To receive apologies for absence from Members of the Committee

65.1 Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Hannah Fraser, Councillor Peggy Mullock, Councillor Kevin Pardy and Councillor Kevin Turley

65.2 Councillor Roger Evans substituted for Councillor Fraser, Councillor Peter Cherrington substituted for Councillor Turley and Councillor Jane McKenzie substituted for Councillor Pardy.

Members are reminded they must not participate in the discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

66.1 None were declared.

The minutes of the last meeting, held on 17 December 2014, are attached for confirmation.

67.1 Resolved: -

That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 December 2014 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any questions, statements or petitions of which members of the public have given notice.

Deadline for notification is: 5.00pm on Friday 30 January 2015

68.1 There were no questions from members of the public.

To receive any questions of which Members of the Council have given notice.

Deadline for notification: 5.00pm on Friday 30 January 2015

69.1 There were no questions from Members.

With the agreement of the Committee agenda item 10 was taken next.

This report provides Members with feedback about the short breaks initiative at Havenbrook, more recent developments and sets out the local authority’s intention to continue this initiative.

70.1 Members received the report of The Head of Social Care and Safeguarding which provided Members with feedback regarding the short breaks initiative at Havenbrook.

70.2 The Head of Social Care and Safeguarding reminded Members that the Pilot Scheme had been developed as part of the wider Looked After Children (LAC) Strategy, and aimed to prevent young people having to come into local authority care as part of a flexible range of support that could be offered.

70.3  The Head of Social Care and Safeguarding advised Members that during the pilot the scheme had been extended to provide crisis care as well as the planned short break provision and to date 13 of the 42 young people that had used the short breaks service had been crisis admissions.

70.4  The Head of Social Care and Safeguarding advised members that of the 29 young people that had received planned short breaks only 2 had gone on to be LAC. Furthermore of the 13 that had received crisis care, 6 became LAC, 6 went home to parental care and 1 moved into 16+ supported living arrangements, and that of the 6 who had returned home 4 continued to receive planned short breaks as part of a support plan to prevent further breakdown.

70.5  In response to a question from the Chair the Havenbrook Manager confirmed that staff had adjusted well to the changes and that the new way of working enabled staff to be more “hands on”.

70.6  The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services informed the meeting that she had attended Havenbrook as part of a Reg. 33 visit and had spoken to service users who had told her that they valued the service immensely. She added that feedback from parents and carers had also been very positive.  She also welcomed the fact that feedback from Ofsted had been helpful in the design of the provision.

70.7  A Member welcomed the support for the scheme from parents and carers and commented that it was interesting that Ofsted had been so positive. The Head of Social Care and Safeguarding commented that there was a lot of challenge to councils to do something different and that she welcomed the input from Ofsted.  She informed the meeting that a number of local authorities had shown interest in the scheme.

70.8  A Member asked what areas of the County the young people who used the service came from and what provisions were in place to get them to and from school.  The Havenbrook manager advised that where a transport plan was in place this was adhered to otherwise members of staff transported the young people to the relevant school.

70.9  The Chair congratulated Officers and Staff for their work in developing the short breaks initiative and making it a success.

70.10  Resolved: -

·         That Members note the outcomes for children that have used the short break provision and the positive feedback from young people and parents on the value of the resource.

·         That Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

Sally Halls, Independent Chair, will present the Board’s Annual Report

71.1 Sally Halls, Independent Chair of Shropshire’s Safeguarding Children Board (SSCB) presented the Annual Report (copy of both report and presentation attached to signed minutes).

71.2  The Independent Chair commented that overall there was a positive direction of travel and agencies worked well together to prioritise the safety and welfare of children.  She welcomed the positive relationship between the Board and the Children’s Trust which had been strengthened with the appointment of Lorraine Laverton as Business Manager for both the SSCB and the Children’s Trust.

71.3  The Independent Chair outlined the forthcoming challenges for the Board, which included avoiding the unintended consequences of steps taken as a result of austerity measures whilst meeting increased demand on services and concerns around the accessibility of CAMHS, especially tier 2 services.  She also expressed concern over the emotional well-being of children especially the rise in self-harming.

71.4  The Independent Chair informed Members that the Board would be monitoring the following areas in the forthcoming year: -

•      The impact of forthcoming budget reductions on safeguarding services

•      The rate of referrals and re-referrals to children’s social care and the rate of children with a second or subsequent Child Protection Plan

•      The contribution of schools to the Early Help and Child Protection Services and the impact of the early help strategy

•      The oversight of vulnerable groups, including those who are educated at home, or are missing from education

•      Safeguarding arrangements in independent schools

•      Progress in implementing PSHE which addresses issues of sexual exploitation

•      The plans for the transition of the health visiting service to the local authority

71.5    The Independent Chair advised Members that the Board had set areas for development by the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) which included:

·         ensuring that Academy Schools had the necessary safeguarding policies in place

·         the development of a quality assurance scheme to ensure that outcomes are monitored and evaluated for effectiveness

·         the provision of on-going awareness raising and training with professionals and organisations working with young people.

In response to a question from a Member the Director of Children’s Services advised that the role of the LADO was statutory, and was to deal with allegations or concerns regarding the conduct of adults who worked with young people and to give advice to employers and voluntary organisations on safeguarding matters relating to employees

71.6    The Independent Chair commented that Councillors also had a role in safeguarding in the following ways: -

·         By considering the impact on safeguarding children as part of considering reports and information presented to scrutiny.

·         By using knowledge of the local community to feedback information around safeguarding children.

·         By disseminating knowledge and spreading the message that “safeguarding children is every ones business”

71.7    A Member commented that Shropshire was a very rural county and asked how it equated with other counties with regard to the number of home educated children.  The Director of Children’s Services advised that she did not have the figures to hand and would circulate the information  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

This report sets out recent developments within Shropshire Council’s hackney carriage and private hire licensing regime that aim to further strengthen improvements in safeguarding practice, in particular in relation to children, young people and vulnerable adults

72.1 Members received the report of the Senior Commissioner (Public Protection) which set out recent developments within Shropshire Council’s hackney carriage and private hire licensing regime which aimed to further strengthen improvements in safeguarding practice, in particular in relation to children, young people and vulnerable adults.

72.2 The Senior Commissioner (Public Protection) advised Members that substantial work on safeguarding practice had resulted in the proposed changes to the policy and the associated action plan.

72.3 A Member asked whether criminal checks on applicants from other countries were possible.  The Team Manager Operations Community Safety advised that where it was not possible to carry out DBS checks, the Embassy of the country of origin was contacted to obtain a character reference for the applicant.

72.4 Superintendent McWilliams welcomed the improvements to operational practice especially the more thorough and robust assessment of applications and asked what provisions were in place for the review of licences. The Senior Commissioner (Public Protection) advised that licences were reviewed after 12 months and then every three years and that there was provision to review a licence at any time where matters of concern had been raised.

72.5 A Member asked what provision was made for the spot checking of taxi drivers especially those that transported school children.  The Senior Commissioner (Public Protection) advised that specific enforcement was not carried out at schools but spot checks were regularly undertaken to ensure licences were being complied with.  The Team Manager Operations Community Safety advised Members that all drivers went through the same vetting process and all drivers wishing to transport school children had to be registered with the Passenger Transport Unit.  This Unit held contracts for school transport and removal from this register resulted in drivers not being allowed to hold contracts for transporting school children.

72.6  The Independent Chair SSCB welcomed the Council’s recognition of the “Jay” report and various correspondence from government and commended the work of public protection staff in developing the Policy.  She suggested the following amendments to the Policy:

·         That the third bullet point of section 1.2, be amended to give an explicit requirement for taxi drivers to report matters of concern which could relate to the safety of children/ vulnerable persons rather than to tackle child sexual exploitation and trafficking as she considered this to be the responsibility of the Police and other agencies rather than drivers directly.   She added that the usual practice was for agencies (in this instance, the Private Hire Operators) to have a suitably trained Designated Officer for Safeguarding to whom concerns would be reported and then passed on to the relevant authorities.  

·         She welcomed the provision of training but considered that all taxi drivers should be expected to complete some basic safeguarding awareness training.  She suggested that, given that drivers may not be willing to give up time for training, an e-learning package could be used.  

·         She queried the possibility of including some information about CSE in the Policy, possibly as an appendix.

Members welcomed these suggestions.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

To receive a presentation on Corporate Parenting.

The Corporate Parenting Strategy is attached for information

73.1    Members received a presentation from the Service Manager – Safeguarding and Review (copy attached to the signed minutes) which set out the role of councillors and officers as corporate parents, and work being done to raise awareness of the role of corporate parents.

73.2    The Chairman thanked the Service Manager for his presentation.

To consider the appended draft refresh to the Shropshire Council Business Plan and Financial Strategy 2014-2017.

74.1    Copies of the Financial Strategy and the Draft Business Plan had been circulated. The Director of Children’s Services reminded Members that the Business Plan had been refreshed and that the Financial Strategy was an ever evolving document.  She added that the priorities for Children’s Services remained unchanged.

74.2    A Member commented that some figures in the current plan were different to those that the Committee considered at the December meeting.  The Director of Children’s Services commented that whilst the overall level of savings required had not changed, the in year savings had been amended.  She advised Members that a number of one off savings had contributed to the overall savings made but that any overspend on budgets would need to be added to the savings to be made in the next financial year.  She added that there was additional pressure on the budget around Looked After Children as the number of children in the system was rising.

74.3    A Member asked how the £1.4 million saving in the redesign of early help and prevention provision would be achieved.  The Director of Children’s Services advised the meeting that the following work was being done: -

·         the range of services being offered was being assessed to reduce overlap and duplication

·         a focus was being made on locality working

·         a review of how Children’s Centre services are delivered collaboratively.

She commented that it was not about “providing less” but rationalising services to use the resources available to gain the maximum effect.

This reports sets out the proposals and arrangements regarding the transfer of Health visiting and Family Nurse Partnership services to local authority and the potential opportunities that this brings for future integration of services and support for children and families in Shropshire.

75.1    Members received the report of the Associate Director – Public Health which set out the proposals and arrangements regarding the transfer of Health Visiting and Family Nurse Partnership services to the local authority and the potential opportunities that this would bring for future integration of services and support for children and families in Shropshire.

75.2    The Associate Director – Public Health advised Members that the commissioning responsibility for Health Visiting Services and the Family Nurse Partnership would pass to the Local Authority on 1 October 2015 and that from 1 April 2015 NHS England would be working in partnership with Shropshire Council to facilitate the novation of the contract.

75.3    The Associate Director- Public Health advised the meeting that details of the contract had not yet been received and it was proposed to set up a Working Group, reporting to the Healthy Child Programme Partnership Board, to take the transfer forward It was proposed that a member of the Young People’s Scrutiny Committee would sit on this working Group. 

75.3    Resolved: -

o   That Members note the proposals and arrangements regarding the transfer of Health Visiting and Family Nurse Partnership services to the Local Authority and the opportunities that this would bring.

o   That a further report be brought to Scrutiny in about 2 months’ time.

The current Scrutiny Work Programme and Cabinet Forward Plan are attached

76.1    The meeting received copies of the Committee’s Work Programme and the Cabinet Forward Plan.

76.2    The Chairman asked Members to let her know of any other topics they would like added to the Committee’s Work Programme.

Members are reminded that the next scheduled meeting will take place on Wednesday 1 April 2015 at 10.00am at the Shirehall

77.1 Members were reminded that the next meeting of the Young People’s Scrutiny Committee would be held on Wednesday 1 April 2015 at 10.00am.