Agenda item

The committee will consider the draft Annual Safeguarding Report and meet the new independent chair of Southwark Safeguarding Children Board, Chris Davies CBE.

6.1  The chair welcomed Chris Davies, independent chair, Southwark Safeguarding Children Board and Malcolm Ward, Southwark Council’s Safeguarding Manger to the meeting to present and take questions on the annual safeguarding report.

6.2  The independent chair said that he would like to introduce himself and explained that he had been a social worker since 1971 and had been a director of social work for many years, for a number of local authorities. He also advised a select committee and said he understood the role of local scrutiny committees.

6.3  It was explained that the annual safeguarding report was a draft, and subject to consultation and therefore committee feedback very much welcomed. Feedback on the presentation would be useful, as well as comment on whether you think we have identified the right issues and priorities.

6.4  The independent chair and committee members noted the press coverage as a result of publication of the draft report by scrutiny. This was welcomed as raising awareness.

6.5  The independent chair noted that parts of Southwark are not easy to bring up children well; poor housing, poverty, cultural diversity and high levels of crime can make this a tough job for parents and professionals.

6.6   The draft safeguarding report was referred to. It was noted that there is good engagement by partners and the community around safeguarding issues. The board is well attended by most partners who participate in a wide range of service development and delivery activities, both within and across organisations. The strong cultures of partnership working and shared responsibility around safeguarding have been key to supporting children at risk of harm.

6.7  The draft safeguarding report also identified the priorities for development (page 13 of the agenda pack) as there is no room for complacency.

6.8  The independent chair noted that the board’s role is to make it easier for social workers, police and other concerned adults to safeguarding children better. Our job is to facilitate this process. Procedures can make it easier, but some can make it harder.

6.9  The chair invited members to pose questions. A member noted that the report said most partners contribute well, however who does not attend? The independent chair commented that sometimes attendance can be patchy and this varies across organisations as personal change. We do have an executive sub group of chief executives and this is well attended.

6.10  A member asked about links with G.Ps and schools and the chair responded that we do have links, but these are through third parties and with the end of the PCT G.Ps are becoming more and more important so we will need to look at direct links with practices. Alongside this there are moves by the coalition government towards school independence, so the board’s relationship will be less about ‘command and control’ and more about influencing.

6.11  A member remarked that the independent chair’s opening statement about Southwark being a difficult borough could be a cause for concern, explaining that she had just done an interview with the BBC and there is a chance that the media could exploit a statement like that.

6.12  The independent chair explained that he had not included that statement in the report for concerns it could be taken out of context. However all the measures indicate that for some parts of the Borough it is a challenging environment.

6.13  A question was asked about engaging with children and young people and the independent chair commented that for children who are suffering the best thing we can do is support adults who are around children. He commented that it was great that this item followed on from Southwark Youth Council and reported that he intends to visit this group about the boarder issues. The independent chair also reported that he had met with Speakerbox; which is a group bringing together young people who have been in care.

6.14  A member drew attention to recent flyers distributed locally which appeared to be targeted at young people, and sought to dissuade potential witnesses from  giving information to the police by questioning their safety. The member asked what assurance young people could have around their safety?

6.15  The independent chair commented that we have been involved with young people involved with gang activity, and wanting to leave. Housing, community safety professionals, and other have gone to considerable efforts to protect young people.  He reported that we do work with a wider group of police, witness protection, youth workers e.t.c. who have a responsibility for community safety and the welfare of young people.

6.16  There was a question about a rise in the number of young people in care and it was explained that the national trend is rising, so this is not surprising. However you have to be careful with these statistics and as there are not huge numbers, so one or two families can make a big difference.

6.17  A member commented on the report’s aspiration to reduce the number of inappropriate referrals. The independent chair commented that one of the things that is distinctive about Southwark is that we have a high volume of referrals and the sheer volume can make it difficult to manage. Some agencies can be a bit indiscriminate and we want people to refer more thoughtfully. For example the police have a policy of referring all domestic violence incidents to social services. This can be hard to manage and we are having discussions.

6.18  There was a query about changes to public health arrangements and if challenges are anticipated. The independent chair commented that there may be more to gain and there is a potential to strengthen education. However there are many changes due and this can be difficult to predict and manage for frontline officers.

6.19  The chair thanked the independent chair and the safeguarding manager  and requested that they come back in a year with the next annual report

RESOLVED

It was agreed that the committee would receive the next annual safeguarding report next year.