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Croydon Safeguarding Children's Board Annual Report 2017-18

To receive the annual report of the Children Safeguarding Board.

Minutes:

The Interim Independent Chair of Croydon Safeguarding Children Board (CSCB) presented the draft Annual Report 2017/18.

 

The report outlined the progress of the CSCB Improvement Plan which was set as part of the Children’s Improvement Plan and the CSCB business plan 2017/2018.

 

The CSCB Plan centres around the following:

-Strengthening and Partnership

-Neglect

-Early Help

-Vulnerable Adolescence

-Children with Disabilities

 

The report focused on current safeguarding arrangements and priorities of the Board and looked to address criticism arising from the 2017 Ofsted inspection that the Board lacked focus and was trying to cover too many areas. The Board was now committed to concentrating on specific priority areas in order to ensure the effectiveness of its reviews.

 

The report highlighted that good progress had been made in relation to the work around neglect and vulnerable adolescence and that more work was needed with Children with Disabilities as well as Early Help. It was noted that an Early Help Strategy would be presented to Cabinet at its December meeting.

 

The report was an example of an improving Board and the work it was doing, but also highlighted that in response to the revised statutory guidance in ‘Working Together 2018’, new safeguarding proposals would have to be developed. There would no longer be a CSCB as the three partners, the Council, Police and the Clinical Commissioning Group were required under revised guidelines to develop new safeguarding proposals which must be ready for implementation by September 2019.

 

It was agreed that an informal meeting would take place to allow further examination of the CSCB report in greater detail as well as provided the opportunity to discuss the transition of the partnership under the new proposed safeguarding arrangements

 

In response to a Member question about the effectiveness of the partnership, the independent Chair commented that it was an improving partnership. The work around vulnerable adolescence was good, with strong engagement in this area by all of the partners.

 

It was commented that in order for Scrutiny not to replicate the work of the CSCB, Scrutiny must be convinced that the partnership was working effectively to improve its outcomes. Further understanding of roles, evidence of strong partnership as well as transparency was needed for reassurance.

 

The Chair thanked the Interim Independent Chair for attending the meeting.

 

In reaching its recommendations, the Sub-Committee reached the following CONCLUSIONS:

1. The Sub-Committee would convene an informal meeting on 10 October to look in-depth at the work of the partnership, its effectiveness and threats and issues the partnership will encounter through the transition period of implementation of the new arrangements.

2. At the Informal meeting on 10 October, the performance of the Health Visiting team which is now under the Councils responsibility would be further explored.

3. Further information was required on the new safeguarding arrangements under the revised structure of ‘Working together 2018’ and how the partners will manage arrangements

4. It was difficult to get a sense of strong partnership between the partners and further understanding of each role would be beneficial to the Committee.

5. Reassurance was required on how the new structure would manage demands.

 

The Sub-Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Croydon Council that:

1. The partners ( Croydon Council, CCG and Police) to attend a future Scrutiny meeting to answer questions on how they will transition to complying with the new guidance “Working together to Safeguard Children” published in July 2018 to ensure that the children of Croydon are kept safe through the transition and into the future.

2. The partners to provide evidence to the Sub-Committee on how they are supporting each other, the effectiveness of their multiagency working and the impact on the lives of the children of Croydon.

3. The Partners to attend a meeting of the Sub-Committee in January 2019 to present their proposals

 

The Sub-Committee RESOLVED to recommend to the Metropolitan Police that:

1. The partners ( Croydon Council, CCG and Police)  to attend a future Scrutiny meeting to answer questions on how they will transition to complying with the new guidance “Working together to Safeguard Children” published in July 2018 to ensure that the children of Croydon are kept safe through the transition and into the future.

2. The partners to provide evidence to the Sub-Committee on how they are supporting each other, the effectiveness of their multi-agency working and the impact on the lives of the children of Croydon.

3. The Partners to attend a meeting of the Sub-Committee in January 2019 to present their proposals

 

The Sub-Committee RESOLVED to recommend to the Clinical Commissioning Group:

1.The partners ( Croydon Council, CCG and Police)  to attend a future Scrutiny meeting to answer questions on how they will transition to complying with the new guidance “Working together to Safeguard Children” published in July 2018 to ensure that the children of Croydon are kept safe through the transition and into the future.

2. The partners to provide evidence to the Sub-Committee on how they are supporting each other, the effectiveness of their multiagency working and the impact on the lives of the children of Croydon.

3. The Partners to attend a meeting of the Sub-Committee in January 2019 to present their proposals

 

 

The Sub-Committee also resolved that these conclusions and recommendations be copied to Di Smith, the Independent Chair of the Croydon Safeguarding Children Board.

 

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