Agenda and minutes

Councillor Nicholas Bennett JP was confirmed as Chairman for the joint meeting of Care Services and Education PDS Committees.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Judi Ellis, Councillor Stephen Wells, Portfolio Holder for Education, Brebner Anderson, Father Owen Higgs, Darren Jenkins, Janet Latinwo, Joan McConnell, Lynne Powrie and Alison Regester.

Apologies for absence were also received from Councillor Neil Reddin and Angela Clayton-Turner.  Councillor William Huntington-Thresher and Brenda Thompson attended as their respective substitutes. 

There were no declarations of interest.

To hear questions to the Care Services PDS Committee or Education PDS Committee received in writing by the Democratic Services Team by 5.00pm on Tuesday 30^th April 2013 and to respond.  Questions must relate to the work of the scrutiny committees.

No questions had been received.

To hear questions to the Care Services Portfolio Holder or Education Portfolio Holder received in writing by the Democratic Services Team by 5.00pm on Tuesday 30^th April 2013 and to respond.  Questions must relate to the work of the Portfolios.

No questions had been received.

The items comprise:

1. Bromley Safeguarding Children Board (BSCB) New Structure from January 2013

2. Terms of Reference

a)  Bromley Safeguarding Children Board

b)  Quality Assurance and Performance Monitoring Committee

c)  Training Committee

3. MEMBERSHIP LIST

a)  Bromley Safeguarding Children Board

b)  Quality Assurance and Performance Monitoring Committee

c)  Training Committee

4. BSCB POLICIES AND PROCEDURES (the list below is a selection of some of the most recent BSCB Policies and Procedures – all BSCB policies and procedures are available on the BSCB website – http://www.bromleysafeguarding.org/)

a)  The Child’s Journey in Bromley – A Partnership model for providing service to support children and families in Bromley including the safeguarding thresholds guidance (July 2011)

b)  A Strategy for Safeguarding Disabled Children (June 2011)

c)  Working with Neglectful Families – Guidance for Practitioners (October 2012)

d)  A Strategy to Safeguarding Children and Young People at risk of experiencing Sexual Exploitation in Bromley (March 2012)

5. BSCB BUSINESS PLAN 2013/14

6. BSCB TRAINING BROCHURE 2013/14

7. BSCB ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12

8. RECENT MEETING MINUTES

a)  Board Minutes of Meeting held on 12^th February 2013

b)  Board Minutes (previously called Executive) of meeting held on 20^th November 2012

9. BSCB NEWSLETTERS

a)  Spring 2013 Edition

b)  Spring 2012 Edition

Members and Co-opted Members have been provided with advance copies of the briefing via e-mail.  The briefing is also available on the Council's Website at the following link: http://cds.bromley.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?XXR=0&Year=2013&CId=559 

The Information Briefing comprised a number of reports:

• Bromley Safeguarding Children Board (BSCB) new structure from January 2013
• Terms of Reference

a)  Bromley Safeguarding Children Board

b)  Quality Assurance and Performance Monitoring Committee

c)  Training Committee

• Membership List

a)  Bromley Safeguarding Children Board

b)  Quality Assurance and Performance Monitoring Committee

c)  Training Committee

• BSCB Policies and Procedures

a)  The Child’s Journey in Bromley – A Partnership model for providing service to support children and families in Bromley including the safeguarding thresholds guidance (July 2011)

b)  A Strategy for Safeguarding Disabled Children (June 2011)

c)  Working with Neglectful Families – Guidance for Practitioners (October 2012)

d)  A Strategy to Safeguarding Children and Young People at risk of experiencing Sexual Exploitation in Bromley (March 2012)

• BSCB Business Plan 2013/14
• BSCB Training Brochure 2013/14
• BSCB Annual Report 2011/12
• Recent Meeting Minutes

a)  Board Minutes held on 12^th February 2013

b)  Board Minutes (previously called Executive) of meeting held on 20^th November 2012

• BSCB Newsletters

a)  Spring 2013 Edition

b)  Spring 2012 Edition

RESOLVED that the Information Briefing be noted.

“To scrutinise the arrangements, organisational structures, and procedures and processes of the Council and partner organisations with regard to child safeguarding to ensure there is clear cooperation, no unnecessary duplication and effective management and supervision of frontline staff.”

Members agreed the purpose of the joint meeting of Care Services and Education PDS Committees as:

“To scrutinise the arrangements, organisational structures, and procedures and processes of the Council and partner organisations with regard to child safeguarding to ensure there is clear cooperation, no unnecessary duplication and effective management and supervision of frontline staff.”

The Executive Director of Education, Care and Health Services Department introduced the statutory guidance relating to child protection.

Following a series of high profile child protection cases reported in the media, the statutory guidance relating to Child Protection had been re-released in 2012.  There were now fewer agencies involved in each case and responsibility for a child’s safety was more clearly defined with agencies taking a more joined-up and robust approach to child protection.  The Director of Children’s Services had responsibility for child protection and was line managed by the Chief Executive.

The Local Authority continued to take a lead role in ensuring the five outcomes of ‘Every Child Matters’ were delivered. 

RESOLVED that the introduction be noted.

Attached items comprise:

• Bromley Safeguarding Children’s Board Briefing Report, including hyperlinks (see Item 6)

Report CSED 13001

Helen Davies, the Independent Chair of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board (BSCB) outlined the operation and the statutory functions of the board.

The main objective of the Board was to co-ordinate the effective involvement of a wide range of agencies, including the Local Authority, the Police, Health and voluntary organisations around child protection.  Four meetings of the Board were held each year, with six meetings of the Quality Assurance Group.  There was a Training Sub Committee that worked to develop an extensive training programme for agencies around child protection issues, an Education Sub Committee and a Health Sub Committee.

The Board also had a quality assurance function and worked to monitor and analyse child protection and safeguarding indicators and performance measures across a wide range of agencies to evaluate whether effective child safeguarding practice arrangements were in place.

Since November 2012, the Board had strengthened its monitoring processes and took a more stringent approach to holding agencies to account.  The Board could, if necessary, undertake serious case reviews.  A serious case review had not yet been needed in Bromley, however a partnership review had been undertaken with a number of recommendations made, all of which had been adopted.

A recent Ofsted inspection had concluded that the Board was currently meeting its statutory obligations.  A number of recommendations had been made around the level of challenge of the Board and increasing consultation with service users, and these recommendations were being acted upon. 

RESOLVED that the overview be noted.

The Assistant Director: Safeguarding and Social Care and Head of Safeguarding and Quality Assurance gave a presentation outlining the responsibilities and arrangements for Children’s Social Care (appended at Appendix A).

The Assistant Director: Education and Head of Safeguarding and Quality Assurance gave a presentation outlining the responsibilities and arrangements in Education (appended at Appendix A).

Detective Inspector Dave Smith gave a presentation outlining the responsibilities and arrangements of the Bromley Police Service (appended at Appendix B).

Sonia Colwill, Director of Quality and Governance gave a presentation outlining the responsibilities and arrangements of the Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group (appended at Appendix C).

RESOLVED that the presentations around multi-agency responsibilities and arrangements be noted.

Members and Co-opted Members asked the presenters a range of questions around multi-agency responsibilities and arrangements for child protection in Bromley.

What is the process when an allegation is made relating to the safeguarding of a child?

The Assistant Director: Safeguarding and Social Care advised Members that when an allegation was made, the Referral and Assessment Manager would contact the Police and have a strategy discussion regarding the allegation.  Information would be gathered from a range of agencies including health and the child safeguarding contact at the child’s school.  If a decision was then made to proceed, a police officer and qualified social worker would make a home visit and speak in a frank way to the child’s parents or carer regarding the investigation, unless this would potentially place the child at risk.  The police officer and qualified social worker would also see the child and, if appropriate, speak with them.  A further strategic discussion would be had by managers and a decision made regarding the next steps to be taken.  Children considered to be at immediate risk would be removed from the home, however this was a last resort and it was more common to negotiate with families around how to protect the child during the course of the investigation, for example, arranging for an alleged perpetrator to leave the home environment or to place the child with extended family members for a short time.

Detective Inspector Dave Smith confirmed the above procedure and noted that the Police could make an arrest on the evidence provided or to ensure the protection of the child where appropriate. 

Sonia Colwill, Director of Quality and Governance noted that health services took part in any discussions as needed and provided appropriate support.

Helen Davies, the Independent Chair of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board advised Members that the role of the Board was to ensure that the appropriate multi-agency policies and procedures were in place and that a programme of audits had been established to challenge systems and ensure they were robust.

The Assistant Director: Education advised Members that allegations could affect schools through a referral regarding the safety of a child or allegation against a member of staff. 

The Head of Safeguarding and Quality Assurance confirmed that any allegation would be passed to the designated teacher or the Head Teacher and that discussions would be held with the Lead Officer for Education and Safeguarding to decide if a multi agency strategy meeting was needed and how the protection of the child or any disciplinary process of a teacher would proceed

There has been an increase in the number of referrals of allegations against professionals from 58 in 2009 to 97 in 2011, and over 50 allegations have been substantiated in the past year.  How are these addressed?

The Head of Safeguarding and Quality Assurance confirmed that immediate action was taken in all cases where allegations against professionals were substantiated.  Compromise agreements were not used in cases of child protection.

How is the performance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 97.

Attached items comprise:

• Report on the Assurance Assessment relating to the Joint Position of Director of Children’s Services and Director of Adult Services

Report CSED 13002

The Executive Director of Education, Care and Health Services Department outlined the arrangements to fulfil the statutory roles of the Director of Children’s Services and Lead Member for Children’s Services in Bromley relating to the safeguarding of children.  These arrangements were required to be subject to local testing when either the Director of Children’s Services or the Lead Member for Children’s Services undertook more than one role, as was the case in Bromley. 

The Independent Bromley Safeguarding Children Board had oversight of Bromley’s safeguarding procedures on behalf of partner agencies.  The Independent Chair of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board also had a duty to observe the work of the local system and, should it have failings, report these to the Director of Children’s Services and the Chief Executive. 

The Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services explained that his role was one of coordination and that he was the accountable officer for child protection. 

The Department for Education guidelines gave very direct guidance on the how child protection services should be delivered, however the Local Authority had proposed a number of additional safeguards to provide assurance that the statutory responsibilities of the Director of Children’s Services were not compromised through the dual role of the Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services.  These comprised:

·  That the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader and Portfolio Holder continue to monitor the effectiveness of the current arrangements against the Council’s requirements and the need for assurance set out in government guidance;

·  In the event of a change of Director, the portfolio of responsibilities be reviewed; and,

·  The Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care, the Head of Safeguarding and Quality Assurance and the Independent Chair of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board attend meetings of the Board and Education, Care and Health Services Departmental Management Team meeting on a quarterly basis to report on critical issues; thresholds, caseloads (numbers and type) and workforce (including stability, use of agency, sickness/stress absence and incidents of violence and complaints).

RESOLVED that:

1)  Members of the Care Services and Education PDS Committees agree that the arrangements to discharge the statutory role of Director of Children’s Services are safe and that the assurance test be repeated and reported annually; and,

2)  That this agreement should be communicated to the Chief Executive of London Borough of Bromley in his role as Head of the service.

Members considered future areas for scrutiny relating to child protection by the Care Services and Education PDS Committees for 2013/14.

RESOLVED that areas of scrutiny relating to child protection be considered by Care Services and Education PDS Committees for 2013/14 as appropriate.