Agenda item

Purpose of the report: Scrutiny of Services

The Board to review and note the findings of the Surrey Safeguarding Children Board’s annual report.

Witnesses:

Elaine Coleridge - Smith, Surrey Safeguarding Children Board Independent Chair

Julian Gordon-Walker, Head of Safeguarding

Key points raised during the discussions:

1.    The Independent Chair outlined the structure of the Safeguarding Board, reflected that the size of the Board was appropriate and that in 2015 the Board had sub-groups with specific responsibilities. The Safeguarding Board were looking at introducing similar groups to cover neglect and section sexual exploitation.

2.    The Independent Chair highlighted the context that the Safeguarding Board must address in 2016 including child exploitation and neglect as well as checking safeguarding legislation and guidance for child protection was in place. The Independent Chair also noted that they must increase consistency of outcomes in social care in the wake of Ofsted’s judgements.

3.    The Independent Chair noted four priorities from the report; reduction of domestic violence, early help for children and families below social care’s threshold, looking at current processes around child protection and to implement a strategy on child sexual exploitation. The Independent Chair also noted that the Board would step in to provide training and quality assurance to ensure children’s safety.

4.    The Independent Chair informed Members that the Safeguarding Board’s ambition was to gain an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ grade and to look to develop and to be highly influential in strategic arrangements and make sure improvements were sustained and to provide effective challenge of partners at board meetings. The Independent Chair noted that they were intent on improving training and communicating good practice from the board level to the front line.

5.    Members noted that the home educated children annual assessment was not comprehensive and asked what the annual visit covered. The Head of Safeguarding commented that the legislation that covered home education did limit the powers of officers and they would raise this issue to central government. The Head of Safeguarding also noted the difficulty of safeguarding children who were being educated by their parents in their own home.

6.    A Board member asked what would happen to children who had came to live in Surrey from outside the United Kingdom. The Independent Chair informed Members that work was underway to revise the Board’s website to improve accessibility for schools. They also want to provide more training for school governors but had found some schools were more difficult to reach than others.

7.    A Board member commented that the annual report was out-of-date by the time it reached Members, however, thanked the witnesses for additional verbal information. The Independent Chair informed the Board that the annual report was a requirement but suggested that a further update in six months to report progress on priorities would be useful.

8.    A Board member asked what the Safeguarding Board were doing in relation to radicalisation in which the Independent Chair responded that they were doing all they can to communicate with schools and parents regarding the risk of radicalisation and that they provide training to spot the signs and to combat radicalisation. The Independent Chair noted that they were monitoring the situation but reiterated that they can provide guidance and training to boost awareness but cannot force schools to take certain actions in regard to radicalisation. Further to that, the Head of Safeguarding informed the Board that they would look into the issue with a view to delivering effective training.

Recommendations:

1.    The Board thanks the Surrey Safeguarding Children Board for presenting its annual report but expresses concern about the lack of local oversight of children who are home educated.

2.    The Board recommends that a verbal update is provided by the Independent Chair on the Safeguarding Board’s activity in six months time.