· Helen Davies, Chair of Bromley Safeguarding Children Board
· Terry Parkin, Director of Children’s Services
· DCI Kevin Clarke, Bromley Metropolitan Police Service
· Sonia Colwill, Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group
· Jane Bailey, Assistant Director: Education
· Kay Weiss, Assistant Director: Children’s Social Care
Minutes:
Members and Co-opted Members asked the presenters a range of questions around multi-agency responsibilities and arrangements for child safeguarding in Bromley.
How does the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board engage with other strategic boards in Bromley?
Helen Davies, Independent Chair, Bromley Safeguarding Children Board confirmed that the appointment of a joint Independent Chair for both the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board and the Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board supported strong cross-working between the Boards, and that it had recently been agreed that the Independent Chair would also sit on the Health and Wellbeing Board. A number of key representatives were members of several partnership boards including the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board and the Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board. Cross-working was also undertaken between different partnership boards as needed, with a representative of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board recently speaking at a meeting of the Children’s Partnership
How does the Bromley Safeguarding Children Broad engage with schools?
Helen Davies, Independent Chair, Bromley Safeguarding Children Board advised Members that the membership of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board now included two Head teachers. The remit and purpose of the Education Safeguarding Sub-Committee had been reviewed in 2014, and work had been undertaken to improve links with schools, including the establishment of a Safeguarding Forum for Safeguarding Leads at schools across the Borough.
How does the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board ensure consistent multi-agency attendance for Board and Sub-Committee meetings?
Helen Davies, Independent Chair, Bromley Safeguarding Children Board underlined that multi-agency attendance for Board and Sub-Committee meetings was consistently at or above 75%. The high degree of organisational change across the Local Authority and partner agencies in recent years had resulted in a changing membership of the Board, but an induction was provided to new members who also received ongoing support to ensure they were able to contribute effectively to the Board.
Who can access the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board training programme?
Helen Davies, Independent Chair, Bromley Safeguarding Children Board advised Members that the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board training programme was available to any agency working to safeguard children and young people in Bromley. Participants were required to have received basic single agency child protection training through their own agencies or previous employment before attending any course in the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board training programme.
What is the cause of the recent increase in child protection allegations made against professionals working with children?
The Assistant Director: Safeguarding and Social Care confirmed that any concerns raised around the behaviour of professionals were referred to the Local Designated Officer in the Safeguarding Quality Assurance service, and that immediate action was taken in all cases where allegations against professionals were substantiated.
The Head of Quality Assurance and Principal Social Worker noted that there was a growing awareness of the role of the local designated officer in the Safeguarding Quality Assurance service, which might have led to an increase in the number of allegations made. There was also greater public awareness of inappropriate behaviour by professionals, such as the use of mobile phones in early years settings, which could addressed through training and increased supervision.
What is the responsibility of the Regional Schools Inspector around child safeguarding?
The Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services informed Members that the Regional Schools Inspector had responsibility for standards and performance of academies across South East region. The Local Authority retained full responsibility for child safeguarding in all schools across the Borough.
How are Governors supported to deliver their safeguarding role effectively?
The Assistant Director: Education confirmed that the Governor Training Programme offered a range of courses through which Governors could develop their skills. A review of governance could also be commissioned by schools, which included a review of safeguarding practice.
The Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services underlined that Ofsted had responsibility for quality assurance in schools.
Helen Davies, Independent Chair, Bromley Safeguarding Children Board advised Members that two Lay Members had recently been appointed to the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board, and that one of these was a Chair of Governors in the Borough.
What is the source of the referrals made to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub and how many are received each year?
The Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services informed Members that there had been 9,928 contacts with the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub in 2013/14, but this represented contacts rather than individual children and young people. Approximately 55% of referrals to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub come from the Police, 16% from health services, 11% from Local Authority services and 6% from schools. The remaining 12% came from a range of other sources.
The Head of Quality Assurance and Principal Social Worker advised Members that a new initiative had been introduced in 2014 where a letter was provided to referring agencies, excluding the Police, to advise them of the outcome of a referral.
What is the definition of children missing education?
The Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services noted that children missing education was defined as all children of compulsory school age who were not on a school roll, nor being educated otherwise, and who had been out of any educational provision for a substantial period of time. Ofsted had broadened the definition of children missing education to include those young people who were attending alternative provision, been permanently excluded, in receipt of home tuition due to medical needs, receiving elective home education or were looked after by the Local Authority when inspecting local authorities as these were children most at risk of missing education.
The Assistant Director: Education confirmed that there was a dedicated member of the Education Welfare Service who dealt with children missing education referrals, but that a number of other Education Welfare Officers worked alongside this officer and were able to assist with this work as required.
The Assistant Director: Education reported that work continued to be undertaken by the Education Service to ensure that children received their entitlement to education. This included working closely with the Bromley Education Trust, which had taken over the former Pupil Referral Units at Kingswood and Grovelands from 1st September 2014 and hoped to be approved as academy sponsor to Burwood School as it moved to delivering a new alternative provision for young people with social, emotional and mental health needs at Beacon House.
How is elective home education monitored by the Local Authority?
The Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services advised Members that the Local Authority no longer had the statutory right to inspect home education provision, but continued to be responsible for the safeguarding of all children and young people, including those receiving elective home education. The Local Authority and a range of partner agencies worked closely with parents and carers in the Borough who had chosen home education for their children. The Local Authority had taken a lead role in forming the Association of Elective Home Education Professionals, a national organisation which would be launched on 26th February 2015 and aimed to support local authorities to work together on elective home education issues.
What is the Local Authority doing to target truancy and encourage children and young people to attend their education provision?
The Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services underlined the benefit that achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs had on the outcomes of children and young people, and noted the importance of ensuring that children and young people were able to access an appropriate education provision. The Education Welfare service worked closely with children and young people and their families where attendance had been identified as an issue and where necessary, penalty notices and court action could be undertaken and had significantly improved attendance in a number of cases across the Borough.
Are academies and free schools required to notify the Local Authority of any child that they intend to remove from their school roll prior to removal?
The Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services highlighted that all schools including academies and free schools were required to notify the Local Authority of any child that they intended to remove from their school roll prior to removal as well as notifying the Local Authority of any child that had failed to attend school for 10 days and that they had been unable to trace
The Assistant Director: Education noted that work was undertaken with schools to identify an alternative provision for children and young people at risk of exclusion to give them an opportunity to attend a new setting and avoid exclusion. Work was also undertaken to mediate between families and schools in cases where it was felt to be beneficial for a pupil to remain in their existing provision.
Does the Local Authority have an adequate number of high quality children’s social workers?
The Executive Director: Education, Care and Health Services confirmed that Bromley offered a competitive recruitment and retention package which had an emphasis on ongoing professional development and support for social workers. The Local Authority was able to recruit high quality newly qualified social workers, but was not able to compete with the salaries available for more experience children’s social workers through locum work. The need to compete with other London Boroughs for social workers was an issue but Human Resources services from across London maintained a good working relationship.
The Assistant Director: Safeguarding and Social Care reported that vacancy rates had improved dramatically across Children’s Social Care services over the past four years. There was currently an average vacancy rate of approximately 17.5% across Children’s Social Care services, but vacancy rates tended to be higher in frontline teams such as the Referral and Assessment and Safeguarding and Care Planning Teams. Recruitment was an ongoing process and vacancy levels continued to be monitored.
Why was there a significant increase in the number of children subject to a child protection plan in March 2014 from the previous year?
The Assistant Director: Safeguarding and Social Care explained that there were 262 children subject to a child protection plan in the Borough in March 2014, which was an increase of 78 children on the previous year. The number of children subject to a child protection plan had increased significantly following a number of high profile cases in the media and, whilst the total number varied from year to year, it tended to range between 150 and 300 children.
How are General Practitioners and medical professionals supported to report cases of potential child sexual exploitation?
Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Clarke informed Members that patient confidentiality was an issue for General Practitioners and medical professionals, but that the Police would shortly be writing to all GP practices to outline the responsibilities of General Practitioners around child sexual exploitation.
Sonia Colwill, Director of Quality, Governance and Patient Safety reported that all GP practices had a named safeguarding lead and that there was a comprehensive training and awareness programme for General Practitioners, which included visits to GP practices by a designated professional. There was a named General Practitioner for child safeguarding in the Borough.
What measures are in place to stop children and young people sharing explicit personal photographs via the internet?
Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Clarke explained that all secondary schools across the Borough had been visited by the Police to advise young people that the posting of explicit personal photographs of other young people was a criminal offence, and three pupils at schools in the Borough had recently been arrested for committing this offence. Schools were working to educate pupils about this issue.
Dr Jenny Selway, Consultant in Public Health Medicine reported that Rape Crisis offered free training sessions to schools around this issue.
What processes are in place to protect children from domestic violence?
Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Clarke confirmed that there was a pan-London Domestic Violence policy under which a MERLIN PAC form was created where any child or young person under the age of 18 years was present at an incident of domestic violence. All cases which triggered the creation of a MERLIN PAC form were referred to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), and where there was sufficient concern, a referral was made to Children’s Social Care. The Police also had the power to take children and young people immediately into police protection where it was identified that they were in an unsafe situation.
Following recent high profiles case in the media, what action is being taken to protect children and young people in Bromley from violent extremism?
Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Clarke confirmed that Bromley Police worked to safeguard children and young people across the Borough from violent extremism. Any information suggesting that children and young people were seeking to travel to such places as Syria was immediately referred to the Counter Terrorism Command of the Metropolitan Police.
Helen Davies, Independent Chair, Bromley Safeguarding Children Board noted that safeguarding issues related to violent extremism would be considered by the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board over the coming year.
Sonia Colwill, Director of Quality, Governance and Patient Safety highlighted that a ‘Prevent’ programme and activity was in place to raise awareness of the issues around violent extremism.
What action is being taken to target any incidence of Female Genital Mutilation in the Borough?
Helen Davies, Independent Chair, Bromley Safeguarding Children Board confirmed that the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board had established a Task and Finish Group in 2014 to explore issues of Female Genital Mutilation, which had included representation from communities with historic links to Female Genital Mutilation. The outcomes of this Task and Finish Group would be reported to the next meeting of the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board where consideration would be given to action to be taken.
What measures are in place to stop children and young people at risk of self-harming?
Dr Jenny Selway, Consultant in Public Health Medicine confirmed that the Bromley Wellbeing Service had recently been established to support children and young people who were experiencing a range of emotional health issues, including self-harming. Schools took a key role in addressing issues around self-harming, including work by teachers to help pupils develop skills of mindfulness and resilience. Very little statistical data was currently available around the levels of self-harming amongst children and young people in Bromley, but as the Bromley Wellbeing Service continued to operate, it was expected that more detailed information would become available in due course.
What processes are in place to investigate child deaths in the Borough?
Dr Jenny Selway, Consultant in Public Health Medicine advised Members that the Bromley Child Death Overview Panel was a multi-agency panel convened several times a year to undertake the investigation and review process into all child deaths in the Borough, with the aim of identifying any patterns and potential improvements in services to prevent future deaths. The Bromley Child Death Overview Panel was accountable to the Bromley Safeguarding Children Board which ensured any recommendations made by the Panel were provided to those with responsibility for taking them forward. The Panel’s recommendations were also considered by the Quality Assurance Group.
What is the status of gang activity in the Borough?
Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Clarke informed Members that Operation Trident supported the Police to address gang activity identified in Bromley. There were currently 13 gang nominals resident in the Borough, and the Police were working with the Local Authority in an operation where gang nominals who were Housing Association tenants had been advised that their tenancies would be at risk if gang activity was undertaken.
Are children and young people put at risk through the supply of drugs through the post?
Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Clarke advised Members that it was not common for drugs to be delivered through the post for personal use, but that HM Revenue and Customs had procedures in place to identify drugs supplied through the post and ensure those in receipt of these drugs were taken into custody.
What progress has been made through Bromley’s Tackling Troubled Families Programme?
The Assistant Director: Safeguarding and Social Care reported that the Tackling Troubled Families Programme was now reaching the end of its first three year programme, and that Bromley had supported 454 families to significantly improve their outcomes, which was a 94% success rate. Bromley had been chosen as an early starter for Phase 2 of the programme which had enabled the Local Authority to contribute towards the development of the programme criteria. The Tackling Troubled Families Programme Phase 2 was expected to be available to a wider range of families and would place an emphasis on supporting vulnerable groups.
What requirement is there to monitor child safeguarding in private fostering arrangements?
The Assistant Director: Safeguarding and Social Care confirmed that there was no obligation for private foster carers to advise the Local Authority of their arrangements and that existing legislation relied on self-referral by private foster carers. In addition to self-referral by private foster carers, the Local Authority was notified of private foster caring arrangements through schools and a range of agencies, such as health services in some cases, and work was being undertaken with private foster carers and with schools and a range of agencies to promote the need for foster carers to advise the Local Authority of their arrangements.
How do the Police record any instance where concerns are raised around a child’s wellbeing or safety?
Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Clarke underlined that any instance where a Police Officer or frontline police staff member had concerns about a child’s wellbeing or safety was recorded onto a MERLIN PAC form. All cases which had triggered the creation of a MERLIN PAC form were referred to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). A debriefing system had been put in place to speak with children and young people who had gone missing to help identify any causative factors, and where children and young people had been identified as going missing on more than one occasion, a referral was made to Children’s Social Care. Independent Advocates were appointed to undertake return home interviews for Looked After Children who went missing.
How is the Lead Member for Children’s Services supported to deliver this role?
Councillor Stephen Carr, Lead Member for Children’s Services confirmed that day-to-day responsibility for children and young people was shared primarily by the Portfolio Holders for Care Services and Education, who worked to ensure the delivery of the outcomes specified in the Local Authority’s agreed priorities and plans. Council committees, including the Care Services and Education PDS Committees, provided a high level of scrutiny to the decision making process relating to the provision of services and safeguarding of children and young people. The Children’s Board had also been established as a high level strategic board which supported the Lead Member for Children’s Services in monitoring the current service provision and identifying key issues around the safeguarding of children and young people in Bromley. Regular meetings were held with the Executive Director of Education, Care and Health Services and the Chief Executive, and a wide range of statistical information was reported.
The Chairman thanked the presenters for their excellent presentations and for providing such a comprehensive outline of current multi-agency responsibilities and arrangements for child safeguarding in Bromley for Members and Co-opted Members of the Care Services and Education PDS Committees.
RESOLVED that Members’ comments and questions be noted.