Minutes of the Wokingham Safeguarding Children Board

Transcription

1 Minutes of the Wokingham Safeguarding Children Board Wednesday 24 th January am 12.30pm Shute End, Wokingham Chair: Attendees: Carol Cammiss Claire Robinson Corrina Gillard Emma Slaughter Hannah Powell Jayne Reynolds Lisa Humphreys Liz Stead Louise Gurney Mark Ashwell Patricia Pease Paul Brown Paul Senior Shan Ratcliffe Tom Scantlebury Apologies: Christine Dale Debbie Simmons Emma Bourdakou Emma Kettle Jane Winterbone Julia Powers Peter Whittaker Shaun Virtue Simon Price Invitees: Rachel Oakley David Allen In Attendance For Board Support: Sherrie Newell Nadine Morton Alex Walters Independent Chair (AW) Assistant Director QA & Safeguarding, WBC (CC) Head Teacher, Holme Grange School (CR) Head Teacher, Emmbrook Infant School (CG) Early Years Consultant, WBC (ES) Senior Probation Officer, TV Community Rehabilitation Company (HP) Deputy Director of Nursing, BHFT (JR) representing Karen Cridland Assistant Director of Children s Services, WBC (LH) Head of Safeguarding Children, Berkshire West CCG s (LS) Head Teacher, Woodley CofE Primary School (LG) Lead Member Children s Services, WBC (MA) Associate Director of Safeguarding and Mental Health, RBHFT (PP) Social Inclusion Officer, Reading Football Club Lay Member (PB) Interim Director of Peoples Services, WBC (PS) Virtual School Head teacher (SR) - representing Jane Winterbone Inclusion Manager, Foundry College (TS) Assistant Director Integrated Mental Health Services, BHFT, (CD) Nurse Director, Berkshire West CCGs (DS) Service Manager, CAFCASS, (EB) Service Development Manager, BWA (EK) Interim Assistant Director Education, WBC (JW) Senior Probation Officer, NPS WSCB Lay Member (PW) Superintendent, TVP (SV) Head of Housing Health & Wellbeing, WBC (SP) Interim Executive Team Manager, Quality Assurance & Safeguarding, WBC (RO) Communities and Engagement Manager, WBC (DA) WSCB Business Manager WBC (SN) WSCB Administration Support, WBC (NaM) Minutes of the Wokingham Safeguarding Children Board 1. Welcome And Apologies Chair Alex Walters The Chair welcomed the group, introductions were made and apologies noted. 2. Minutes of Previous meeting held on 20 th September 2017 and matters arising - Paper 2a The Board agreed that the minutes were a correct record of the meeting held on 29 th November Updates on the following actions were noted: Page 3 Action: TCS training information to be collated and disseminated to the board SN SN advised that after further consideration and review it has been decided that WSCB will not Page 1 of 9

2 commission training via The Children s Society (TCS) around Neglect at this time. It was identified that the proposed training package was focused on adolescents when training provision needs to impact across the broader age range of neglect. SN advised that a range of neglect training has already been undertaken and work to identify appropriate multi-agency training packages is continuing under scrutiny of the JTAI task and finish group which is reporting to the LSCB in March 18. Page 4 Update on Business Plan / Budget The Chair raised that there will be considerable challenges for the LSCB in if funding is not received as expected. SN confirmed that figures suggest there will be a significant deficit in funds but some agencies have not yet confirmed their contribution. The Chair appealed to partners to review their funding contributions and SR advised that schools appear to not have identified this commitment in their budget for 18/19. However JW will add this to the agenda for the schools learning partnership/forum in February to discuss further. Page 5 Working Together Consultation update The Chair advised that the LSCB had submitted its response and that the consultation had received 700+ responses and the revised guidance is expected to be published in March 18. Page 6 School Safeguarding Survey SN advised the Board that an 80% compliance rate has now been achieved and collaborative work is being undertaken with schools to review the process and finalise what the new audit template will include. The next survey is due to go out at Easter and discussions will be taking place over alignment of arrangements across West Berkshire. Page 7 Signs of Safety Task and Finish Group The group convened in December and work is ongoing and will report into the March LSCB. - see event flyer attached for info. Page 8 - AOB Action: NaM to update the WSCB website Levels of Need document by Friday 8 th December Website updated - action complete. Family Justice Board Update Verbal The Chair informed the Board that Kevin Gibbs, Chair of the Berkshire Family Justice Board attended the Pan Berkshire Chairs meeting in November to provide an update around areas of concern. He advised that performance has improved this year in the timeliness of Care Proceedings and positive improvements include: The appointment of a new designated Judge Continued recruitment to appoint additional Judges The Board discussed concerns in relation to the suitability of the existing building. It was agreed that issues remain around capacity, building quality and how this impacts on performance. The Chair had agreed to write on behalf of all the Berkshire LSCB Chairs in relation to the building quality and capacity. Action: Remain on concerns log whilst continuing to monitor performance through quarterly reports. Arrangements for children who go missing from care and home Paper 2b LH provided an update on arrangements for children who go missing from care and home advising that a short report had been submitted to a meeting with colleagues on pilots around CS frameworks. All Local Authorities had concerns around the process and there was push back through the pilot around the over Page 2 of 9

3 complexity of the RHI process. Local data supports RHI s being offered consistently and children are routinely talked to by an independent person. There is confidence that children s needs are met and issues discussed but less confidence in the process for storing information which risks duplication. Issues around the RHI process include: Whether a child who goes missing 3-4 times in short succession needs to be seen by one professional covering all 3-4 incidents or whether there is a requirement for 3-4 professionals to visit the child for 3-4 separate RHI s. Challenges in keeping all of the workforces training up to date Challenges due to the constraints and limitations of MOSAIC and how to ensure information is stored accurately, consistently and in the same place. The RHI provision is being reviewed and options under consideration include Early Help workers undertaking training to become independent assessors and new specialist roles under the expanded MASH. It is felt that Early Help workers will be more persistent in engaging with children, young people and their families. A piece of work is to be undertaken to look at what works well and develop a range of different support packages to ensure the right level of provision is available. The Board discussed the criteria around who can carry out RHI s. LH advised that this would need to be someone skilled and confident to speak to children, assess problems and write reports but who is not directly involved with the child. It was also felt that 3-4 different people undertaking RHIs with one child within a very short timeframe seems excessive and there was challenge to question how conducive and proportionate this would be. The Chair stated that there were different models used to undertake RHI operating in different LA and it would be helpful to include this in the review to ensure that Wokingham processes/arrangements were compliant but the key issue was that the learning from these interviews impacted on the child and informed any strategic discussions. Action: The Chair requests that RHI data be fed into the Quality and Performance subgroup for oversight and scrutiny and an update on the outcome of the review is fed into a future LSCB 3. WSCB Actions, Risk and Concerns Log Paper 3 1. Safeguarding Training. Agenda Item on today s LSCB - Issue around impact remains unevidenced. Agency representatives are asked to promote the completion of the evaluation forms 2. CAMHS Staff Recruitment. JR provided an update on CAMHS staff recruitment advising that although recruitment remains difficult work has been undertaken to address staff shortages and all vacancies are currently covered along with 95% of the rapid response team by both permanent and agency staff. The main issue for Wokingham is the overall increase in referrals with 870 this year up 26% on last year (650) and this year on year exponential increase is now impacting on the service. It is acknowledged that all young people are receiving timely telephone triage however some individuals are then waiting 12 weeks to be seen. It was agreed that some strategic oversight would be useful by the LSCB. Action: CAMHS transformation paper Future in Mind to be brought to March Board. 3. BHFT Staff Recruitment & Ryeish Green Letter update LS advised the Board that Andy Fitten is the project lead looking at options for provision of respite care for disabled children including Ryeish Green. Work is being undertaken to find a solution to address out of hours respite care for Ryeish Green. A risk assessment on the impact of changes to the service has been undertaken and a package of support was secured for every child there at Page 3 of 9

4 that time. PP informed the Board that Andy Fitten is undertaking a piece of work looking at the wider provision for the service which feels like the right piece of work moving forward. The board agreed that this is a positive piece of work and PP advised that timeframes for completion would be set to prevent drift. The Chair advised that this should include other partners who have responsibilities for disabled children i.e. CSC and SEND 4. Delay LAC health assessments The Chair advised the Board that the Chair of Windsor and Maidenhead LSCB wrote on behalf of all 6 LSCBs to NHS England regarding concerns on the delay in LAC health assessments with no response received to date. LS explained that as a commissioned service there should be no reason for delay and it appears to be a system issue. Locally the LAC nurse is working closely with GPs in isolated pockets to address concerns and this remains a high priority. The Chair stressed the importance of escalation and that concerns are significant. Action: The Chair to escalate concerns to NHS England and provide update. 5. JTAI Update due to be brought to Board in March 6. GP reports to CPC Improvements and progress have been noted around GP reports to CPC with figures from November/December 2017 advising of 80-90% compliance. This is a significant improvement and was welcomed. The Board agreed to remove this item from the concerns log. Continued monitoring will be undertaken by the P&Q subgroup. Action: GP reports to CPC to be removed from Concerns Log 4 Future Shape of the West of Berkshire LSCB Proposal Paper 4 The Chair presented a paper on the future shape of the West of Berkshire with the proposed merger of the three local authority area LSCBs into one LSCB. Issues around the national proposed legislative changes were noted and the report suggested that consideration be given to a pilot year establishing one board and developing additional subgroups whilst maintaining existing subgroups. The report identifies the significant amount of duplication for partners across all three authorities and how one board would improve consistency and widen learning particularly for schools. The Board would need to look at strengthening local subgroups especially P&Q as this would need to provide local quality assurance There would be challenges around budget and collectively the West of Berkshire has a very small budget compared to other Local Authority areas. Board members discussed the proposal and were in agreement that this is an important piece of work particularly at a time when budgets are exceptionally tight. It was agreed that consideration needs to be given to changes within the Children and Social Work Act and how the partners would provide oversight. LS proposed a Tri area Task and Finish group to develop a multi-agency implementation plan. LH also stressed the importance of not diluting local focus and identified work which needs to be undertaken by the LSCBs to find points of commonality and points for local focus. The Chair noted how the complexity of moving from where we are now to where we will end up will require commitment from key partners, open dialogue, set timeframes and agreed action plan. PS informed the Board that he had discussed this with colleagues nationally noting the significant potential for risk if commitment is not given to serious and innovative discussion. Action: Proposal for a Task and Finish group for the West of Berkshire Board Merger to be established. Action: AW will present the outcome of the Board merger proposal to the DCS s across the west Page 4 of 9

5 of Berkshire who are currently accountable for the 3 LSCBs - AW 5 Subgroup Updates Learning and Development Sub Group Paper 5a SN advised the Board that the subgroup met last week. On the agenda was the Training Needs Analysis undertaken in autumn last year to look at training needs for which is now complete. Current training provision is being costed whilst trying to be more resourceful around delivery. LSCB forums have been well attended and are not incurring costs due to support from partners. Discussions at the subgroup included the suggestion that partner agencies could be invited to observe training. There have been challenges in getting training impact information as the template feedback forms are not being returned and this is currently under review. ES advised that she is happy to provide details of the tool she uses to identify impact which has received good feedback so far. The group are also undertaking a piece of work to identify who is taking up training and where there are gaps. The owners of Kwango our e-learning providers are due to retire in July and there are no known buyers for the business at this time. The group are looking at packages available from other providers but are struggling to find comparable packages at this time. Action: BH to be invited to provide a brief update to March Board Action: ES to forward SN details of impact assessment tool Action: Concern around e-learning provision to be added to risk log Action: Board to provide SN with details of any recommended e-learning providers Pan Berkshire LSCB S11 Sub Group Paper 5b The Chair informed the board that the Pan Berkshire S11 process is currently in the mid-point of the three year review cycle. The group is well supported and led by Liz McAuley who is striving for further improvement but the panel continues to lack consistent representation from Children s Social Care managers. Themes from last 6 months: The general quality of audit returns has been good and the model of supplementing the written submission with a verbal presentation and questions from the panel works well and enables positive feedback and challenge. The audit tool is working well and we have held off making any significant changes to it and guidance notes have been produced. The process will be evaluated again at the end of the review cycle. There has been a variation with the amount of evidence provided and we are now seeking some evidence by way of links to documents or websites for each section of the audit tool. The panel found evidence that organisations are providing training but some were unable to comment on the take up or impact. Some good examples include local authorities requiring all staff across the council to do mandatory online safeguarding training before they start their employment and have access to IT systems. SN advised that the group works to set timeframes and preparations have been undertaken to ensure the next round is even more robust. A guidance pack has been developed to assist agencies to understand and complete their audit tool. Work is also being undertaken to collate an accurate list of agencies and organisations across Berkshire to ensure the S11 panel are capturing the right organisations. The Chair noted that some gaps around how commissioners hold commissioned services to account have been identified and further improvement is needed around voluntary, community and faith groups. Communication & Engagement sub group Paper 5c DA provided an update on the Communication and Engagement subgroup, which was due to reconvene as a group on Monday 29 th January with a strengthened membership. DA also highlighted the work SN has undertaken to develop a WSCB newsletter (attached with papers for info) and bulletin. Approval was sought from the Board to launch a professional and public consultation next month which would inform future development and was agreed. Page 5 of 9

6 The Chair would like to the group to prioritise engagement with children and develop a plan around this. DA informed the Board that there are significant concerns around the current WSCB website which continues to have problems with broken links and is difficult to update. A proposal for a new website was brought to the Board previously in May/July 2017 but rejected due to the proposed changes/merger. The concern now is that the website is not fit for purpose. The Board discussed whether to revisit the proposal and it was agreed that DA would identify an appropriate website provider whilst the consultation is being undertaken with the view that learning from the consultation could be fed back into the design. PS committed to exploring the opportunity to support the website upgrade as the cost is comparatively small. Action: DA to identify a website provider whilst consultation undertaken, update to be brought back to the Board. Case Review Sub Group SCR Update LS provided an update on the Case Review Subgroup advising that they had not convened as a group since the last board and there are no ongoing cases for Wokingham at this present time. Feedback from the strategic management group (SMG) process overseen in Wokingham in relation to a residential mental health provider is due to go to the next case review group for discussion. This is a Wokingham based service for the Berkshire area. The Chair advised that in relation to the Wokingham mental health provider the case review group will be considering all opportunities for learning for both the provider and wider area and other organisations learning. A key message from the Case Review group is the importance of communication and dissemination of learning within and between partners around learning from these cases. 6 Health and Wellbeing Board Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy The Chair informed the Board of the importance of being sighted on work being undertaken by the Health and Wellbeing Board and being informed of the JSNA. The Board needs to be assured that we are delivering our identified leads and have the right links. The report sets out the action plan which underpins the HWB strategy. The report identifies that there have been a lot of staff changes both within the council and agency partners, with many names now historical and in need of updating. The action plan is due to be reviewed over the next couple of months and PP informed members that Darrell Gale is acting interim Public Health Director for Berkshire. PS also advised that the Public Health portfolio would be passing to him in near future as Director of Adults and Children s Services. The Chair advised the Board should look to join up and assist with the process and respond to requests for information and identify where they may have leads in the current action plan. A lead contact is to be identified. 7 Annual Reports: MAPPA Paper 7 The author was unexpectedly unable to join the meeting to present the report so the Chair presented and summarised evidence in the annual report that MAPPA arrangements are working locally but could operate more effectively and there is an expectation for engagement by key partners around managing risk. Page 3 details cases considered in Wokingham and as a comparison against Bracknell. The differing MAPPA categories are: Category 1 Registered Sexual Offender Category 2 Violent or other sexual offender Category 3 Other dangerous offender Page 6 of 9

7 Within those categories there are 3 levels: Level 1 These offenders are subject to single agency management. Level 2 These offenders require active multi-agency involvement in order to reduce / manage risk. Level 3 These offenders need active multi-agency involvement and may require senior officers to authorise the use of additional agency resources. They are also known as a Critical Public Protection Cases and their registration as such, enables the CPPC team to reassure Ministers and MP s that an appropriate Risk Management Plan is in place. Challenges identified in the report: Issues around attendance and consistency of adult and children social care safeguarding representation Access to housing and mental health services The Board discussed the gaps noted by professionals including: GPs not knowing if a risk assessment needs to be undertaken to assess safety for staff, the individual and wider public using the surgery. How can information be shared in an appropriate and timely way? HP advised that each individual leaving prison is assigned a probation officer who would be happy to communicate with GPs if contacted directly. The Chair noted the role of health professionals to share information widely. LH discussed the development of a process within Adult and Children Services within MASH to share relevant information as there is concern that the information coming in is archived. HP felt this could be a duplication of the work already being undertaken by MAPPA and suggested that LH have a conversation with JP around whether MAPPA could feed into MASH. The recommendations made by the Author were noted and agreed. Action: LH to contact Julia Powers to discuss the mechanisms by which MAPPA could feed information into MASH. Any future operational concerns experienced by any agency needs to be raised and escalated as appropriate to the LSCB. 8 WSCB Quality & Performance Subgroup update Paper 8a LS provided an update on changes to the Q&P subgroup. The group continues to have good attendance and convened on 15 th January for LS s last meeting as Chair. Welcomes were extended to CC who will be taking over as Chair from the next meeting and in preparation LS and CC are due to meet over the next week to discuss work within the group. The Chair extended thanks to LS on behalf of the Board for her commitment as Chair to the subgroup and also welcomed CC as the new Chair. WSCB Performance Data Paper 8b The dataset was discussed and LS advised that the subgroup had identified some points for further scrutiny including: Large increase in children subject to CP plans Increase in children becoming LAC Continued issues around data reporting from police and CAMHs It was agreed that more narrative and meaning to figures was needed by all partners but a further formal request will be made to TVP and BHFT. Action- Chair of Q&P Subgroup. Increase in CPP- currently 107 at the end of Dec 17. This was discussed with a shared view that this is reflecting a national increase and was more in line with national comparative data and the increasing Page 7 of 9

8 child population but would need to be actively monitored and will be subject to review/audit by the Q&P subgroup. Emerging themes include increased cannabis use in young people which TVP are currently looking into. A disparity was noted between the increase in cannabis use and formal notice/referrals being received into drug services and concerns were expressed that information may not be being linked in. LH advised that there is a piece of audit work around substance misuse and the commissioning of services which will feed into the Q&P subgroup. LH also queried if the CSE data could be made available for the work she is undertaking to allow triangulation of data information. Action: CSE data to be provided to LH Police Crime reporting - LS also provided an update on a TVP report presented at the last subgroup meeting around crime reporting. The directive from the HMIC is that every contact reported needs to be recorded as a crime and then the officer needs to analyse whether there is anything substantive. TVP are changing the process of how this is undertaken and there are clear challenges and concerns around the potential criminalisation of children and young people which can have long term repercussions. The new representative from TVP is due to provide the subgroup with a myth buster guide at the next meeting to inform and reassure partners of the process. There was no representation from TVP at the LSCB. Action: SV to be invited to provide further information/context at March Board. The LSCB subgroup is undertaking a multi-agency audit of contacts into the front door to ascertain what the contact achieved for the child by March 18. This will consider the application of thresholds operated. The group discussed the accuracy of language when undertaking this audit and LH advised that contacts are not NFA d but allocated an outcome and onward signposting. Action: LH, CC and LS to agree language/title around contacts into the Front Door prior to audit being undertaken. 9 Child Protection (CP) Chairs Report April-Sept 17. Paper 9 RO provided the CP Chairs 6 monthly report and highlighted what goes beyond the report in the significant increase of children on CP plans going into care proceedings. Challenges include significantly large sibling groups under Interim Care Orders but remaining at home and remain subject to CPP. Courts are reluctant to take children away at first CO hearing however court orders are not a plan to manage risk. The Chair queried if there was anything the Board to do to support this and noted that the JTAI identified that judges would need to provide clear objectives for care plans, this is work in progress. The Chair noted good performance around CP conference practice and suggested that it would be useful to see where any potential barriers are and how well other agencies are engaging in providing reports/attending ICPC, RCPC and Core Groups. RO advised that a piece of work has been undertaken where everyone who participated in a conference within a set period of time was asked for feedback. A large amount of data has been collated and is ready for analysis. An update on this analysis will be brought back to the board once completed in the next 6 monthly report. Action: 6 monthly Update to be added to forward plan for May Education: Elective Home Education Papers 10a, 10b, 10c & 10d SR advised that an EHE officer has been in role for one year and is building good working relationships with families and professionals. Parents are not required to engage with the LA and there is a reliance on good working practice and links to children services. Currently there are only two families who are not Page 8 of 9

9 11 AOB engaging and accepting visits out of a cohort of 200+ and one of those is subject to an SAO-education order. The Board were supplied with a copy of the draft policy which will go out to parents wishing to undertake EHE of their children as part of the consultation process. The Board felt it was really encouraging that the EHE officer is having a positive impact and improving engagement. It was felt that the inclusion of the recent ADCS survey in the documents was really useful and that there were many comments from Wokingham included in the document. It is not mandatory for parents to engage and there is not a current standard to specify what constitutes a suitable education. Although not intrinsically a safeguarding issue members queried whether certain interventions around the right of the child to access health services may allow the development of notification pathways. LS advised that Reading is trying to analyse the current legislation to see if there is scope to include as part of local statutory work the statement we will notify your GP that you are home educating your child. The Chair highlighted to colleagues that there was a pan Berkshire piece of work to consider best practice and share learning on EHE children. PP advised the Board that the CDOP training day is on Wednesday 7th March and asked if partners could recirculate literature/poster information for this event. SN advised that the WSCB have just distributed a bulletin to Children s Social Care highlighting this training and she will resend. Action: Board members to disseminate CDOP training day information to all relevant staff. SN appealed to members to share the January LSCB newsletter with colleagues PP advised that there will be a relaunch of the high impact users project. The project is well supported and there has been an increase in children presenting at the RBH with mental health concerns. As governance PP would like this to come to the LSCB. Various approaches are currently being looked at including risk management and commissioning lines. This is already being used successfully for adults and a proposal paper is being developed. MA advised that he is undertaking a piece of work around engagement with young people and will provide a future update to the Board. Reports for Information Only: Letter from BHFT regarding Ryeish Green Provision Paper 12 Update Joint Safeguarding Conference Paper 13 Signs of Safety Practice Event Paper 14 Adult Safeguarding Board Briefing Paper 15 WSCB Newsletter Paper 16 Future meeting date: Wednesday 21 st March am 12.30pm Shute End David Hicks Room 2 (GF2) Page 9 of 9