COUNTY BOROUGH OF BLAENAU GWENT
REPORT TO:
THE CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE JOINT
EDUCATION,SOCIAL SERIVCES AND ACTIVE
LIVING SCRUTINY COMMITTEES
REPORT SUBJECT: SAFEGUARDING PERFORMANCE
INFORMATION JAN 2014 – MARCH 2014
REPORT AUTHOR:
TANYA EVANS – HEAD OF CHILDREN’S
SERVICES
LEAD OFFICER/
DEPARTMENT
LIZ MAJER – CORPORATE DIRECTOR OF
SOCIAL SERVICES
TREVOR GUY – INTERIM DIRECTOR OF
EDUCATION
Summary Report
1.0
PURPOSE OF REPORT
The purpose of this report is to provide Scrutiny Members with
Safeguarding Performance and Self Evaluation information from
across the Local Authority. The information provided will enable
Members to identify Safeguarding trends and areas within the
Authority which require further development to improve
Safeguarding practice and meet the Safeguarding needs of the
Children and Young People within Blaenau Gwent.
2.0
LINK TO CORPORATE STRATEGIES
The Corporate Improvement Plan
The Single Integrated Plan
Post Estyn Inspection Improvement Plan
3.0
SUMMARY/PROPOSALS
The report contains Safeguarding information from Social
Services, Education, Leisure and Youth Services and other
Directorates within the Authority. It is proposed the Committee
Scrutinise the information and agree the areas for future
development in relation to Safeguarding within Blaenau Gwent.
4.0
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended Scrutiny Committee scrutinise the areas for
development contained in the body of the report.
Detailed Report
1.0
BACKGROUND
1.1
Historically Safeguarding Performance Information has been
incorporated into wider performance reports presented to
individual Scrutiny Committees. To enable greater focus on the
Safeguarding Agenda the Corporate Management Team with
Elected Members agreed a Quarterly Safeguarding report would
be presented to a joint Safeguarding Scrutiny Committee of
Social Services, Active Living and Education and Skills
Committees.
1.2
The Corporate Management Team have agreed the following
information will be shared from across the Council each quarter:
1.2.1
Social Services Information
 Numbers of referrals received by the department and the
outcome of those referrals.
 Which Agencies are making referrals to Social Services.
 How many referrals received were Child Protection.
 Analysis of Children on the Child Protection Register.
 Initial and review Child Protection Conferences held within
Scrutiny timescales.
1.2.2
Education Information
 Numbers of referrals made to Social Services by each
School and the outcome of these.
 Attendance of Schools at Child Protection Conferences.
 Updates on School based staff and Governors who have
received Level 1 and 2 Safeguarding training.
 Numbers of allegations made against staff and outcomes.
 Numbers of Restrictive Physical Interventions used by
each School.
 Numbers of exclusions as a result of bullying by each
School.
 Update on Disclosure and Barring Service Compliance.
1.2.3
Leisure and Youth Service Information
 Numbers of Referrals made to Social Services and the
outcome of these.
 Update on staff who have been trained to Level 1
Safeguarding.
1.2.4
Other Directorate Information
 Numbers of referrals made to Social Services and the
outcome.
 Update on staff who have had Level 1 Safeguarding
training.
1.2.5
The Local Authority has in place a number of Policies to support
the Safeguarding Agenda. These Policies include:
 The Corporate Child Protection Policy (all members have
previously received a copy of this and had a briefing on
this policy.) http://cc-web-int-01/media/53637/CorporateChild-Protection-Policy.pdf
 Education and Leisure Directorate Child Protection Policy
 Safer
recruitment
a
Guide
for
Schools
http://intranet/media/55064/Safer-Recruiment-Guide-forSchools-Jan-14.doc
1.3
Social Services work to a number of Regional and National
Safeguarding procedures which can be located on the South
East Wales Safeguarding Children’s Board Website,
http://sewsc.org.uk/
2.0
DETAILED PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
2.1
Social Services Information
2.1.1
Appendix 2 details Social Services information relating to the
numbers of referrals made the outcome of these referrals, which
Agency made the referrals and activity on the Child Protection
Register for the period January 2014 to April 2014. Figure 1.1
shows within this quarter Social Services received a total of 1249
referrals. 844 of these were Child in Need, 84 were Child
Protection and 321 were referrals to universal services provided
under Families First.
2.1.2
Figure 1.2 highlights which Agency made the referrals. The
Police were the highest referrer with 338 followed by Education
176 and Health making 90 referrals. These three Agencies
including Social Services account for nearly 70% of the referrals
made to Social Services within this quarter. This is a typical trend
in relation to referrals made to social services.
The outcomes of the referrals made are displayed in figure 1.3.
This demonstrates 36% (444) led to no further action by Social
Services, 26% (321) led to a referral to universal services via
Families First and 22% (280) lead to an Initial Assessment. Early
intervention is critical to address the needs of Children and
Families. Families First and Flying Start are two of the Welsh
Government key Anti Poverty Programmes within Blaenau
Gwent. We expect future trends to demonstrate a continued
increase in access to universal services and a decrease in the
number of referrals to Social Services when these early
intervention programmes are maximised.
2.1.3
Figure 1.4 highlights which Agencies were responsible for
making Child Protection referrals to Social Services. Of the 84
Child Protection referrals received in this quarter, 54% (45) were
made by Education, 15% (13) were made by the Police and 4%
(3) were made by Health. The other 33% of referrals were made
by other agencies and members of the public.
Of the 84 Child Protection referrals made to Social Services 77
of these led to a social work Assessment under the All Wales
Child Protection Procedures, and only 7 of these were not
considered appropriate. This demonstrates that thresholds in
identifying Child Protection matters are generally consistent
across Agencies.
2.1.4
Figure 1.6 shows the activity on the Child Protection Register
(CPR) for the past 12 months, ranging from 50 Children in
quarter 2 rising to 78 Children in quarter 3. In quarter 4 there
were a total of 70 on the register, 35 categorised as neglect, 21
emotional abuse, 6 physical abuse, 6 sexual abuse, 2 neglect
and physical abuse.
2.1.5
Figure 1.8 highlights the length of time Children’s names have
remained on the CPR. 24% where on the register for under 3
months, 43% being on between 3 – 6 months, 9%m12-18
months and 4% over 2yrs. Children remaining on the CPR for
periods extending 18 months usually have very complicated
circumstances. The Senior Management Team within Children’s
Social Services review these cases on a bi monthly basis to
ensure cases have not ‘drifted’ and appropriate Safeguards are
in place to enable eventual removal from the CPR.
2.1.6
The All Wales Child Protection Procedures dictate Initial
Conferences should be held within 15 days of a Strategy
Discussion being held. Figure 1.9 highlights how many Initial and
Review Child protection Conferences were held in quarter 4.
Blaenau Gwent achieves this in 100% of cases in all 4 quarters
in 13/14.
2.1.7
The All Wales Child Protection Procedures also dictate
timescales for holding Review Conferences. Blaenau Gwent
achieved this in 97% of all cases on the CPR. The remaining
3% were held just outside of timescales due to Conferences not
being cohort.
2.2
Education Information
2.2.1
Appendix 1 details the numbers of referrals made to Social
Services by Schools within Blaenau Gwent and the outcomes to
these referrals for the period January 2014 to April 2014. It also
shows the referrals made by Schools to Families First.
Within this quarter the Education Directorate made 259 referrals.
200 referrals were made to Social Services, 59 referrals were
made to Families First.
Of the 200 referrals made to Social Services by the Education
Directorate 49 of these were made as Child Protection referrals.
47 of the 49 referrals progressed to an Assessment and 2 led to
no further action. This information demonstrates in the majority
of cases Social Services and Education have a common
understanding of what constitutes a Child Protection concern
which is reassuring.
2.2.2
Within this quarter 3 of the 4 Comprehensive Schools made
Child Protection referrals to Social Services. 10 out of the 25
Primary Schools made a Child Protection referral to Social
Services.
2.2.3
Within this quarter all 4 Comprehensive Schools made Child in
Need referrals to Social Services, 17 out of the 25 primary
Schools made Child in Need Referrals to Social Services
Within this quarter all 4 Comprehensive Schools made referrals
to Families First. 6 Primary Schools made referrals to Families
First.
2.2.4
Of the 200 referrals made by Schools to Social Services, 151 of
these were Child in Need referrals. Social Services decided to
take no further action in relation to 93 of these referrals. This
raises the question about a common understanding between the
two Agencies of what constitutes a Child in Need referral.
2.2.5
The information in Appendix 1 will be used by the Safeguarding
Team within Social Services which will include a full time
Education Safeguarding Manager from August 2014 to have
discussions with Schools and Social Services Teams to
understand the reason why:
a. some Schools have made no referrals to Social Services
during the quarter,
b. a large proportion of Child in Need referrals received no
further action,
c. the low number of referrals by Schools into Families First
Services.
2.3
Leisure and Youth Service Information
2.3.1
July 2014 will see the development of the Life Leisure Trust in
Blaenau Gwent. As the Authority will be commissioning this
provision it must satisfy itself they have the appropriate
measures in place to safeguard Children and Young People. For
example they must have robust Child Protection Procedures in
place and staff must be trained in Safeguarding. As a quality
assurance mechanism Child Protection referrals made to Social
Services will be monitored on a quarterly basis by the Trust & the
council.
2.3.2
Figure 1.4 shows that no Child Protection referrals were made by
Leisure Services during January to March 2014. However some
of their referrals will be included in the referrals made by other
education providers. The Education Senior Management Team
and the Local Learning and Review Group will explore
segregating this information in readiness for the next quarterly
report. The Education Directorate are developing systems to
capture the number of staff who have received Safeguarding
training in Leisure Services and this information will be presented
in the next Quarterly report.
Figure 1.4 shows no Child Protection referrals were made by the
Youth Service to Social Services during January to March 2014;
however there have been a number of contacts made by the
Youth Service regarding young people with an existing case
open to social services. Also the categorisation of the referral
source will be reviewed to ensure it is accurately capturing
referrals from the Youth Service.
Systems are being developed to report the numbers of staff
within the Youth Service who have received Safeguarding
training to be reported in the next Quarter report.
2.4
Information from Other Directorates
2.4.1
The Corporate Child Protection Policy requires a Designated
Strategic Safeguarding Lead in each Directorate. The Lead is
responsible for ensuring all staff are aware of the Corporate
Child Protection Policy and that the necessary staff have
received Safeguarding training. Monthly meetings are being
held with the Leads and the Service Manager responsible for the
Safeguarding unit in Social Services to ensure they are
undertaking these responsibilities.
From January to March 2014 no Child Protection referrals from
Other Directorates were made to Social Services. As some
Directorates have a direct interface with Children and Families a
small number of referrals may be expected. The Designated
Strategic Safeguarding Leads and the Learning and Review
Group will continue to monitor this, plus the development of
systems to evidence staff who have had Safeguarding training.
This information will be reported to the next Quarterly meeting.
3.0
UPDATE ON SCHOOL BASED STAFF AND GOVERNORS
WHO HAVE RECEIVED LEVEL 1 AND 2 SAFEGUARDING
TRAINING
One of the actions under Recommendation 7 of the Post
Inspection Plan was to “Develop and implement a Child
protection Training Programme for all school staff, Governors
and relevant Council Education staff and Support Agencies.
To evidence work on this action all schools were requested to
provide evidence that all school based staff and Governors had
received Level 1 and 2 Child Protection Training in line with
requirements under the Education and Leisure Directorate Child
Protection Policy. The Policy states all staff should receive Level
1 Safeguarding Training and a refresher every three years and
all Child Protection Leads within schools should be trained to
Level 2 Safeguarding Training and receive refresher training
every two years.
All schools demonstrated they had systems in place to track staff
and Governors who had received Safeguarding training and
when refresher training was due to take place. All schools
provided evidence that staff were up to date with these
requirements. This information will be verified by the Education
Safeguarding Manager. The South East Wales Safeguarding
Board provides a rolling programme of Safeguarding training at
Level 1, 2 and 3. All schools have access to this rolling
programme so can nominate new staff or those who require
refresher training. In addition thirteen schools within Blaenau
Gwent have staff who can deliver Level 1 Safeguarding training
to supplement the rolling programme. The Safeguarding Team
within Social Services also provide Level 1 Safeguarding
Training to Local Authority staff.
4.0
ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE MADE AGAINST
PROFESSIONALS
From January to April 2014 there have been 4 Professional
Strategy Meetings held under the All Wales Child Protection
Procedures. 1 related to a member of staff within Education –
the outcome of this was no further action. 1 related to a Foster
Carer – the outcome of this was no further action but the
information would have been shared with the Foster Panel. 1
related to a member of staff within Leisure Services – the
outcome of this was no further action. 1 related to a member of
staff within a Volunteer Organisation – this investigation is
ongoing.
5.0
NUMBERS OF RESTRICTIVE PHYSICAL INTERVENTIONS
Systems are in place within the Local Authority to gather
incidents when Restrictive Physical Interventions are used in
School to manage Pupil’s behaviour. Following each incident
the School is required to record the incident in a bound
numbered book and complete an incident form. The incident
form is sent to the Local Authority Education Directorate where it
is recorded on a central recording system. From January to April
2014, 46 incidents of Restrictive physical Interventions were
reported to the Local Authority. The Education Safeguarding
Manager (when in post due August 11th) will undertake
awareness raising training with Child Protection Leads and their
Deputies in relation to reporting RPI’s.
6.0
NUMBERS OF BULLYING INCIDENTS REPORTED WHICH
HAVE LED TO EXCLUSIONS
Bullying has been identified by Children and Young People as a
significant issue they face. From January to April 2014 there
were no reported exclusions from School as a result of bullying.
Schools collate information in relation to bullying. However this
is not reported centrally to the Local Authority. An area for
development is to develop a system to capture information on
bullying across all Schools and report this in these quarterly
reports.
7.0
UPDATE ON DISCLOSURE AND BARRING COMPLIANCE
In April 2014 the Organisational Development Team undertook a
random Audit to check that staff within schools within Blaenau
Gwent had DBS checks and two references at the time of
appointment.
The scope of the Audit included three staff being selected from
each Comprehensive school (twelve employees) and two staff
selected from ten primary schools (twenty employees).
The results are outlined below:
32 employee records were checked
100% of employees had a DBS check
25% (eight employees) had a first reference check
19% (six employees) had a first and second reference check
75% of employees were without any record of a reference
The Audit highlighted that Head Teachers had difficulty locating
evidence that references had been received on staff who had
been in post for some years. As a result the Corporate
Management Team agreed that Head Teachers would be asked
to complete a template of those school based staff where they
could not evidence reference, and sign to state that since being
employed in the school no Safeguarding concerns had arisen in
connection with these staff. Head Teachers have been reminded
of the requirement to retain references as part of their
recruitment.
8.0
ESTYN SELF EVALUATION TEMPLATE
8.1
Appendix 3 is the Councils completed safeguarding self
evaluation based on the Estyn template, supported by a
summary document. The template requires reports on five key
areas, these are:
 How well does the Local Authority discharge its
Safeguarding responsibilities for managing Safeguarding
across the Education Service?
 How does the Local Authority manage allegations against
staff?
8.2
 How does the Local Authority ensure safe recruitment of
staff?
 How does the Local Authority ensure Safeguarding training
is undertaken?
 How does the Local Authority ensure the safety and well
being in Education Services?
The Self Evaluation provides a summary of progress and areas
for improvement and progress on these key areas.
9.0
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended Scrutiny Committee scrutinises the
information provided in the report, particularly the areas for
development and ensure they are reported on at the next
quarterly meeting. That scrutiny identify issue that need to be
raised with Executive Committee in relation to Safeguarding.
LIZ MAJER
CORPORATE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES
TREVOR GUY INTERIM DIRECTOR OF EDCUATION
Ref: LM/TE/JP/SPI.1897
Date: 18th June 2014