Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Children, Education & Families

Forward Plan Ref: 2014/073

Contact: Peter Clark, Solicitor to the Council & Monitoring Officer Tel: (01865) 323907/Hannah Farncombe, Safeguarding Manager Tel: (01865) 815273

Report by Cabinet Advisory Group for Children’s & Young People’s Safeguarding Assurance Arrangements (CA7).

The report provides some background into the work of the Safeguarding Assurance Cabinet Advisory Group and makes some recommendations to Cabinet to strengthen the current assurance arrangements. These are intended to complement and strengthen existing arrangements rather than replace or subsume them.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to agree the recommendations of the CAG  to allow  officers to develop a delivery plan with clear timescales and ownership for implementation.

Recommendation agreed.

Cabinet considered a report that provided some background into the work of the Safeguarding Assurance Cabinet Advisory Group and made some recommendations to Cabinet to strengthen the current assurance arrangements.

Councillor Tilley in introducing the item commented that the recommendations were here for endorsement but were not part of any statutory plan. The Group would have one more meeting. She stressed that this was a living document.

Councillor Val Smith, Deputy Chairman of the Safeguarding Assurance Cabinet Advisory Group in introducing the contents of the report emphasised that the Group knew the difference between corporate parenting and safeguarding but felt that the Corporate Parenting Panel can be a mechanism for safeguarding. She commended that both the CAG and the Corporate Parenting Panel work in a non-party political way. The Groups concern was for the safety of young people. She detailed the recommendations contained in the report and highlighted the importance of greater information and communication to councillors including twice yearly briefings for all councillors. All councillors needed to be aware of the issue.

Peter Clark, County Solicitor & Monitoring Officer, highlighted the 14 recommendations in the report and stated that the key focus of the CAG had been to find an answer to the question: how are members assured children are safe? The CAG also looked at the effectiveness of partnership working. There had been a focus on the Corporate Parenting Panel and that was right in order to be clear about the County Council’s role and responsibilities for the care and safety of children. They had listened to the voice of the children and the report itself was the product of a lot of collaborative working. Councillor Tilley in supporting the recommendations added that children from the Children in Care Council came to every Corporate Parenting Panel. There had been a whole day meeting at Hill End where views had been listened to.

The Leader welcomed work to ensure all boards were in synch and not duplicating effort. He was pleased to hear that it was children that matter and that they were the focus.

In response to a query from Councillor Carter, Jim Leivers, Director for Children’s Services confirmed that a further report would be submitted to Cabinet on the recommendations in the report including the one relating to annual locality specific items on children’s safeguarding and corporate parenting at locality meetings.

RESOLVED:           to agree the recommendations of the Safeguarding Assurance Cabinet Advisory Group to allow officers to develop a delivery plan with clear timescales and ownership for implementation.