MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SAFEGUARDING, COMMUNITIES AND WELLBEING SCRUTINY COMMITTEE HELD AT THE GUIDHALL, WREXHAM ON WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2015

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1 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SAFEGUARDING, COMMUNITIES AND WELLBEING SCRUTINY COMMITTEE HELD AT THE GUIDHALL, WREXHAM ON WEDNESDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2015 MEMBERS Councillor Carole O'Toole MBE, Chair Councillor William Baldwin, Vice-Chair Councillor * I David Bithell, MBE Brian Cameron Krista Childs Terry Evans J A Kelly KSG Colin Powell Councillor * * John Pritchard Mrs J M B Roberts J R Skelland Steve Wilson Phil Wynn *Absent Also Present Lead Member for Children s Services and Education (Councillor Michael Williams), Lead Member for Corporate Services, Health and Safety (Councillor R J Dutton OBE), Councillors Mrs Dana Davies, and Mike Edwards. 36 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Terry Evans, J R Skelland and Phil Wynn. 37 DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTEREST, IF ANY Councillors I David Bithell MBE, J A Kelly KSG, John Pritchard, Steve Wilson, Dana Davies and Mike Edwards gave notice of their intention to declare a personal and / or prejudicial interest in respect of Agenda Item 5: Pre-Employment Checks Schools. 38 MINUTES The Minutes of the Meetings of the Safeguarding, Communities and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee held on 16 September 2015 were submitted. AGREED That the Minutes of the Safeguarding, Communities and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee held on 16 September 2015 be received and confirmed as a correct record. Matter Arising Presentation on Reshaping Stage 4 Programme Report on Project 1A: The Scrutiny Facilitator reported that an All-Member Workshop had been held on 30 September, 2015 to explain the reshaping principles, processes and timescale of individual projects. This has replaced the proposed presentation by the Strategic Director to individual scrutiny committee meetings.

2 AGREED That the information be noted. 39 WORK PROGRAMME The Head of Corporate and Customer Services submitted a report (HCCS/128/15s) to assist the Committee in considering and agreeing its Work Programme for the coming year. The Scrutiny Facilitator (Suzanne Price) introduced the report and advised Members that the items identified for further scrutiny at the previous meeting had provisionally been scheduled into the Work Programme, a copy of which was attached at Appendix 2 to the report. The report on Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in Wrexham to consider the part funding provided to North Wales Police to support PCSOs in Wrexham has now been scheduled for the January Meeting of the Executive Board. As this issue had been included in the Committee s Work Programme for predecision scrutiny at the September meeting, Members noted that an additional meeting of this Scrutiny Committee may have to be arranged. AGREED - That the draft Work Programme attached at Appendix 2 to report HCCS/128/15s be approved. 40 PRE-EMPLOYMENT CHECKS - SCHOOLS The Chair welcomed the Lead Member for Children s Services and Education (Councillor Michael Williams), the Lead Member for Corporate Services, Health and Safety (Councillor R J Dutton OBE), John Davies (Head of Lifelong Learning), Dafydd Ifans (Head of Education Infrastructure and Support), Sue Robins (HR Service Manager), Sharon Jones (HR Service Centre Manger), Mike Sheehan (Principal Auditor) and Kathy Bird (Senior Auditor) to the meeting. A report by the Pre-employment Checks (Schools) Task and Finish Group, was submitted (HCCS/127/15s) which provided feedback and recommendations on the work undertaken in relation to the production of a staged process of escalation with timescales, actions and responsible officers identified to improve schools compliance with safe recruitment processes. In introducing the report the Chair commented that the Task and Finish Group had met on 6 occasions during August October 2015 and had identified key areas of non-compliance and other factors which contributed to non-compliance with preemployment checks. To ensure that compliance with Schools Recruitment and Selection Policy was improved and safeguarding risks in schools minimised, its work had focussed on reviewing, strengthening and agreeing an Escalation Process between the HR and Lifelong Learning departments to provide Headteachers and Governing Bodies with timely information on areas of non-compliance and to improve compliance with the Council s School Recruitment and Selection Policy. The report provided information on the following matters:

3 A. An account of existing processes and areas of non compliance / weakness; B. Proposed Escalation Process for non compliance with pre-employment checks; C. Review of capacity to implement new processes within the Lifelong Learning and Human resources departments; D. Identification of supporting actions; E. Current status of school-based employees (including findings of the 7 th followup Audit); F Proposals for future monitoring. The Chair then drew Members attention to the recommendations contained in the report. The proposed Escalation Process for non-compliance with Pre-employment checks as reviewed and agreed with the HR and Lifelong Learning Officers was attached at Appendix 3 to the report. This document, in the form of a flowchart, had been produced for internal use and had been included in the report to demonstrate to the Scrutiny Committee that its requirements for actions, timescales, and responsible officers had been addressed. The Chair concluded by stating that the Lead Member for Children s Services and Education, the Head of Lifelong Learning and the Head of Human Resources have agreed that the proposed Escalation Process, along with guidance and supporting documentation, would be launched with schools in the first week of November 2015 (following the Half-Term holiday) and would come into effect immediately. In future non-compliance with the safe recruitment processes would not be tolerated and any outstanding cases of non compliance were being addressed. Finally, she thanked the Members and Officers involved with the Task and Finish Group for the work they had undertaken to produce this report. Members then consideration the report and recommendations in detail and raised the following matters in particular: The work undertaken by the Task and Finish Group was acknowledged and there was a general consensus that the Group had fulfilled its remit to review the draft Escalation Process and had provided the level of assurance required by the Scrutiny Committee, given their concerns raised in previous meetings. Several Members suggested that the wording of the standard letter templates sent from the Head of Lifelong Learning to Head teachers / Governing Bodies of schools failing to comply with the Model Recruitment and Selection Policy, included in the launch pack, should be more robust and phrases such as should be complied with replaced with must be complied with. Members commented that the Escalation Process would have resource implications for both the HR and Lifelong Learning Departments and sought assurance that resources would be allocated appropriately to support the process. Members sought further information on the action being undertaken to ensure that any outstanding cases had been addressed. Kathy Bird, Senior Auditor,

4 commented on the findings of the 7 th Follow Up Audit on Pre-Employment Checks (Schools) carried out on 23 September 2015, which focussed on new teaching staff in schools and whether DDS checks or risk assessments had been carried out prior to them commencing their employment. In a sample of 20 teaching staff appointments, 11 applicants did not have a DBS clearance before they started in post; however 10 of these had a Risk Assessment undertaken by the Head Teacher. This equated to 95% compliance with the Model Recruitment and Selection Policy. Therefore, based on the findings of the Audit, a Green/Amber level of assurance had been provided. A further audit of the preemployment checks monitoring system, to include teaching and non-teaching staff appointments, had been included in the Audit Plan for 2016/17. A review of the current DBS application process and procurement and implementation of an online DBS application system by March 2016 and New Starter Tracking Spreadsheet would remove the time consuming reliance on paper files, automate the identification of areas of non-compliance and speed up the pre-employment checking process. The Head of Infrastructure and Support, Dafydd Ifans commented that not all non-teaching staff in schools were employed by the Governing Body. School cooks, cleaning staff and some central support staff were directly employed by the Local Authority and would not be included within the proposed Escalation Process. However, all school based staff, whether permanent, temporary or casual, were required to have a DBS check. Members noted that of the 10 employees identified in the report as being currently employed without a DBS certificate in place, only 4 remained at the time of the meeting and that all these had Risk Assessments in place and applications underway. The Committee requested that the Lead Member for Children s Services and Education provides a verbal update on the status of those employees at the November meeting of this Committee. With reference to future monitoring arrangements, Members supported the recommendation that the Task and Finish Group be reconvened in February and June 2016 to assess whether compliance has improved and reports back to this Committee in July The Committee suggested that officers from Internal Audit should be invited to the Task and Finish Group meeting. Several Members commented that this Committee should be able to invite the Head Teacher and Chair of Governors of those schools identified by HR as persistently not complying with the Model Recruitment and Selection Policy to attend a meeting of this Scrutiny Committee to give reasons for their noncompliance. The Chair noted that this recommendation from the July 2015 meeting still stood and could be enacted in the future should the Committee consider it necessary. The Head of Infrastructure and Support, Dafydd Ifans commented that the Escalation Process included the issuing of a Warning Notice under the Schools Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 to a Governing Body. This was an

5 ultimate sanction and should only be used sparingly and in exceptional cases on non-compliance. It was agreed that the Scrutiny Facilitator circulates a note to all Members of the Scrutiny Committee outlining the sanctions that can be imposed under the Escalation Notice. AGREED (i) The Safeguarding, Communities & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee recommends that the Lead Member for Children s Services & Education and the Lead Member for Corporate Services and Health & Safety endorse: (a) (b) The proposed Escalation Process to improve safeguarding in schools and to reduce the risks in schools recruitment and appointment processes; The launch of the Escalation Process and supporting documentation to schools in the week commencing 1 November 2015; (ii) The Safeguarding, Communities & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee recommends that the Lead Member for Children s Services & Education: (a) (b) Monitors the resolution of the safeguarding risks posed by existing school employees without DBS certificates and reports back on the status of these employees to the November meeting of this Committee; Ensures that safeguarding training is available as part of the Governor Support Training Programme in 2015/16 and annually thereafter; (iii) The Safeguarding, Communities & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee recommends that the Lead Member for Corporate Services and Health & Safety ensures that resources are allocated appropriately in HR in order to: (a) (b) (c) Implement the Escalation Process; Procure and implement an online DBS Application system by March 2016; Review the DBS application process in order to improve the accuracy and timeliness of the application process. (iv) The Pre Employment Checks Task & Finish Group is reconvened in February and June 2016 to monitor whether compliance with safe recruitment in schools has improved and reports back to the Scrutiny Committee in July 2016 (as outlined in para ). The Lead Members were asked to give their responses to the proposed recommendations. The Lead Member for Children s Services and Education indicated that he accepted

6 all recommendations subject to the following: Recommendation (ii) (b) There would be resource implications for the provision of training which would need to be considered and that e-learning may be a suitable alternative. The Lead Member for Corporate Services and Health and Safety indicated that he accepted all of the recommendations subject to the following: Recommendation (iii) This would be subject to departmental resources. (Councillor I David Bithell MBE declared a personal but non prejudicial interest in this matter, pursuant to the Council s Code of Conduct for Members, being a Governor of Watts Dyke CP School and Rhosddu CP School, and remained in the meeting and took part in the discussion and vote thereon). (Councillor Dana Davies declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this matter, pursuant to the Council s Code of Conduct for Members, being a LEA appointed Governor of St Mary s, Ruabon, and parent of children attending Ysgol ID Hooson and Ysgol Morgan Llwyd.but claimed the exemption as set out in paragraphs 12 (2)(a)(iii) or (iv) or (b)(ii) of the Member Code of Conduct and remained in the meeting and took part in the discussion thereon). (Councillor Mike Edwards declared a personal but non prejudicial interest in this matter, pursuant to the Council s Code of Conduct for Members, being a Governor of Rofft CP School, and remained in the meeting and took part in the discussion thereon). (Councillor J A Kelly KSG declared a personal but non prejudicial interest in this matter, pursuant to the Council s Code of Conduct for Members, being a LEA appointed Governor of Barkers Lane CP School, and remained in the meeting and took part in the discussion and vote thereon). (Councillor John Pritchard declared a personal but non prejudicial interest in this matter, pursuant to the Council s Code of Conduct for Members, being a LEA appointed Governor of Ysgol Deniol, Marchwiel, and remained in the meeting and took part in the discussion thereon). (Councillor Steve Wilson declared a personal but non prejudicial interest in this matter, pursuant to the Council s Code of Conduct for Members, being a LEA appointed Governor of St Joseph s High School, and remained in the meeting and took part in the discussion and vote thereon). Councillor Carole O'Toole MBE Chair