Devon Safeguarding Children Board
________________
DSCB Executive
Chairperson: David Taylor
www.devonsafeguardingchildren.org
Summary and Minutes
12 December 2014
Sargent room, Coaver Club
Summary
The Executive approved a step down policy, which will be circulated to all members of the Board and
published on the website, and discussed how the effectiveness of this policy is monitored.
The Executive also considered a specific report which considered a policy regarding guests and other
visitors’ to children’s units and appropriate vetting prior to access.
The Board agreed the financial contributions for member organisations for the 2015/16 year and also
agreed to hold a special meeting in January 2015, for organisations where contributions still needed to
be agreed.
The report from the Local Authority Designated Officers (LADOs) covering the period April to September
2014, raised issues in relation to timeliness of strategy meetings and understanding the patterns in
respect to referrals. This will be addressed in the Annual Report produced by the service.
There was a presentation in relation to the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC) by the
key commissioner. In particular, a focus on the Think Family protocol and the need for this to be
implemented by key adult agencies. In addition, there were considerations of attendance by key
agencies at MARAC meetings including the quality of their contribution. This will form a regular part of
the DSCB’s performance monitoring.
Monitoring child sexual exploitation (CSE) was discussed and the strategy was agreed. Further work will
be completed on a CSE balanced scorecard, which will give the Board a good understanding of what is
happening within Devon, including work related to prevention and disruption.
There was an update in relation to progress on the Business Plan. The Executive particularly noted the
work on developing robust supervision within agencies in respect to safeguarding.
The progress on current serious case review CN09 and joint event between the adult and children Board
in Devon was also reported.
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Devon Safeguarding Children Board
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Minutes
Attendees:
Jon
Higgs
Devon and Cornwall Police
Nicky
Scutt
Devon County Council
Sue
Clarke
Devon County Council
Jim
Wood
Devon County Council, Youth Offending Team
Sally
Yeo
Devon County Council (DSCB)
Jennie
Stephens
Devon County Council, Adult & Community
Services
Councillor James
McInnes
Devon County Council
Vanessa
Ford
Devon Partnership Trust
Julie
Mitchell
David
Taylor
Mike
Hamilton
Dorset, Devon and Cornwall Community
Rehabilitation Company
Kevin
Finan
Mid Devon District Council
Mark
Benden
National Probation Service
Sue
Baldwin
NEW Devon Clinical Commissioning Group
Michele
Thornberry
Nurse Consultant Safeguarding Children
Paul
Grimsey
Devon County Council, Adult Services
Carroll
Virgin Care - Integrated Children Services
Paul
Northcott
Devon and Cornwall Police
Fiona
Fitzpatrick
Devon County Council
Virginia
Pearson (Dr)
Devon County Council
Anne
Proctor
Dorset, Devon and Cornwall Community
Rehabilitation Company
Gill
Gant
South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning
Group
Jayne
Devon Safeguarding Children Board (Officer in
attendance)
Devon Safeguarding Children Board / Torbay
Safeguarding Children Board
Apologies:
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Devon Safeguarding Children Board
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Agenda Item
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Minutes of the meeting held 22nd October
Matters arising
Matters to note
- NEW CCG Annual Report
- FGM Government Update
- MASH Referral Analysis
Updates
The Chair welcomed members to the meeting and apologies were noted from Virginia
Pearson (VP) and Mark Benden (MB) with Jon Higgs (JH) representing Devon and
Cornwall Police. The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and updates on
outstanding actions reported.
Presenter
David Taylor/ALL
The step down policy was presented for approval and a brief update on the Health
Advisory Group (HAG) provided with members agreeing a future reporting mechanism
for this group. Members are to provide further comments on the step down policy to the
Board’s office by the 19 December 2014. The Board’s actions arising from the in-depth
review on sexual abuse were highlighted in terms of the developing a pathway and
adopting the Welsh Protocol. Work in this area to be taken forward by the learning and
improvement subgroup and an update on progress will be provided in due course.
Members were asked to note the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) Referral
Analysis report which indicates no significant rise in referrals from schools on Friday’s;
however, concerns remain regarding end of day referrals. Along with this, the Northern,
Eastern and Western CCG Annual Report was shared for information.
Action Points
Action Owner
Deadline
Provide regular reports on the Health Advisory group’s activity.
Sue Baldwin
Ongoing
Circulate the approved Locality Forum Terms of Reference to all Julie Mitchell
forums and publish on the website.
Immediately
Feedback further comments on the step down policy to the Board’s All members
office then publish on the website and send to all agencies
19
December
2014
The MASH report provides a baseline and the education subgroup Sue Clarke
to report again to the Executive on school referrals to MASH.
April 2015
Agenda Item Colleton Lodge Report
2
Discussion
Presenter
Andrew Yendole
The Department for Education asked Devon County Council to produce an investigation
report on Colleton Lodge. The final draft was therefore presented to members for their
information. The report identifies four key recommendations for action in relation to
policies and procedures.
Members reviewed the recommendations and proposed amendments in respect to the
proposed visitors’ policy to ensure all guests comply with an agreed set standard of
behaviour. Other discussions took place on complaints in respect to the care quality for
children in care and a proposal outlined for these to be fed into the LADO (Local
Authority Designated Officer) process.
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Conclusion
________________
The report will be published in January 2015 and all recommendations will be taken
forward following this action. It was agreed that proposals on how best to feed
complaints into the LADO system will be provided at the next meeting.
Action Point
Action Owner
Provide proposals on how best to feed complaints into the LADO Nicky Scutt
process regarding the care quality in the children in care arena.
Agenda Item Finance Report
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Discussion
Deadline
February
2015
Presenter
Lisa Northam
The updated finance report was provided and detailed the current reserves position,
partnership agreement responses and the proposed partner contributions for 2015-16.
Members were asked to note the report and below recommendation:
 Partners consider the budget contributions for 2015-16 in order for these to be
agreed at the February meeting of the Executive.
The partnership agreement was circulated to partners on 9 September 2014 and to date
returns have not been received from Royal Devon and Exeter Foundation Trust and
North Devon Healthcare Trust. Members from these agencies were therefore asked to
follow this up and action, as appropriate.
Members also noted the ongoing discussions in respect of acute trusts’ contributions and
the inflationary increase of 2.2% for 2015-16. This is to cover the recently agreed NJC
pay award along with details of the revised partner contributions.
Conclusion
The deadline to agree contributions and provide any feedback on the declared position
for 2015-16 is the 31 December 2014. This was duly noted and agreed by all members.
Action Point
Action Owner
Deadline
Provide clarification on the contribution by the Police between
Devon and Torbay’s Boards.
David Taylor
9 January
2015
Agenda Item Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Report and Presenter
4
Update
Frances Hunt
Discussion
The two reports detailing the activity and improvements from 2013 to 2014 were
provided to the Board.
Recommendations (Jennie Waldron Independent Review Unit Operations Manager):
 The LADO’s are directly involved in the design / processes for data collection
 The Review of the Managing Allegations Process enables improvement to the
speed of responses to referrals
 The LADOs continue to maintain oversight of the business support and data
collection processes
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

________________
The review of the Allegations Management Processes has progressed and
enables service improvements to continue
A review is undertaken of the timeliness of Allegations Management Strategy
meetings
Jan Liff (JL) and Frances Hunt (FH) will be taking forward the LADO function across
Devon. Benefits to this restructure include a more consistent service and improved links
with agencies.
Members were asked to note the current concerns in respect to timeliness of strategy
meetings and the actions underway to address these issues. This includes new
administrative support for the team, the introduction of a duty service and that data
collation is to be completed in a more meaningful way; with future reporting to provide indepth detail on referrals. In addition, it was highlighted that the service has received
some inappropriate referrals and these are being addressed by the team to ensure future
referrals are appropriate.
Conclusion
The reports’ content was noted by the Executive. It was agreed that future reporting to
include detail on cases which have been substantiated and their respective outcomes.
Action Point
Action Owner
Provide the LADO Annual Report for 2014-15
Frances Hunt / Jan End
Liff
2015
Agenda Item Domestic Abuse (MARAC)
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Discussion
Deadline
April
Presenter
Kristian Tomblin
An update on the domestic abuse service was provided to the Executive by
commissioners. The report outlines the service operation, contribution to Multi-Agency
Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC) and current challenges for the service.
Recommendations:
 Progress key actions and recommendations from priorities and risk log.
 Development of consistent, evidence based tools to identify the risks adults may
pose to children (from serious case review action plan for CN08).
 Operational Guidance to deliver Think Family protocol.
An update on the Think Family joint risk assessment tool was outlined and members
discussed some concerns regarding the current mechanisms in place within single
agencies. Members noted that work is being undertaken by the learning and
improvement subgroup to develop a multi-agency risk assessment tool.
Conclusion
The report update was noted by the Executive. Future reporting to include details on
MARAC governance arrangements, agencies’ attendance and quality of participation at
meetings and how this impacts on children. A further report will be provided at
February’s Executive meeting.
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Action Point
Action Owner
Provide an update report to include detail on attendance, quality of Kristian Tomblin
participation, governance arrangements and how the services
impacts on children including identified risk assessment tool.
Deadline
February
2015
Agenda Item
6
Update on Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
Presenter
Steve Alexander /
Paul Northcott
Discussion
An update on the child sexual exploitation (CSE) strategy and action plan was presented
to the Board for approval. The strategy and plan has been devised to sit under three
themed areas with corresponding actions:
Prevent
Outreach work by the Reducing Exploitation and Absence from Care or Home (REACH)
team continues to support both children and parents, with all missing children episodes
recorded by Devon and Cornwall Police. The return to home interviews are currently
completed by the REACH team, however, a proposal for social workers to take forward
interviews for children known to social care, is also being considered. The new Missing
and Child Sexual Exploitation (MACSE) terms of reference have been refreshed to
ensure effective working, information sharing and additional support will be provided by
Philippa Geddes (PG) in the new year. The Executive agreed for this work to link with
the Children Missing in Education agenda and noted that training will be aimed at
equipping professionals to deal with CSE issues. Members agreed this is a priority.
Protect
An approved peninsula risk assessment tool is available for agencies and will be
published on the Board’s website. The threshold tool is being refreshed to include child
sexual exploitation (CSE) and work continues to ensure the strategy is both deliverable
and sustainable.
Disrupt
Work is being progressed to agree targets and actions with the Devon and Cornwall
Police. The proposed scorecard to capture data for future reporting purposes was
presented and it was agreed that future reporting should outline data in geographical
areas.
The strategy implementation is the responsibility for the Peninsula CSE group and the
action plan will be taken forward by Devon’s CSE group. Regular updates on progress
will be provided to the Executive, as required.
Conclusion
Members noted the update and agreed that effective work with both children and young
people to promote personal safety and changes to potentially risky behaviour is
essential. The Executive thanked both Nicky Scutt (NS) and Steve Alexander (SA) for
the work completed to date in respect to this agenda. It was agreed that further
comments should be provided on all documentation by mid-January and that the level 4
specialist training will be refreshed. A further update on progress will be provided at
February’s 2015 meeting.
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Devon Safeguarding Children Board
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Action Points
Action Owner
Provide the approved risk assessment tool and other tools for Nicky Scutt
inclusion on the Board’s website.
Deadline
February
2015
Review CSE level 4 training and provide an update at the next Fiona Fitzpatrick and February
meeting.
Sally Yeo
2015
Liaise with Bob Spencer, Devon’s Adult Safeguarding Chair in David Taylor
respect of adults who previously suffered abuse
February
2015
Agenda Item
7
Business Plan Update
Presenter
Julie Mitchell
Discussion
Progress was reported to the Executive on key actions in the Board’s business plan.
The action plan has been refreshed with updates and includes a rag (red, amber and
green) rating system to indicate progress made. Members were asked to note the
progress with supervision, serious case review CN09 and the proposed joint event
between adult and children Boards in Devon.
Recommendation:
 Board to note progress and to advise how we progress some of the actions.
Conclusion
Members agreed the recommendation and for future updates to include explanations on
targets which remain outstanding.
Action Point
Action Owner
Refresh business plan in line with Executive comments and provide Julie Mitchell
an update at February’s meeting.
Deadline
February
2015
Agenda Item
8
Sub Group Reports
Presenter
- Serious Case Review: C40 non-Devon cases, and Nicky
Scutt
/
critical incident update
Michele Thornberry
- Training
/ David Taylor
- L&I Neglect Audit Update
Updates
Serious Case Review (SCR) Subgroup
An update report was provided to the Executive in relation to the serious case review,
C40. This review was undertaken by Torbay’s Children Safeguarding Board (TSCB)
following a child death with a family living in Torbay. Members also noted Devon’s
Individual Management Review (IMR) and its content in relation to agencies’ involvement
and the arising actions.
Training Subgroup
The report details progress on the strategy implementation with all actions on track and
full implementation expected in April 2015. It was noted that the e-learning training is
now live on the Board’s website and will be updated shortly. Other changes include the
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Devon Safeguarding Children Board
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procurement of a new booking system which will be live from 1 April 2015 and the
requirement for attendees to complete evaluation forms before receiving their certificate.
In addition to this, a discussion took place on agencies’ attendance at training courses
and the Executive requested for future reporting to include a breakdown of this
information by agency and that further evaluations could be sought on a sample basis
via the phone. Sally Yeo (SY) noted these proposals and will take forward work
accordingly.
A discussion took place on the proposed level 4 specialist training. It was noted that
whilst there is a need to develop programmes to meet local training needs, there also
needs to be specialist training available for particular groups of staff. It was therefore
agreed that other proposals for level 4 training will be presented in February’s 2015 and
the Chair will also raise this with Peninsula LSCB Chairs, to ascertain whether this can
be delivered in a wider setting.
Learning & Improvement Subgroup: Neglect Audit
A report detailing findings and recommendations for improvement from the audit was
presented to the Executive. The subgroup undertook this audit in September 2014 and
featured a sample of neglect cases that were subject to child protection plans. The
exercise served two purposes; to contribute to the Local Government Agency (LGA)
peer review work in October 2014 and review how agencies deal with neglect cases’
which is an identified priority for the Board.
Action Points
Action Owner
Deadline
Report on SCR C40 Action plan (tracking progress)
Nicky Scutt
February
2015
Provide a breakdown by agency in respect to attendance at training Sally Yeo
events and courses.
February
2015
Present proposals for level 4 specialist training.
February
2015
Sally Yeo
Provide details on their single agency training to the DSCB Training All Agencies
team.
February
2015
Raise the proposal to deliver level 4 specialist training with the David Taylor
Peninsula LSCB Chairs.
February
2015
Agenda Item
9
LGA Peer Review Update
Presenter
Jennie Stephens /
Fiona Fitzpatrick
Update
The Executive agreed for the peer review feedback presentation and action plan to be
circulated to all members for information and feedback. This is following initial feedback
at the last meeting on the review undertaken in October 2014.
The peer review featured an audit of over 100 cases across the child’s pathway. It
detailed positive comments for the children’s workforce along with areas for
improvement for both the safeguarding children’s workforce and the Board.
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Devon Safeguarding Children Board
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Action Point
Action Owner
Deadline
Circulate the peer review feedback presentation and action plan.
DSCB office
7th January
2015
Agenda Item
10
In-Depth Review and Executive Actions Update
Presenter
David Taylor
Update
Members noted the update on actions arising from the Board’s themed review and
Executive meetings.
Agenda Item
11
Share and Challenge
- Attendance at Case Conferences
- Ofsted Inspection on LSCBs
- Performance Report
Updates
Performance Report and Agencies’ Attendance
The updated report in respect to performance data was presented to the Executive. This
version highlights improved attendance at case conferences, includes initial data on
attendance at Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) and Multi-Agency
Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC) meetings and more detail on Multi-Agency
Safeguarding Hub (MASH) enquiries and outcomes.
Presenter
David Taylor / Julie
Mitchell / ALL
Members noted the report and agreed actions to address attendance by schools during
the summer holidays and health colleagues’ throughout the year along with other
agencies. Additional information will be provided to Devon and Cornwall Police about
variation in attendance of Police personnel across the area so that they are able to
address this.
In addition to this report, members received an update on children missing in education
data and the work being progressed to address any concerning issues.
Action Point
Action Owner
Deadline
Discuss and agree ways to address attendance at safeguarding Sue Clarke with February
meetings.
Education Subgroup 2015
/ Sue Baldwin via
the Health Subgroup
Agenda Item
12
Any Other Business
Presenter
- Keeping in touch
Paul Northcott
- Proposed In-depth Review and MACA themes for David Taylor
2015
Keeping in touch: Paul Northcott
This item was deferred to February’s 2014 meeting.
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In-depth Review and Multi-Agency Case Audit (MACA) themes for 2015
The 2015 schedule was shared with the Executive for information in respect to the audit
work link with future Board’s in-depth reviews.
March
In-depth review on neglect
April
June
Locality forum audits with a focus on children with disabilities
In-depth review on children with disabilities
June/July
Framework)
September
Locality forum audit with a focus on Early Help (Devon Assessment
October
December
Locality forum audit with a focus on looked-after children – missing aspect
In-depth review on looked-after children
In-depth review on Early Help
Any Other Business
An update on a serious incident in Torbay was outlined in terms of Devon’s agencies’
involvement. The Chair advised that he is keen to understand the outcome of the review
in order for the Board to take forward any learning applicable for agencies.
Agenda Item
13
Date of Next Meetings
2015
12 February, 20 March, 7 May, 9 July, 11 September, 29 October, 11 December
All meetings will take place from 2pm in Coaver Club, Exeter
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