Agenda item - Brighton & Hove Local Safefguarding Children Board (LSCB) Annual Report 2018/19

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Agenda item

Brighton & Hove Local Safefguarding Children Board (LSCB) Annual Report 2018/19

Report of Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), Independent Chairperson (copy attached)

Decision:

RESOLVED – (1) That the Board notes the contents of the report and commends the partner agencies for their contribution to keep children safe from abuse and neglect; and

 

(2) also notes the Local Safeguarding Children Board’s achievements and the challenges as set out on Page 7 of the circulated Annual Report.

Minutes:

34.1    The Board considered the Annual Report of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) for 2018/19 outlining the progress the LSCB had made over the last year in respect to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people; the report covered the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.

 

34.2    It was noted that this would be the last annual report of the LCSB as it was now in the process of transitioning to new safeguarding partnership arrangements brought about by the enactment of the “Children and Social Work Act (2017)”. Going forward the “Safeguarding Partners” – the Local Authority, Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group and Sussex Police who would have joint responsibility for all safeguarding arrangements. The multi-agency approach in place would continue to be applied going forward to meet the challenges to be addressed, exploitation was an area in particular in which a lot of work had been undertaken already.

 

34.3    The Independent Chair of the Board, Chris Robson, introduced the report and highlighted the achievements that had been realised during 2018/19 and the continued challenges to be addressed under the transitional and new safeguarding arrangements. There had been a significant increase in the numbers of people attending multi-agency training at all levels and development of their neglect strategy had gathered pace. It had been recognised that a robust multi-agency approach was required to all forms of exploitation and excellent joint working had been achieved with the Safeguarding Adult Board and the Community Safety Partnership. A Violence, Vulnerability and Exploitation week of action was planned for later in the year and the theme of that week would be “Spotting the Signs of Exploitation.”

 

34.4    Councillor Nield asked where figures cited for the city across various groups asking sat within the picture nationwide. Chris Robson, the Independent Chair of the Board explained that the challenges to the Board’s work across the city reflected the continuing challenges they faced, also, their commitment to address issues, especially during the transition period to the new arrangements. Although he did not have the national figures available Mr Robson agreed to provide them if required. Nationally, the instances of child safeguarding had risen over recent years. Councillor Nield also requested the number of children in the city who were being home educated and details of the interface the local education authority and others had with them. The Acting Executive Director, Deb Austin, explained that she would ensure that information was circulated to Board Members separately.

 

34.5    Councillor Nield also enquired regarding the wait time for children awaiting CAHMS referrals. It was explained that currently this stood at around 8 weeks for tier 3 and far longer for lower tier cases. It was recognised that this waiting time was too long, although support was available in schools via the community mental health team. Transition arrangements were in place to facilitate progression from childhood to adult services. The Director of Commissioning and Deputy Chief Officer, Ashley Scarff, explained that a comprehensive review of child mental health services was currently under way and it was anticipated that details of that could be provided to the Board at its meeting in January 2020.

 

34.6    Councillor Shanks referred to the serious case reviews which had taken place requesting whether/what information could be provided to Members as this background information was useful for them. Mr Robson explained that there was very little information which was not published. In respect of the “voice of the child”, Councillor Shanks stated that it was unclear to her how each of the partner services worked together to ensure that children did have a voice, often the issues involved could be complex. Mr Robson explained that in addition to the measures which were in place, it was also necessary to target specific groups; one of the challenges was how you reached a particular cohort.

 

34.7    Councillor Appich referred to children who were “missing” from education and asked how their needs were picked up, also of those children who were the subject of private fostering arrangements. Councillor Appich also referred to the three education providers that had not co-operated directly with the LCSB, enquiring regarding measures to be put into place to encourage their future interaction. The Acting Executive Director of Families, Children and Learning stated that these issues were being addressed in liaison with the LSCB, she would ensure that the most up to date figures held by the department were forwarded to Members.

 

34.8    The Chair, Councillor Moonan, asked whether those children for whom the council had corporate parental responsibility had specific vulnerabilities. It was explained that there was no evidence to suggest this was the case, the Acting Executive Director of Families, Children and Learning stated that the local authority did have specific safeguarding measures in respect of its looked after children.

 

34.9    RESOLVED – (1) That the Board notes the contents of the report and commends the partner agencies for their contribution to keep children safe from abuse and neglect; and

 

(2) also notes the Local Safeguarding Children Board’s achievements and the challenges as set out on Page 7 of the circulated Annual Report.

Supporting documents:

 


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