Thames Valley Probation
Service Development Manager, Berkshire Women’s Aid
Head Teacher, Caversham Primary School
Lead Member, RBC
Head of Children's Universal Services-Reading, Berkshire
Healthcare Foundation Trust (BHFT)
Designated Nurse, Berkshire West CCG
Head of Housing, Neighbourhoods and Community, RBC
Urgent Care Group Director of Nursing, Royal Berkshire Hospital
Foundation Trust (RBHFT)
SG
AF
AC
HT
HP
BA
RP
CJG
PC
Board Support
Esther Blake
Joanne Roberts
Role
Reading LSCB Business Manager
Business Support Administrator
Initial
EB
JR
Presentation
Christine Etheridge
Anastasia MorganRose
Role
Young People’s Programme Senior Policy Advisor, CAADA
CAADA
Initial
CE
AMR
Jenny Selim
Sarah Gee
Patricia Pease
Apologies:
Members
Avril Wilson
Fiona Slevin-Brown
Chris Lawrence
Kevin Gibbs
Kevin McDaniel
Elizabeth Rhodes
Observer
Ian Wardle
JS
SGe
PP
Director of Education Adults and Children’s Services, RBC
Locality Director, BHFT
Early Years Partner Forum Representative
Head of Service, CAFCASS
Head of Education, RBC
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service
Managing Director, RBC
Apologies not received:
Members
Anthony Heselton
South Central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust
Mel Jarvis
Business and Performance Manager, CAMHS
Lise Llewellyn
Berkshire Lead Public Health Consultant
1
ITEM
A
DISCUSSION
Welcome and Apologies
Apologies were acknowledged and introductions made.
WHOM
SB welcomed guests Anastasia Morgan Rose (AMR) and Christine Etheridge (CE)
from CAADA who would be giving a presentation – item D.
SB thanked Fiona Slevin-Brown for her contribution to the board for the time of
her membership.
No declaration of conflicts of interest made.
B
Previous Minutes and Outstanding Actions
The previous minutes from 29th January 2014 were agreed for the record.
SB asked for clarification in a few areas of the previous minutes:
Page B3 – Accommodation of Children. It states “there are an unusual amount
of 12/13/14 years olds so one of the team has been commissioned at the case
histories as they should/would have been known somewhere prior to Reading”.
KR clarified that she had asked staff to look at the recent history of some cases
who were new to Children’s Social Care (CSC) but in significant crisis, to see
whether they had been known to a service in Reading.
Action:
• Previous minutes to be amended to reflect the above.
EB
16/04/14
Page B3 – Police Figures and Training to Increase the Quality of Referrals.
SG confirmed that this training has not yet taken place as it is difficult to know
what the training should look like. Ideas are currently being sought and the
findings for this are expected in the next four weeks.
Page B4 – Quality of Referrals. RP confirmed she communicated this issue
back at the Primary Heads Meeting on 5th February 2014.
Page B5 - Attendance of Probation at conferences. DG clarified she has not
been able to get a date yet to discuss but it is in hand.
Page B6 - Daniel Pelka. SB had asked for this to be cascaded within the
agencies and confirmed this had been done.
Page B8 - Emotional Well Being Issue. SB confirmed he has spoken to CJG. A
report will be submitted to the LSCB and the Health and Well Being Board.
Action:
• EB to progress
EB
16/04/14
Page B8 – Children’s Centre inspections. EB has sent the action plan to SB
and a report is coming to the next Executive meeting.
2
ITEM
C
DISCUSSION
Pressure on Safeguarding services to Include issues in relation to workload
SB stated he had not previously been notified of any issues.
WHOM
KR stated that after a very busy January, February was much quieter and so far
in March, only two children have been brought into care. This could potentially
mean a year end reduction of 20 children (7%). The Court process in Reading is
now much quicker from an average of 57 weeks down to below 35. This is
primarily because additional court space has been made available, with fully
trained Judges. KR confirmed that cases are tracked and any issues will be
picked up if necessary.
D
Supporting local areas to respond to the change in definition for domestic
abuse
A presentation was given by Christine Etheridge (CE) on the above.
CE referred to the CAADA report ‘In plain sight’ and also suggested that
members read the ‘Boys to Men’ research conducted by Manchester University.
SB stated he will consider the recommendations in the CAADA report mentioned
at the next Executive meeting.
It was heard that Catherine Burke (CB) is the Young People’s Violence Advisor
(YPVA) for this area. However, any referrals should be made via Access and
Assessment, not to CB directly.
CE talked about the CAADA Young Persons Programme which covers children
aged 13 years and above. A discussion took place regarding the Home Office
change in definition for domestic abuse, which was confirmed after the
meeting as now including young people ages 16 & 17. KR stated that Reading
CSC considers children of all ages when it is thought that they are situations
involving domestic abuse.
CAADA aim to involve other sectors in their work; information is sent out but is
not always filtered down. They are now trying to work with local people on a
Train the Trainer programme and with Voluntary Organisations. BA noted that
Berkshire Women’s Aid has no current involvement in this programme, yet they
are the lead provider in for domestic violence work across Reading. BWA and
CAADA will link up to make the resources available to young people in the area.
SG stated it would be good to have someone from CAADA to come to the
Domestic Abuse Steering Group (DASG).
Actions:
• EB to send the CAADA report In Plain Sight to the Board
•
SB to consider the recommendations in the CAADA report at the next
Executive meeting
•
BA to contact CE to link BWA and CAADA
•
SGe to invite a representative from CAADA to the DASG
EB
26.03.14
SB
16.04.14
BA
16.04.14
SGe
16.04.14
3
ITEM
DISCUSSION
CE and AMR left at this stage (14:35).
E
Domestic Abuse Strategy – Demonstrate the effectiveness of local services
SGe spoke to the report.
WHOM
SGe took over as Chair in the autumn. The Domestic Abuse Steering Group
(DASG) have completed an audit of resources in Reading and identified a few
gaps. The action plan has been revised. It needs to be determined what data
is available across the agencies so it can be captured and understood. SGe
noted that the DASG and MARAC Steering Group are well attended.
KR clarified that there are now Police risk assessors within the triage process,
based alongside the MASH team. It is important to note that they are not part
of MASH itself.
There are significant concerns regarding the quantity and quality of
relationship education in schools. There has been a group meeting with school
leads and resources are being made available to them.
There is an issue with prosecution rates regarding domestic abuse. The success
rate is only 57% in Reading. Thames Valley Police are aware and are working
with the CPS, particularly around the time it takes to get to trial. Although
this is a CPS issue, the Police are not complacent and are looking at improving
the quality of case files.
SGe noted that the strategy itself has not yet been started as it was important
to get an updated action plan in place, which is still a work in progress.
Regarding the action plan, the group noted:
• There are lots of actions without timescales
• It is unclear how Priority 1 work is linking up with the Youth Cabinet.
• Under Priority 5 Capturing the voice of the victim/survivor, it was asked
how we ensure this includes children and young people as different beast
in capturing the voice of adults.
PP suggested revisiting the Cardiff model and will discuss this with SGe outside
of the meeting.
Page E4 – With regards to the lack of IDVA Court Support in Reading, SB asked
who will fund and provide this. The funding issue has been raised and
discussed at Thames Valley level with the Police and PCC. The PCC funds Court
IDVAs in some areas but not in Reading, although we have a specialist DV court.
SB offered to write to the PCC to support this.
With regards to MARAC, there has been significant improvement around
referrals from partners, up at 30%, which is a shift. There has been an
improvement in repeat referrals being recorded and an increased awareness.
However, there is concern that there is no evidence / reliable data on how the
MARAC process protects children or how affective the plan is. A repeat referral
could be due to an ineffective plan. KR stated that CAADA was spoken to a
year ago about how we could improve guidance and measure the impact on
4
ITEM
DISCUSSION
MARAC. This is in the DA action plan and CAADA will be approached regarding
best practice nationally.
WHOM
With regards to the LSCB and auditing, this would need to look at the quality of
work around child protection and domestic violence, and be correctly scoped.
Actions:
• SGe to look at the issues noted regarding the action plan and
prioritise actions
SGe
30.04.14
•
SB will write to the PCC regarding funding for a court based IDVA in
Reading
SB
16.04.14
•
SGe to raise the issue of measuring the impact of the MARAC impact
with DASG, including input from CAADA if appropriate
SGe
30.04.14
K
IRIS Project
This item was discussed at this point as it was felt most appropriate.
BA spoke to the report. The takeup of training by GP practices in Reading
appears satisfactory.
F
Sub Group Reports
Quality Assurance (QA) Chairs Report
PC Spoke to the report.
With regards to the Safeguarding audit, it was unclear what was required. KR
confirmed there is a need to check that every agency has an appropriate
supervision process in place and a multi-agency audit is required.
SB clarified for the group that that sometimes there will be set national
standards, but sometimes standards are based on local policy and good
practice. The audit scope should determine the appropriate standards for the
audit to be measured against.
Note: Where agencies carry out a single agency audit, the QA group should be
informed.
Action:
• PC to ensure the QA group reschedule the Safeguarding Supervision
audit and develop an appropriate multi-agency scope.
PC
09.04.14
Report on Executive Meeting
EB spoke to the report which briefly outlined the discussion from the last
Executive meeting.
There were some outstanding actions for Kevin McDaniel (KMcD) - EB to chase.
Regarding the impact of police non-attendance at CP conferences – a report has
been done which has been sent to Ian Wardle (RBC, Managing Director), who
5
ITEM
DISCUSSION
has raised with the Police. KR to bring key examples of non-attendance to the
next Executive meeting.
WHOM
Children and Young People who sexually offend - KR reported that CAMHS will
commission at tier 4 and will have a debate on how to link with tier 3. There is
a lot of interest in a commissioning group as they had not realised it was an
issue. No timescale yet.
KR stated that the Update Report from the Reading Executive Sub Group
Meeting is a public document and should not be marked ‘Protect’. It was noted
that some protective markings are not always correct and this needs to be an
agenda item for the Executive Group Meeting.
Actions:
• EB to chase KMcD for draft letter to schools from SB advising that the
LSCB are looking at exclusion rates
EB
26.03.14
•
EB to chase KMcD regarding his letter to head teachers regarding low
numbers of known private fostering cases
EB
26.03.14
•
KR to provide examples of police non-attendance at child protection
conferences to the Executive Sub Group
KR
16.04.14
EB
26.04.14
• All members to provide internal audits covering safeguarding issues to All
30.04.14
Penny Cooper for the QA subgroup.
SGe left the Meeting at this stage.
•
G
Add Document Marking as Agenda item for Executive Group Meeting
SARC Protocol
SB spoke to the report, which sets out proposed arrangements between the
SARC in Slough and the LSCB. This will go to all Berkshire LSCBs. It is a good
basis and SB recommends it. This was agreed.
At the last Executive group meeting it was recommended that a review of the
protocol occurs in 12 months. EB confirmed that Sheila Jenkins (the lead at
NHS England Local Area Team) has been informed.
H
Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust
PP spoke to the reports.
Participation of Children and Young People
PP noted the comment made at the January Board regarding impact evidence.
They had evaluated the effectiveness of the work via surveys and they are still
looking at how they change the services. The Parent panel will influence
service change. It was discussed that the board needs more examples of how
this is effective and what difference is made. CJG commented it is good to see
agencies making more effort, but we need to embed that voice in everyday
practice. PP will provide evidence of outcomes.
6
ITEM
DISCUSSION
Action:
• PP to provide examples of the outcomes resulting from the work
discussed in the report
WHOM
PP
31.05.14
RBFT Annual Safeguarding Report
PP noted that the front sheet should have been completed.
PP referred to the data set regarding self harm in West Berks - the validity of
the data is fine but how much more data is needed. There is a need to
understand where there are clusters of self harm. No timescales for this yet.
A discussion took place regarding the timeliness of this report. HH11-19 is the
2013/14 action plan for the 2012/13 report and another is now nearly due.
SB referred to HH5, Key Achievements. Key performance indicators - there is a
need to consider what the Performance group receives.
HH7, safeguarding training is now much better. There was an issue with level 3
training but an action plan is in place and 85% of front line staff are to be
trained by end March.
HH16, Audit cycle. There is a new named nurse for Child Protection named Jo
Horsburgh who will attend the QA group.
It was heard that Dr Ann Gordon is currently the named doctor for Child
Protection. A new Paediatrician is in a developmental phase and will become
the named doctor soon.
Disabilities Task and Finish Group – Report and Annual Plan
This was considered at the last Executive Board Meeting. PP confirmed that
Julie Hughes (Lead Nurse children and Young People RBFT) is retiring but her
successor will oversee the implementation of the action plan.
There is an issue that respite care is limited. Thresholds are too high to get
respite care and some families don’t get the respite they need.
CJG asked how we make sure this work is joined up with new SEN work.
Implementation is far reaching and is a very different way of looking at
provision.
Actions:
• The respite care issue to be taken to the Health and Well Being
board.
•
PP
31.05.14
EB
16.04.14
EB to ask KMcD to consider how this report and action plan links up
with changes in the SEN process. Agenda onto a future Executive
Group Meeting.
Rapid Response Report for LSCB’s 2012/2013
This is last year’s report for information; a new report will be available soon. .
7
ITEM
DISCUSSION
WHOM
RP left at this stage for a Governors’ Meeting.
I
Update on the work of the CSE group and information sheet “Chelsea’s
Choice”
KR spoke to the report. This group has now been operationalised and will be
chaired by Avril Wilson. Note: the report refers to stopping ‘men’ offending
but should have said ‘perpetrators’.
There has been a drop in intelligence and referrals recently relating to
concerns around children in Reading. This could be because there was a very
high profile investigation in the community last autumn which disrupted the
activities of perpetrators and raised the amount of press interest.
The group is aware that they still need to be very vigilant as concerns may
come back and perpetrators may have found alternative methods. There have
been no recent referrals regarding CSE (as opposed to sexual abuse).
The Chelsea’s Choice production, which was funded, was delivered to all
secondary schools, apart from Blessed Hugh Faringdon. The Board expressed
concern that the school did not take up this opportunity and SB offered to
write to the school.
A new screening tool has been the introduced, but it was queried how widely
this had been disseminated. KR will check how this tool was disseminated with
Kate Jahangard and confirm if the tool is on the RBC website. KR will clarify if
the tool needs to be included within the CP procedures and refer to the Policy
and Procedures sub-group if necessary. West Berks and Wokingham are broadly
using the same tool. The recommendation would be to use the best tool in
light of experience.
Currently this CSE group includes 35 – 40 people and is an operational group.
Avril Wilson will set up a smaller strategic group with people who can make
decisions for their organisation. The Board were asked to consider suitable
partner representation. The following people were nominated:
o Janice Burnett - Nursing. She is working across Berkshire has led
on policies and procedures.
o Hannah Powell - Senior Probation Officer
o Penny Cooper - Head of Children's Universal Services, BHFT
It was discussed that a designated doctor, paediatrician or GP would helpful.
The strategic group will need to think about how they work with the Youth
Council. Although being set up as a sub group of CSE, they will also need to
report to the LSCB.
Actions:
• SB to consider writing to Blessed Hugh regarding their lack of
engagement with the Chelsea’s Choice offer.
SB
16.04.14
8
ITEM
J
L
DISCUSSION
• KR to speak to Kate Jahangard to confirm how the tool was
disseminated and confirm if the tool is on the RBC website..
WHOM
KR
16.04.14
•
KR to clarify if the tool needs to be included in the CP procedures and KR
refer to the Policy and Procedures sub-group if necessary.
16.04.14
•
Members to inform KR if there is anyone they would like to put
forward to sit on this group
All
16.04.14
Statutory Guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or
care
KR referred to the new guidance. The protocol between local authorities and
Thames Valley Police (referred to in the guidance in Paragraph 20) is being
reviewed and Wokingham are taking the lead.
Action:
• EB to contact Wokingham to ask for a timescale on this.
EB
16.04.14
Business Items
Business Plan
EB and DG have updated this using information from Working Together 2013
and the term of reference from the LSCB sub groups. Issues and concerns
taken from the last LSCB annual report have been mapped against the action
plan with new additions marked in italics. The Board were asked to review this
to ensure actions were reasonable and clear, and lead personnel identified. JS
would like to suggest rewording for title of number 3 and will email EB.
SB confirmed that Ofsted will use this document to find evidence of LSCB
effectiveness so it needs to be robust.
L33 – EB asked for clarification of remaining challenges. HP reported that the
Probation restructure change come into effect from 1st June 2014. SB asked for
a report on this to the next Board meeting. Rapid response audit key messages
are covered within the CDOP section.
It was agreed an update on the business plan is required at the LSCB every six
months. In the interim, EB needs to keep check and identify and raise any
concerns as appropriate.
The current business plan is now signed off and is a working document.
Actions:
• EB to email the Board asking for a review of the actions and named
lead staff
•
EB will update the Business Plan and add to the LSCB website
•
HP to write a report for the next Board meeting regarding the
changes taking place within the Probation service.
EB
31.03.14
EB
31.03.14
HP
30.04.14
9
ITEM
DISCUSSION
Front Sheet guidance and exemplar
The front sheet has been updated and an exemplar produced. The key change
is the requirement to use of signs of safety approach in the executive summary
section. SB confirmed this was changed as a result of inspections and audience
feed back.
WHOM
At the next full board meeting there will be some intelligence regarding what
the first round of inspections have been picking up. Currently all LSCB’s have
‘required improvement’. There is a document which outlines expectations
which EB can forward to the Board.
Actions:
• EB to email the new Front Sheet template to the Board
•
M
EB
26.03.14
EB
26.03.14
EB to circulate the Ofsted inspection framework.
Standing Items
Issues from recent inspections
PP referred to the recent Looked After Children’s inspection of health services
across Reading. No report available yet but no surprises. They needed to draw
on social care colleagues to help with inspection, who were very helpful.
Items to be referred to the Adult Safeguarding Board
Transition issues for disabled children.
Items to be referred to the Children’s Trust and the Health and Wellbeing
Board
Respite issues from item H.
CJG reported that they are changing the shape and focus of how the Children’s
Trust works. The next meeting is a workshop to set priorities for the coming
period (3 – 5 years). Four meetings a year will be held with greater emphasis
on multi-agency workshops.
CJG reported that the RBC internal panel called ‘Children’s Safeguarding’ is a
cross party/private group that scrutinises Children’s Services performance
rigorously. This function is being moved to the Adult and Children’s Education
Committee and the panel will now only meet for serious case reviews and
specific finish a task/activity.
N
Effectiveness of LSCB and Impact on children
Regarding the CSE report, the drop in reported intelligence around perpetrating
is very positive.
It was discussed that a lot of energy is needed in reading a report which is a
year out of date. The issue is how this can be timetabled better. This is an
10
ITEM
DISCUSSION
ongoing issue the board needs to be aware of.
WHOM
It was thought that the discussion regarding Domestic Abuse was useful.
O
Any Other Business
AC stated that the Performance Group has updated terms of reference and at
the next Executive Meeting there will be a full report on the new data set.
SB referred to a government consultation with short timescales on wilful
neglect. The email has been sent to Board members should they wish to
contribute.
HP raised awareness of the challenges Probation are currently facing with their
restructure. The multi agency public protection cases will be held in one
organisation and all domestic abuse, safeguarding, mental health and complex
needs cases will be in another organisation. It is recognised that this is a risk
and Probation would welcome partners to get in touch with any concerns as it
is likely to impact on safeguarding children in Reading. HP to prepare a report
as noted in item L.
BA reported that a male worker has been recruited to BWA. They will
encourage fathers to attend child protection conferences. In the last quarter,
40 male perpetrators attended the Family Choices Programme and there were
no repeat referrals among this group.
FUTURE MEETING DATES: * - Meeting takes place in School Holiday
Weds 18th June 2014
Weds 17th September 2014
Weds 17th December 2014
2pm – 4:30pm
1.30pm – 4pm
2pm – 4:30pm
Tilehurst B, The Avenue Centre, Reading
Kennet Room, Civic Offices, Reading
Tilehurst B, The Avenue Centre, Reading (TBC
by EB)
11

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