Decision:
Cabinet RESOLVED to;
2.1 Consider and note the Annual Reports of the Croydon Safeguarding Adult Board 2023-24 (as attached as Appendix 1)
2.2 Consider and note the Annual Report of the Croydon Safeguarding Children Partnership 2023-24 (as attached as Appendix 2).
2.3 Note the proposed development of the process of presenting annual reports for the CSAB, CSCP and Community Safety Partnership (as detailed in Sections 4.5 and 4.6 of this report).
Minutes:
The Executive Mayor introduced the report noting Croydon's significant population of both under 18's and elderly residents and the council's responsibility to safeguard and care for both children and adults.
The annual reports for the Croydon Safeguarding Adults Board (CSAB) and the Croydon Safeguarding Children Partnership (CSCP) included key highlights from across the services including Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Quality Assurance Initiatives and development of the service's Learning Offers.
The focus on community safety prioritisation and the alignment of this to making the borough a safer and more supportive community by taking a preventative approach to Social Care was noted.
The new approach to reporting saw both the CSAB and CSCP reports brought together and was illustrative of the One Croydon approach and best practice in regard to governance and alignment of priorities.
Thanks were extended to the Chair of CSAB David Williams, the Independent Scrutineer of CSCP Keith Makin and to partners in health services, the police and the voluntary sector.
Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care Councillor Yvette Hopley advised there had been important improvements to cross departmental working between Adults and Children social care. Thanks were extended to the Chair and Vice Chair of CSAB and for the collaborative approach by all partners.
Cabinet Member for Children and Yong People Councillor Maria Gatland welcomed the presentation of the CSCP Annual Report. The partnership working between the police, health partners and the council was noted and the report provided assurance around the multi-agency arrangements to safeguard children and improve their outcomes.
It was advised that the quality of safeguarding practice reviews had improved, with positive feedback from the panel and one of Croydon's cases taken to the national panel to share good practice.
The success of the work with family hubs as part of the learning offer was noted along with improvements in quality assurance of partner agencies, particularly in regard to the use of data. However the capacity of partner agencies to fully engage with CSCP remained a challenge.
The CSCP Business Plan 2024/25 was set out at Paragraph 5.22 of the report and the inclusion of children and families voices had now been embedded into the Partnership following the appointment of two young scrutineers.
David Williams, Independent Chair of CSAB advised the report demonstrated partnership working, reflected the continuing strength of the board whilst recognising there was still more work to be done. An update report on the progress made would be presented to Scrutiny in the new year.
Key areas of progress included:
A challenge event was being held on the 28th of November 2024 and would assist the Board in setting priorities, recognising successes, challenges and learning from SARs, making safeguarding personal and by offering challenge across the partnership.
Joint working projects included transition, asylum seekers, the development of an all-age exploitation strategy, work between DHRs and SARs and suicide and self-harm prevention.
The newly established Joint Executives Partnership Network would meet bi-annually and included members from CSAB, CSCP and Community Safety.
Detective Superintendent, Fiona Martin noted Keith Makin, Independent Scrutineer of CSCP's apologies. The close working between the CSCP Board, Education and other partners was commended. The report detailed how the three main agencies, Police, Health and the Local Authority discharged their duty to work together and a team approach was taken to promote the welfare of all children in Croydon.
The two Young Scrutineers attendance at the executive meetings had a positive impact on the board's focus and they were working on a draft copy of the Annual Report for children and young people and a podcast to increase accessibility.
The three core processes of safeguarding and assurance were highlighted as:
· The learning and development program, which this year had been successfully updated to a new platform.
· The review process, which went beyond the statutory requirements to seek learning and systems change for below threshold incidents, as well as statutory ones.
· A good quality assurance process, which following recruitment to the role had made a significant impact on how safeguarding arrangements were evidenced.
Positive highlights detailed within the report were summarised and included:
· Two cases of concern had been concluded.
· Four local safeguarding practice reviews were published, and three rapid reviews were completed.
· The Board had become more evidence based.
· The National Panel had requested Croydon to share examples of safeguarding review work.
Chief Nursing Officer, Deborah Kelly advised their first year in Croydon and as part of the partnership had been a positive one. The strong representation of Health within the partnership was noted along with good executive challenge around culture and practice from a Health perspective. The main three areas of focus as set out in the report were Children out of Borough, MASH and attendance at case conferences.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, Councillor Janet Campbell commended the approach of having both Adult and Children's social care reported together.
It was asked how the Board would ensure that communication and actions were carried out efficiently across partner agencies and what approach ensured frontline workers could quickly escalate concerns and track the outcomes of referrals.
Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health, Annette McPartland advised safeguarding was prioritised in triage and risk assessed at the front door. Escalation was based upon need and all cases were tracked with data presented to the Board for scrutiny. The last Board had seen reporting on the increased number of referrals received, along with increased satisfaction levels of people receiving a service via Adult Social Care and Safeguarding.
It was advised work to improve statutory duty data had been undertaken and that best practice was shared both locally and nationally. Regarding Children's the front door saw robust and swift action and the Executive had oversight via the MASH operating group.
Shadow Cabinet Member for Children and Young People Councillor Amy Foster sought assurance that the underspend of public health grants of £3.4 million reported in 2023/24 would not be repeated 2024/25.
The Executive Mayor responded there was a plan to spend the under spend in public health and the LGA Peer Review previously reported to Cabinet had outlined an action plan. Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care Councillor Yvette Hopley advised considerable work had been undertaken to align public health work to the council's joint strategic needs assessment and preventative work. It was confirmed future reporting would be provided, detailing how the money would be spent.
The Executive Mayor thanked guests for their attendance at the meeting.
Cabinet RESOLVED to;
2.1 Consider and note the Annual Reports of the Croydon Safeguarding Adult Board 2023-24 (as attached as Appendix 1)
2.2 Consider and note the Annual Report of the Croydon Safeguarding Children Partnership 2023-24 (as attached as Appendix 2).
2.3 Note the proposed development of the process of presenting annual reports for the CSAB, CSCP and Community Safety Partnership (as detailed in Sections 4.5 and 4.6 of this report).
Supporting documents: