Agenda item

REPORT OF THE SAFEGUARDING TEAM LEADER

The Council has robust procedures in place that govern how staff and members deal with concerns about children and adults at risk of abuse in order to maintain our statutory duty to safeguard their welfare. Work is ongoing to ensure that these procedures are understood and followed throughout the organisation.

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 regarding children, adults, modern slavery and domestic abuse.

(2)  Noted the recent Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS) audit (Appendix A) and its Action Plan tracker (Appendix B).

(3)  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: The recommendations made are 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 15 seconds

Councillor Alistair Willoughby, as Executive Member for Community and Partnerships, presented the report entitled ‘Annual Safeguarding Report 2023’ and advised that:

·       There were 658 referrals made in the year 2022-2023, which was the same as the previous year with a slight change in type. There were 370 adult safeguarding referrals, which marked a 6% decrease, and 288 child safeguarding referrals, which marked an 8% increase.

·       There had been an increase in mental health referrals due to the impacts of the cost of living crisis, with statutory and third sector organisations noting that these issues can be distressful for the individual and time consuming for officers.

·       The Council continued to work with SADA, particularly in areas where there was an underreporting of domestic abuse. It was noted that some domestic abuse survivors were being forced to stay with abusers due to the cost of living crisis.

·       Member completion of safeguarding training was low and all Members should be encouraged to complete the training.

·       Actions completed this year were included at paragraph 8.2 of the report.

·       Future plans included a continuation of promoting national and local campaigns, introducing bespoke training on mental health and hoarding and a continuation of the partnership with SADA.

·       The Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS) had completed an audit, with the action plan, including any progress updates, included as Appendix B to the report.

The following Members asked questions:

·       Councillor Clare Billing

·       Councillor Ralph Muncer

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Daniel Wright-Mason

In response to questions, the Safeguarding Team Leader advised that:

·       Most referrals from the previous three years had been received from Council staff.

·       In 2020/2021 9 external referrals were made, in 2021/2022 6 external referrals were made and in 2022/2023 3 external referrals were made. 

·       They did not have comparative figures for County Council, or other district councils, but could provide these outside of the meeting.

·       Without reviewing referrals from recent years, it would not be possible to indicate why there was an increase in both adult and child referrals where the individual was ‘at risk of significant harm’, but this could be completed and provided outside of the meeting.

·       The numbers in table 1 of the report included those with no recourse to public funds who were referred under the National Referral Mechanism for Modern Slavery.

In response to questions, the Service Director – Legal and Community advised that:

·       At an employee level it is now agreed that an appropriate level of training will be undertaken and that all staff, since July 2023, have been required to complete the e-learning module within the first days of employment.

·       Members at this Committee have previously recommended Members safeguarding training be made mandatory but would need to be agreed to be taken forward.

·       The e-learning module took around 30 minutes to complete and all, staff and Members, should be encouraged to complete this.

·       A self-audit of training took place with Members previously and it was felt from this that mandatory training was not required.

The Chair advised that discussions had taken place between the Chair, Vice-Chair and Officers regarding the presentation of information to Members in the Members Information Service and that some commentary on the data would be provided in future published updates.

In response to a question, Councillor Willoughby noted that concerns that fall below the threshold were already detailed in the table within the report, so this should already be picked up on. Should the threshold be lowered further, then this would be addressed and captured.

Councillor Muncer noted that it was reassuring to hear increases were not reflective of an increase in abuse in communities and commended the actions of the Council to raise awareness of domestic abuse. He noted that more work needed to be completed, but that it was positive to see Council, and Officers, working on this and the annual report for 2023/24 would indicate the impact of these actions. 

Councillor David Levett proposed and Councillor Dominic Griffiths seconded and, following a vote, it was:

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 regarding children, adults, modern slavery and domestic abuse.

(2)   Noted the recent Shared Internal Audit Service (SIAS) audit (Appendix A) and its Action Plan tracker (Appendix B).

(3)   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: The recommendations made are 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.