Agenda and minutes

Cllr Davies declared an interest as her daughter is a social worker.

The Committee requested an update regarding the Strategic Equalities Plan Consultation report from the previous meeting. The Committee requested that “could” be amended to “would” on page 4. The minutes of the previous meeting held 8^th March 2024 were confirmed as a true record.

a)    Officer presentation

b)    Committee questioning and discussion

c)     Formation of comments and recommendations

The Head of Corporate Safeguarding (CS) gave an overview of the report.

The following questions were asked:

·       The Committee requested a schematic diagram of the safeguarding structure to aid accessibility of the report. The Head of CS agreed to do this.

·       The Committee felt that the tables on page 18 relating to internal VAWDASV and additional specific training data required clarification. The Head of CS agreed to do this.

·       The Committee queried whether the training attendance on page 18 solely comprised of Newport City Council (NCC) employees. The Head of CS confirmed that it was, and that this training was non-statutory. The Committee were pleased with the scope of additional training offered. The Head of CS highlighted the difference between new starter training and established social care professionals’ refresher training. The Committee questioned who was responsible for providing the training. The Head of CS confirmed that this was NCC. The Committee asked whether there were plans for future training and the Head of Adult Services (AS) confirmed there was a plan to devise future training. The Cabinet Member for Social Services – Children’s Services highlighted the responsibility of Elected Members to attend safeguarding training in order to lead by example.

·       The Committee queried the effectiveness of e-learning and the disparity in service area uptake of safeguarding training. The Head of CS noted that Social Services training on safeguarding is at a higher level than the mandatory e-learning required to be completed by all NCC staff. This meant it was more difficult to ensure Social Services staff completed the mandatory training due to their busy workloads. The Cabinet Members for Social Services noted that social care professionals do continuous professional training. The Committee felt that this could be better presented within the report and asked that data for social care professionals and corporate staff be separated.

·       The Committee queried what training and support Designated Safeguarding Persons (DSPs) received as this was not within the report. The Head of AS confirmed there were regular meetings for Safeguarding Champions which acted as a forum to raise concerns or request further training or support. The Committee recommended a section highlighting DSPs should be included in future reports.

·       The Committee noted percentages displaying training completion were not contextualised on page 17 and requested that they be contextualised in future reports. The Head of CS noted that the report complied responses received regarding the accessibility of e-learning across service areas but agreed this would be presented differently in future reports. The Cabinet Member for Social Services – Children’s Services highlighted that inter-area/portfolio discussions had occurred, and that data presentation should be improved in future reports as a result.

·       The Committee were concerned with the Elected Member training data and questioned whether a register existed. The Head of CS confirmed the existence of a register and noted that WGLA currently advised that safeguarding wasn’t mandatory for Members but that it was reviewing that response alongside Social Care Wales. They noted that data would be more easily captured  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

a)      Actions Arising (Appendix 1)

a)    Actions Arising

·       The Scrutiny Advisor noted that no actions. The Scrutiny Advisor noted the actions from this meeting and agreed to forward the Recruitment and Retention report to Committee.