MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 28 JULY 2010 AT THE DEIGHTON CENTRE, HUDDERSFIELD

Transcription

1 KIRKLEES SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN BOARD MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 28 JULY 2010 AT THE DEIGHTON CENTRE, HUDDERSFIELD Present: Bron Sanders Pauline Martin Richard Smith Lorraine Hansom Cathy Rooney Graham Crossley Karen Worrall Kathy Loney Michael Wharton Karen Hemsworth Jo Sims Janet Powell Tracey McErlain-Burns Gillian Green Christina Quinn Margaret Miller Diana Flooks Chair Safeguarding Children Manager, KSCB Service Manager, Youth Offending Team, Children & Young People Directorate, Kirklees Council Programme Director Safeguarding Improvement, Children & Young People Directorate, Kirklees Council Communications & Community Engagement Manager, Children & Young People Directorate, Kirklees Council Commissioning & Contracts Manager, Children & Young People Directorate, Kirklees Council Assistant Director Inclusion Services, Children & Young People Directorate, Kirklees Council Assistant Chief Officer, West Yorkshire Probation Board Superintendent, Partnerships & Neighbourhood Policing, West Yorkshire Police Assistant Director for Safeguarding Children & Vulnerable Adults, NHS Kirklees KSCB Vice Chair Paediatric Consultant & Designated Doctor for Safeguarding Children, Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust Associate Director of Nursing, Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust Chief Nurse, The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Interim Director of Nursing, Compliance and Innovation, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Clinical & Operations Lead, Kirklees Community Healthcare Services Principal Legal Officer Kirklees Council - Legal adviser to the KSCB Administrative & Information Officer - Minutes Apologies: Alison O Sullivan Paul Johnson John Edwards Director for Children & Young People, Kirklees Council Assistant Director Safeguarding & Protection, Children & Young People Directorate, Kirklees Council Assistant Director Learning, Children & Young People Directorate, Kirklees Council 1

2 Sally McIvor Justine Bacon Stan Angel Baseer Mir Mary Cunningham Sheila Dilks Yasmeen Sharif In attendance: Assistant Director Well-being & Integration, Well-Being & Communities Directorate, Kirklees Council Chief Inspector Partnerships, West Yorkshire Police Service Manager, CAFCASS Children s Services Manager, NSPCC Divisional Manager Fieldwork Services, Children & Young People Directorate, Kirklees Council Director for Patient Care and Professions, NHS Kirklees Children s Service Manager, Barnardo s KSCB representative for Kirklees voluntary organisations Safeguarding Co-ordinator Practice, Standards & Review, KSCB (items 1-5) 1. INTRODUCTIONS & APOLOGIES ACTION Introductions were made and apologies recorded as above. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST None. 3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (14 JUNE 2010) AND MATTERS ARISING The minutes of the meeting held on 26 March were agreed as a true record subject to one amendment: Min 5(b) Membership - it was clarified that the Yorkshire Ambulance Service will only be sent a copy of the non-confidential minutes, and they will not be sent copies of all Board papers. The minutes will be amended to reflect this. DF Matters arising were noted as follows: Minute 2 Review of child protection conference processes. CR reported that work is progressing with health partners to find the best way for sending reports electronically. Principles have been agreed and it is likely that a web-based system will be developed. This item will continue to be kept under review. Minute 2 David Thorpe research project. LH reported that the data for Kirklees is still being analysed. It is still too early for a regional report. An individual report for Kirklees can be expected in the autumn. Minute 5 Membership. - Re Council Lead Member. BS is arranging a meeting with Cllr Ken 2

3 Smith to discuss his role. He will be invited to future meetings and will receive Board minutes. - Re the Children & Young People Directorate. It was confirmed that in future representatives will be the Director for Children & Young People, the Assistant Director Learning and Assistant Director Safeguarding. The Board s circulation list will be updated to reflect this. CR, KW, LH, GC and MC will no longer be Board members and BS expressed sincere thanks to them all for their input into the work of the Board to date. It is intended that they will continue their roles with the Board s workstreams. - Re Non-executive (lay) members. It was confirmed that, in line with the expectation in Working Together, the two non-executive members will be full Board members. PM is progressing plans to arrange an open event, done successfully by the Adults Safeguarding Board, to attract applicants and promote the work of the Board. BS/DF DF Minute 5 Constitution. It was agreed that amendments to the Board s constitution should be put on hold until more is known about what changes the Government is seeking to make. Minute 7 Review of Child Protection Conference Processes. The new style agency report forms are starting to be used. LH reported that all members of the Learning & Development Workstream are aware of the forms and will be referring to them in single agency training. Noted that the manager of the Child Protection & Review Unit, spoke about the forms at a recent event held to launch the new case conference training DVD. Minute 8 KSCB minutes on website. Agreed that the process of approving minutes for the website would commence from today s meeting. Minute 10 Child death overview panel chair. It was confirmed that, following further discussions, BS is to take on this role. The situation is complicated because the chair, following what is stated in the guidance, has to be a full Board member. At the moment no other members of the Kirklees Board are able to put themselves forward but that may change in the future. 4. SERIOUS CASE REVIEWS This section contains information about individual children who are subject of serious case reviews. The information is confidential and has been removed from these public minutes. 5. LEARNING LESSONS FROM SERIOUS CASE REVIEWS: INTERIM REPORT (Ofsted) The report published by Ofsted in April 2010 had been circulated and was 3

4 formally noted. The report provides analysis of 85 serious case reviews completed between 1 April and 30 September Main points were noted as follows: - Children under one continue to be the most at risk of abuse. This has been the case for many years and it is a vital message not to forget. - Physical abuse was the most common characteristic of the incidents reviewed. - A common finding was the lack of family history and use of chronologies in assessments. 6. REGIONAL UPDATE BS attends regional meetings which are held quarterly and she provided an update on regional developments as follows: - Local government offices. Absolutely clear information is not available but budgets have been taken away and regional structures are being disbanded. Until now these offices have granted extensions to serious case reviews and have acted as a conduit of information for keeping LSCBs updated on safeguarding. - Some LSCBs are facing cuts due to some agencies pulling back their funding. - Ofsted are fully operational and the Board can expect an inspection. Two weeks notice will be given prior to a full safeguarding inspection; unannounced inspection can happen at any time. It was suggested that the Board should look at what could be learned from inspections that have already taken place in West Yorkshire, eg Leeds and Calderdale. - The statutory requirement for there to be Children s Trusts and Children & Young People Plans has ceased and the duty of schools to co-operate has been withdrawn. It was noted that most areas will still want these functions to continue. It was noted that meetings across the region will still exist but government office will not organise them. RS reported that a probation inspection will come to Kirklees in October. The emphasis will be on safeguarding and management of risk. The inspection will look at between 80 and 90 cases in Kirklees. 7. KSCB RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHILDREN S TRUST This item had been deferred from the previous meeting. PM spoke to the report that had been circulated and explained that it reiterates requirements in the new Working Together and Children s Trust guidance regarding the need for joint board communication and challenge with regard to safeguarding issues. The principles and recommendations contained in the report were agreed, namely that: 4

5 - BS will attend Children s Trust Board meetings. - the KSCB annual report will be formally presented to the Children s Trust and the annual update of the Children & Young People Plan (C&YPP) will be presented to the KSCB. This already happens but the new element is the challenge and the influence this Board will have over the C&YPP. - PM will attend the annual challenge process for the C&YPP. Although the requirement for there to be a Children s Trust has ceased it was agreed that the KSCB should continue with the above arrangements until any changes to the contrary are formally notified. It was noted that KL is also a member of both Boards. 8. ISSUES FROM AGENCIES (a) NHS KH reported on the coalition Government s strategy for the NHS. The White paper Liberating the NHS (July 2010) had been circulated. The PCT part of health, and Strategic Health Authorities, will be abolished by All power for commissioning services will go to GPs. GP consortiums will be established which will be responsible for all commissioning, although there will be some exceptions. It is not yet clear where safeguarding will fit in, there is no mention so far in the context of LSCB work. The setting of priorities will be undertaking by the consotiums. Where GP consortiums do not have the skills they will buy people in and a lot of private companies are waiting to take on the work. There will be a national NHS commissioning board but there will need to be more control than just this. The strategy refers a lot to shared decision making ( no decision about me without me ) and giving patients more choice about providers. The role of the Care Quality Commission will be strengthened. There is a lot of uncertainty and there is a feeling that the significant progress made around safeguarding may be put into jeopardy as the NHS infrastructure is being dismantled so quickly. Immediate impact is a 45% cut in management jobs and a very negative impact on the whole workforce. The local authority is going to have a stronger monitoring role, and public health will move into the local authority. Hospitals will be commissioned by the GPs. Health partners were asked if there was anything the Board could do to influence the agenda. It was felt that concerns should be raised by writing to the Health Minister, Andrew Lansley, and the Care Quality Commission to ask how safeguarding is being considered/protected. A copy of the letter would be sent to all Kirklees MPs for them to raise questions in the BS 5

6 House, and a copy would be sent to the Leader and Chief Executive. Noted that the director of patient care and partnerships/chief nurse is resigning from her post in the executive of the NHS for Yorkshire & Humber and it will not be filled. This means that the executive role will be absent. The Board was asked to note that, linked to the re-structure of the NHS, 18 arms length bodies are to be reviewed. The Board should feed into these reviews where possible. Also noted that the role of the Children s Commissioner is to be reviewed. (b) Kirklees Council KW reported on the situation facing the council. The council has preempted cuts in the October comprehensive spending review, and it is seeing a significant reduction in income from grants. Many contracts will be discontinued. An innovation and efficiency programme has been looking at how to amalgamate and strip out services but with further cuts in grants (schools and sure starts are ring fenced) and the area based budget (prevention agenda) the council has had to accelerate the pace of change. A review of director and assistant director posts has taken place and reductions are taking place across the whole workforce. For commissioning there will be one assistant director post which will cover both children and adult services. It is not absolutely clear what the management reporting mechanism for the Safeguarding Board will be but it is likely to come under commissioning. (c) Police MW reported that police are anticipating a 25% budget reduction. By 2015 West Yorkshire Police will have 80m less than now. A 10% shrinkage in the organisation with 1000 job cuts is expected. There will be a graduated reduction over four years. There is no mechanism for making police officers redundant as officers are employed through the Crown but the force is looking to enforce the retirement rule after 30 years service. Noted that unlike other areas the area based grant has not been used to support partnership work in Kirklees so service will not be affected by cuts from that source. In terms of safeguarding, the police will still investigate crime. Recruitment is still continuing, but on a lesser scale. The future could possibly see amalgamation with another force. (d) Probation KL reported that the service suffered cuts last year which affected the senior management team. 25% cuts are expected over the next four years. Government is reviewing the effectiveness of probation and is looking at the use of volunteers. Service re-design is ongoing. Probation is losing funding for drug offender work. Prisons are full so unsupervised 6

7 offenders are out in the community and there is a question over who will supervise them. Partners were thanked for their updates which led onto the next item of challenges facing the Board. 9. CHALLENGES FACING KSCB BS spoke to her paper outlining potential issues facing LSCBs. Agency cutbacks will impact both in terms of budget contributions and expertise available to the Board and its workstreams. The Board must not lose focus on maintaining the partnership approach. The Board must consider if it can afford to continue to do everything that it does, and how to work more effectively and efficiently. The Board should consider joint work with other areas if that could save money. It was noted that savings have already been made by producing procedures on a West Yorkshire wide basis. It may be appropriate to look at possible joint training opportunities or sub-group work. It was noted that Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield are joining together for MAPPA work. The Board must not lose sight of how investment in posts, eg SCR work, has brought about fundamental changes in how the Board has progressed. MW pointed out the the police are West Yorkshire wide but an advantage in Kirklees is knowing local people. From a West Yorkshire strategic board point of view police are looking at securing funding for the next three years. It would seem sensible not to make decisions too quickly but continue with discussions up to the October spending review. It is important to demonstrate that the Board is looking at efficiencies. Regarding multi-agency training lunches will no longer be provided, and training officers are endeavouring to reduce the cost of room hire wherever possible. Regarding serious case reviews the Board will continue to look at collaborative arrangements with other local areas regarding chairs, and money saved could be used on posts to support learning from SCRs. The council is looking at shared services and the Board needs to look at where it can share within the council. Board members with regional connections should think about ideas for sharing. This item will continue as a standing agenda item. 10. BUSINESS PLAN AND ANNUAL REPORT The business plan for the three year period had been reviewed by the Business & Development Group at its meeting on 14 July and all actions were found to have been completed. There were some ongoing actions and these will be carried forward. The Board acknowledged the work of the Board manager and workstream chairs who have driven the work. PM explained that the Board now needs to develop a new business 7

8 plan for the period and work on this will start immediately. It was noted that work on many issues is ongoing but the Board is vulnerable to criticism for not having a current formal plan in place. PM Main factors for consideration in the next business plan were identified as: issues from the annual report; issues from serious case reviews; links with the Children s Trust and Children & Young People Plan; matters from partners strategic plans for safeguarding children. The business plan for was formally signed off by the Board. PM explained that work is in progress in writing the annual report which needs to be completed by April A first draft annual report will be presented to the next Board meeting together with business plan proposals. PM 11. CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION A report prepared by the Safeguarding Improvement Officer had been circulated for information to update the Board about progress in this area of work and to draw attention to a protocol in place for joint working between the police, social care and Barnardo s when children are reported missing. The report and the process for auditing this work were noted. PM explained that in Working Together child exploitation should be a subgroup of the Board. PM has discussed this with the Safeguarding Improvement Officer and BS who feel that the current operational group is working successfully and all that is required is a formal reporting mechanism. Partners agreed that the work is being done well and that reporting to the Board through the Evaluation & Effectiveness Workstream on a six monthly basis would satisfy the requirement without the need for there to be a formal workstream. This was agreed. PM DF reported that all protocols are being put onto the KSCB website so that they can be more widely promoted to staff. 12. E-SAFETY A highlight report prepared by the KSCB e-safety officer had been circulated. The Board acknowledged the breadth of work undertaken in the last 12 months by the e-safety working party. On reading through the recommendations contained in the report it was agreed that PM would go through these in more detail with MR to see how they might be taken forward making the best use of existing resources and in light of all the pressures on the Board. PM would feed back to the next meeting. PM 8

9 13. ANY OTHER BUSINESS (a) Probation Think Family Conference 5 October KL reported that this would focus on thinking family when working with offenders. There was some discussion around the name Think Family and the Total Place agenda but overall the Board felt that Think Family was a positive principle to adopt. Anyone wishing to attend the probation conference should contact KL. (b) ContactPoint LH tabled a letter from DfE regarding the decommissioning of ContactPoint. The national database will be switched off on 6 August and at that time the council s statutory obligations will also cease. Government still support the idea in principle and are looking at the feasibility of a different approach. Proposals are expected sometime in the autumn and these should come to the Board for consideration. Forward agenda 14. DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS 28 Sep :00 to 17:00 26 Nov :00 to 17:00 9