Agenda item

The Board received a report, which provided an overview on what had been done by the safeguarding partners for Doncaster to keep children safe from abuse and neglect, through delivering the requirements of the Government’s statutory Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018.

The new safeguarding partnership arrangements build on and replace those of the Doncaster Safeguarding Children Board.

The report acknowledged the dedication and hard work of all those involved in keeping children in Doncaster safe since local safeguarding children boards were established in 2006. Details of what the local safeguarding arrangements were and the progress made against them were presented

to the Board.

It was advised that there had been a change in the structure of the report. Partner agencies had not been invited to provide a submission, which had reduced the once lengthy reports and had also avoided duplication particularly in relation to Section 11 arrangements. It was reported that the quality of data being gathered was much better as well as a greater interrogation of the data. Communication had also been improved via the new website, which had new functionalities. The new website will keep key partners more engaged. The practitioner forum had also been strengthened with the invitation being circulated to senior officers and conferences remain at a high attendance level.

The Board were also advised that a Children’s Partnership had also been identified to ensure that young people’s voices were heard. It was reported that a number of issues had been identified with regard to exploitation and discussion had taken place on this. This had been recognised, as a key area to develop resources. 

With regard to Children in Care (CIC), the Board were, advised that nationally figures had risen. However there were early help initiatives and services available and through the prevention work this had assisted and will continue to impact on reducing the numbers of CIC.

Dr Rupert Sucking informed the Board that in relation to review on the Child Deaths, it had been, recommended that governance arrangements were being, reviewed for Doncaster CDOP with the aim of transferring responsibility over to the Health and Well Being Board via the Children and Young People’s Partnership.

The Board were interested in how outside partners such as the police felt on how effective services were on issues such as poverty and child exploitation. Chief Inspector Jayne Forrest whilst being careful not to delve too deeply into detail regarding staff the message remained the same, if a staff member feels that there is a cause for concern, then, they should issue a referral. She stated that Children Criminal Exploitation was prevalent within the borough with a high number of children being, groomed for criminality. However, she wished to state that the service were ahead of the game from a strategic view and there were no concerns that Doncaster were behind the game.

Discussion took place on the subject of domestic abuse and it remaining a significant issue of concern for interventions at all levels. The DCST had now recruited a team of Domestic Abuse Navigators (DANs) to tackle cases involving domestic abuse, who apply a whole family approach, working with victims, perpetrators and children. Evidence based therapeutic techniques had been introduced and these have been extremely effective resulting in no families being re-referred after working with them.

The Chair sought clarity on whether the Board could be doing more to support. It was, noted that there were frustrations particularly with regard to suitable housing being available. It was, also noted, that, austerity had played a part in those frustrations and had had a significant impact on meeting the needs of children, which could be something for the Board to consider. Paul Tanney, Chief Executive St Leger Homes mentioned that St Leger Homes, had been removed from the membership for the Safeguarding Board and he felt that this had been a mistake, this was now been rectified and the service now attend the Board.

The Vice-Chair, Dr David Crichton welcomed the report. However stated that with regard to crime and the reports of children being drawn into crime from within Doncaster, he felt that he had not got a sense of this in Doncaster. In response, it was reported that there had always been a risk but with regard to County Lines, this had not been a particular issue at the moment within the borough. It was stated that the service do have the intelligence and a good handle on what the situation was but there was no room for complacency. Members were, advised, that the Child Criminal Exploitation Board was an extremely active meeting and it was recognised, that the Trust were leaps and bounds ahead of where there were with regard to this matter. It was, suggested that it would be useful for the data to show geographical variations.

Clarification and assurance was, sought on the timeliness of interventions. It was, advised that, there was a contractual indicator for time taken for interventions and timeliness could be lifted from that information. However, Members were, given assurance that time taken for interventions was above target.

In response to a question regarding the third sector and how the service engage with them, the Board were advised of a number of mechanisms in which this was carried out, such as the Peoples Forum, Practitioner Forum, Annual Conference and the use of the new website. Work was also been undertaken to improve the confidence that the voice of the children was being heard.

RESOLVED the Doncaster Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report, be noted.