Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Director of Children’s Services

The Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Board (2) received a Briefing note of the Director of Children’s Services that presented the Coventry Safeguarding Children’s Partnership Annual Report in relation to activity of the Partnership for September 2019 to March 2020.

Working Together 2018 stated that, ‘In order to bring transparency for children, families and all practitioners about the activity undertaken, the safeguarding partners must publish a report at least once in every 12-month period. The report must set out what they have done as a result of the arrangements, including on child safeguarding practice reviews, and how effective these arrangements have been in practice’. Safeguarding partners should make report widely available, and the published safeguarding arrangements should set out where the reports would be published. A copy of all published reports should be sent to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel and the What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care within seven days of being published.

The Partnership had three priorities for 2019-2022: neglect; making the system work; and contextual safeguarding.

The highlights of the Annual Report were:

•  A Contextual safeguarding conference took place in February 2020. This was well attended from agencies across the partnership and included local, regional and national speakers.

•  Coventry continued to roll out Signs of safety and Right help, right time supporting a consistency of language and approach across the partnership.

•  The Graded care profile 2, an evidence based practical assessment tool that supported practitioners in measuring the quality of care provided to a child, had been implemented and rolled out.

•  The new arrangements had implemented a new Safeguarding Together Action Group made up of 40+ frontline practitioners ensuring that key messages got to the frontline.

•  ‘Your Voice Matters’, a new young people’s group, supported children and young people to have a voice. Work had been undertaken to ensure that their views were acted upon.

•  Working Together 2018 brought in a requirement for Safeguarding Partners to undertake a Rapid Review when a Serious Incident Notification was made. Rapid reviews undertaken by the CSCP had received full partnership support and had all been completed within timeframe.

•  The Early help strategy had been launched across the partnership highlighting the need to intervene at the earliest opportunity to provide effective support to children, young people and their families.

The Board questioned officers, received responses, and discussed the following issues:

·  The response to Covid and planned approach to emerging issues.

·  Newsletters focussed on research and learning for practitioners

·  Early help measures

·  1,580 followers across Twitter

·  Good engagement with schools – virtual training had indicated an improvement in engagement

·  Definition of the three priorities

·  The inclusion of case studies in the Annual Report

·  HORIZON – work expanding to include both sexual and criminal exploitation. All genders included in work. Aware of gender in terms of contextual safeguarding

·  Commitment from all agencies to work in partnership to keep children safe and well – new arrangements working well

·  Child Protection Training for Elected Members

RESOLVED that, having considered the contents of the Coventry Safeguarding Children’s Partnership Annual Report, the Education and Children’s Services Scrutiny Board (2):

1)  Endorses the contents of the Annual Report attached as Appendix 1 to the Briefing Note.

2)  Recognises the work done by the Coventry Safeguarding Children’s Partnership 2019-2020.

3)  Requests that Child Protection Training be arranged for all Elected Members.