Agenda item

Invitees:

Sally Ann Jenkins – Head of Children and Young People Services

Mary Ryan – Head of Corporate Safeguarding

 

The Head of Corporate Safeguarding provided a brief overview of the report to the committee and explained that the service area had taken up the Welsh Audit amendments that were suggested for 2021. It was stressed that it has been an unusual year which has had an impact on all service areas with challenges but the department remained committed to the work plan of 2021 despite it being an odd time in terms of remote working.

 

The e-learning for safeguarding was launched in May 2020, it was anticipated to be launched in March 2020 but the pandemic delayed this. The team hoped for 90% of staff and volunteers to complete the course but noted that this was not attainable due to COVID, however the e-learning still had a good uptake and good feedback from those who attended.

 

The officer explained that some of the challenges were due to the reduced face to face training, it was explained that the safeguarding team would use such training to ensure the council remained compliant. Back in September 2020, they hoped to put that back in place but this that did not happen due to more things being delayed against of the backdrop of the pandemic. Despite this, the officer assured the committee that there was a lot in place to ensure that staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities.

 

The Volunteer and Chaperone Register was created following a recommendation by the Welsh Audit Office. The lead officer advised that this put them in a better position now and that it is going fine despite not having as many volunteers purely because of the way of the services being delivered. The committee were advised that this would eventually pick up and the team would review the volunteering policy with registration completed and the relevant updates.

 

The Committee was advised that all the Newport.Gov website legacy records had all been removed and were correct. This was mainly to assist citizens as the safeguarding partners across the region were accordingly updated and decimated within the council through different communication means such as the newsletter and readily available information on the internet. From this, the officer highlighted that the motive was to ensure that access for citizens to safeguarding information was much easier to locate.

 

It was mentioned to the Members that there had been the abolition of reasonable punishment, known as the smacking ban. The members were referred to the end of the report should they wish to read the briefing which will be in the director’s report in terms with compliance.

 

The Head of Corporate Safeguarding noted that the team launched the Newport Council Safeguarding Self-Assessment Audit Talk. This brought reassurance to the service areas of the council on where they are in terms of safeguarding and gave lots of support to the departments.

 

Part of the annual plan was designed to support certain sections within their plans amongst the service areas. The officer advised that it was reassuring that a lot of people were interested in terms of policy perspective as it made service areas think about different things that could affect their safeguarding. It was beneficial as it helped members of the public and staff on where to go with their concerns on having more accessible information in the public domain and were advised that they will be well ahead of this when the council services all reopen for the new normal.

 

 

The council worked with partners prior to lockdown in March 2020. In particular, Barnardo’s worked on their child protection processes and procedures in Newport, and examined how they felt about working in assault and chid protection, and examined what improvements could be made. It was noted that this approach has been really helpful to the staff as they ensured inclusion across all of the children's services looking at those processes. Management took on valuable recommendations and embedded them in Social Services processes.

 

The Head of Safeguarding stated that the main highlight was that the safeguarding hub was accepted as the way to go, and was especially good for Newport as a positive model for safeguarding with the city’s key partners. The Central Police Protection Unit, which was formerly based in the centre region had changed its way of providing services and now does so from East and West. This encouraged more contact as the police are now based by the hub and centre. This created better communication for both the Young Adult Services and Children’s Services. This allowed the services to start safeguarding as soon as necessary, so can be seen as a win for Newport as the team tried it as a pilot but it is now firmly embedded within region. As a result of this, the hub will be part of the director’s report.

 

The Chair thanked the Head of Safeguarding for their time and opened up questions from the committee.

 

The Committee asked the following:

 

·         The Committee welcomed a streamlined approach in the document however noted their concerns on the constantly changing performance indicators. It was acknowledged that the same would not be published until June 2022, so the Scrutiny Committee commented that they would not be able to advise without knowing how they can help to improve the current safeguarding issues. Therefore, the committee asked;

A) For assurance that those who need help are being prioritised and if the team have any concerns on the direction of the way things are going.
B) If the structure of Newport safeguarding team is appropriate to meet the safeguarding matters.

 

In response, the Head of Safeguarding explained that there is a constant issue in how much detail they can divulge and to also keep the assurance at a high level for the council. They work closely with adults and children so when the team have issues they are addressed both formally and very quickly. Immediate safeguarding has been attended to for the children apart from April 2020 when referrals reduced while everyone adjusted to working remotely.

 

The members were advised that the safeguarding team receive referrals through a range of avenues and the issues they had were due to mainly schools being closed as the access to schools is a big safeguarding benchmark.

The team worked with education regarding vulnerable children and young people were better protected through keeping the services going. The team was mindful of what was going on outside of schools. It was noted that there was an influx of referrals because currently there are more eyes on vulnerable people.

The officer stressed that the report will be different as the pressures that the safeguarding team are facing currently, are very different to the ones from March in 2020, however despite this, the members were informed that this was very well managed.

 

The Head of Service stressed that they shared the committee’s frustration regarding the details of the data. Welsh Government changes to the guidelines were frustrating for performance management however the officer remains optimistic as new guidelines provided a clear picture of what was expected of the team and the requirements for submitting to the regional safeguarding board in future. Members were advised that the team will be finally approaching clarity from that.

 

In terms of assurance, from February 2020 onwards there was an immediate risk to any sort of vulnerability as it is an outward facing service, there was not a drop off in service as social workers were still out working. Staff were provided with PPE and were vaccinated early within the programme.

 

The lead officer then advised members that within the children services department, they have a young workforce who are confident in IT and have a lower risk from COVID so they were lucky enough to not completely halt services. It was stressed that the pressure on their staff had been substantial. Whilst the staff held the fort really well, the team had an assurance check from Care Inspectorate Wales with no concerns raised in terms of direct practice. Despite this, it is important to acknowledge that the staff are tired and due to the pandemic it is more than just the numbers of referrals.

 

Members were informed that the referrals are much more complex and challenging for the staff in terms of knowledge base and skills with referrals they would not usually see. For instance, for children as nobody had sight of them during lockdown periods i.e. health visitor checking in at schools. Referrals are also coming through much later with children coming out from longer periods of neglect. The committee was advised that this has a profound impact on the children in terms of development in physical and mental well-being therefore the department will be dealing with more complex issues for a while.

For both services, the team delivered throughout the pandemic. The staff responded extremely well to the issues in terms of transparency and decision making, and the officer thanked Cllr Cockeram for his help. The whole team worked collaboratively but acknowledged that they are heading into a more difficult period with the knock on effects of the pandemic and could do with a circuit break but they cannot stop servicing those in need.

 

·         The Committee thanked the safeguarding team for their huge efforts over the last 18 months which must have been incredible tough, their work behind the scenes and honest appraisals were fully appreciated.

Members queried whether the team had any recommendations to Cabinet that might be helpful to them for the future issues.

 

The Head of Service confirmed that their main issue is one of resourcing, but that they had voiced these issues already and that Cabinet are aware. They appreciated the thanks and said they would pass it on to their team.

 

·         Members enquired whether the resource discussion is an underlying issue for the team and how the same is affecting staff training, they acknowledged that the younger staff were mentioned earlier for help.

 

The Head of Service responded by stating that the youth of their staff was a help as the nature of social care tends to be a young workforce. Therefore, the turnover is reasonable with low rates of agency staff, noting that the area has one agency worker. The lead officer explained that both they and the Head of Safeguarding proudly sponsor a student who just recently got a first in their degree and who will be staying with the team. It was highlighted that they are able to support students through social work training and it is just as important to help them stay. The service area does have vacancies, not as many as other authorities however they argued that they are in a good position compared to a larger authority and have permanent staff which is more beneficial for many reasons.

 

It was explained that social workers have to undertake ongoing training in order to maintain registration so much of this was done online but however some could not be done virtually such as residential staff and elements of first aid training.

The Head of Service pointed out a positive of the team running an event from early in June for early year children conference with 150 in attendance. It was encouraging to have individuals embracing looking at new developments and mentioned that work with the children protection team and staff supported the changed and continued to develop and adapt.

 

Members were informed that the staff are concerned about the lack of resources and given the weight of referrals, it has impacted training but the lead officer assured that they are trying to address that in the coming year, workload-wise and how to balance it.

 

Another element of this issue is trying to ensure that resources are in the right place, there is a long discussion in place about who else the team could bring in to undertake assessments and use resources appropriately. The other national issue is with social work, this occupation has been challenged across the United Kingdom as they continually have to work hard to retain their staff.

 

·         The Committee referred to page 15 of the report and mentioned from the increase in referrals that seem consistent throughout the year of 2021, it does not look like there would be any likelihood of it easing off. Members acknowledged that during the time of school closures, there was a suppression of referrals so voiced their concerns that cases of neglect are being picked up later than they would have been. From this increase in difficulties, the committee queried what aspect of the pandemic is causing this.

 

In response, the Head of Safeguarding explained that it seems to be from a combination of financial issues/stress/community support/job losses. They have not had the same amount of eyes in the community i.e. health visitors, immunisations for young children; and families became less visible with the severe neglect cases that the council did not know about a year ago. Issues which have gone unreported for the past year are more difficult to deal with, as the cases are more entrenched when caught at a later date.

 

The officer mentioned that we have all experienced loss in a way, due to illness or loss of opportunities and the team acknowledged that the most vulnerable of our society have experienced this the most. The restrictions put in place to keep people safe have taken a heavy toll on families and the support for them.

In April 2020, the officer explained that there was a dip in referrals but they have since increased. The team usually dread weeks after the school holidays or just before the pupils go on summer holiday.

 

Members were advised that there were two issues that the safeguarding team deal with, the loss and the emotional wellbeing and impact it has had on the adult services and also the emotional wellbeing and ill health in children. The stresses have been seen throughout on children in this area and the toll it has also taken with adults, for example they have seen increased episodes of hoarding and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

 

The Lead Officer indicated that they have seen a sharp increase in domestic abuse reports. All of these things compounded, and there has been an increase in children in families as victims of domestic abuse.

 

It was added that there had been an increase in sibling abuse also due to the stress of elder children being locked inside and also with relatively young adults living with parents, there has been a rise in domestic abuse of older children on their parents.

 

The Head of Service noted that we can see across the country, in reports of the press that the weakest have suffered the most from this and the ones with the least resources are hit first and the hardest.

 

The Committee gave their thanks to the officers for the report and their presentations and agreed to accept the report.