Issue - meetings

REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLBEING TEAM LEADER

Report on progress against the Council's statutory duty to safeguard and protect children and adults.

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

(1)  Received and commented on the annual report of progress made against the Council’s fulfilment of the statutory duty to maintain an effective safeguarding function with regard to children.

(2)  Received and commented on the annual report of progress made against the Council’s fulfilment of the statutory duty to maintain an effective safeguarding function with regard to adults with care and support needs.

(3)  Received and commented on the annual report of progress made against the Council’s fulfilment of statutory duties in relation to specific areas such as radicalisation and counter terrorism, modern slavery and human trafficking and domestic abuse.

(4)  Agreed that sufficient and robust processes are in place at the Council for application and review of safeguarding processes, and that an annual review and presentation to this committee should continue.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: This is the best course of action that can be accommodated within the approved budget and officer resources, that will fulfil our statutory and lawful obligations but also ensure that a regular, corporate review exists.

Audio Recording – 7 minutes 45 seconds

The Community Health and Wellbeing Team Leader presented the report entitled ‘Annual Safeguarding Report 2021/22’ and advised Members of the following:

·         As NHDC was a two-tier authority, the Council itself has no responsibility to take concerns from other organisations. The figures in the report relate only to those raised by NHDC Officers or Members, which are then passed onto the relevant statutory body for investigation.

·         The figures of referrals from the last 3 years were included in table 8.1. Since reporting to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee there has been a slow increase in referral rates.

·         Following staff training in 2014, there was a strong rise as Officers became more aware of what signs to look out of regarding safeguarding concerns and improved corporate oversight.

·         Following the lockdown in March 2020, there was an increase in referrals regarding mental health and domestic abuse, which was reflected nationally. There were some areas where figures dropped, again similar to the national picture, which was primarily due to the lack of face-to-face interaction with healthcare professionals.

·         Since the end of lockdown figures across all referral types had increased. This was attributed to the return of face-to-face visits which allowed Officers to spot signs for concern.

·         Officers continued to have to deal with difficult cases on a daily basis.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Adam Compton

·         Councillor Tony Hunter

·         Councillor Claire Strong

In response to questions, the Community Health and Wellbeing Team Leader advised:

·         The figures in the report detail the number of concerns reported by Council staff – statutory agencies will always investigate but some concerns may not turn out to warrant any further action.

·         Provided an example of potential modern slavery signs from the Environmental Health Team, who frequently visit premises and identify signs of concern (i.e. a mattress in a storage cupboard) and will report this. This is usually regarding food based establishments or car washes.

·         The bulk of referrals were from the Housing team, due to the nature of their work and the people they are engaging with, but a significant number come from Environmental Health and Customer Services.

·         There is the Employee Assistance programme in place to support these staff and designated Safeguarding Officers provide support.

·         There were not enough new starters to run a bespoke safeguarding training session last year, but that may now be possible following the elections in May 2022, and any training for Members would be advertised in the MIS publication.

Councillor Claire Strong requested that the training be circulated to Members by email, as well as MIS.

Councillor Ian Albert, as Executive Member for Finance and IT, advised that there was a Delegated Decision due to be published which would appoint a procurement champion to look at the Council’s suppliers. He advised he would share details with Members when available.

Councillor David Levett noted that the Safeguarding Team was working at reduced capacity, but this has been identified and plans were being put in place to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 118