To receive apologies for absence, including notifications of any changes to the membership of the Board.

It was reported that, in accordance with the wishes of the Conservative Group and Independent Group, the membership of the Board had been amended for this meeting by including Councillors David Thomas and Loxton instead of Councillors Barnby and Mills respectively.  An apology for absence was also received from Edward Wright (non-voting co-opted Member who was represented by Inspector Ian Stevens).

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meetings of the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 24 January 2022.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 24 January 2022 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive an update on the implmentation of the Pedge.

The Cabinet member for Children’s Services, Councillor Law, and Jo Morrell from Torbay Youth Trust provided an update on the implementation of the ‘Our Promise to You – Torbay Pledge’ for cared for and care experienced young people.  All Councillors were given a copy of the Pledge booklet at the Council meeting in December and it was agreed that the Co-opted Members on the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Board would also be provided with a copy.  Councillor Law and Jo Morrell responded to questions in relation to the following:

·                     The young people had said they wanted people to find out their story first so that they don’t have to repeat it.  How do we ensure that this happened and how do we adapt our approach to meet individual children’s wishes.

·                     The Pledge relates to cared for and care experienced children how do we engage with children and families at the edge of care or from low income families.

·                     Young people would be able to hold everyone to account, how was this monitored.

Members of the Board welcomed the progress made to implement the Pledge and were encouraged to come along to meet young people through My Voice and the Circle to gain a better understanding of what our young people want and need.

o receive an update on the progress on the written statement in response to the CQC and Ofsted Joint Area SEND Inspection and the progress of the SEND Strategic Partnership Board.

(Note:  Graham Pirt, SEND Strategic Lead, Hannah Pugliese, Head of Women and Children’s Commissioning, NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group and Darryn Allcorn, Chief Nursing Officer, NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group will be in attendance for this item.)

Graham Pirt, SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) Strategic Lead, Hannah Pugliese, Head of Women and Children’s Commissioning, and Darryn Allcorn, Chief Nursing Officer, from NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group attended the meeting to provide an update on the progress made to produce a written statement of action in response to the Care Quality Commission and Ofsted Joint Area SEND Inspection which was required to be submitted on 14 April 2022.  Members noted the report contained 8 areas for improvement, with one of the most significant areas being the requirement for a culture change across all parties.  The submitted paperwork included version 2.4 and this was being updated on a daily basis with version 2.8 currently being worked on.  This now included details of the proposed outcomes and impact but required further data before it could be finalised. 

Members acknowledged that parents and carers had been supportive of the process and the action being taken to address issues within SEND support and provision across Torbay.

The Board received reassurance that work was on track to meet the deadline of 14 April 2022 and significant engagement and progress had been made to address the issues raised through the inspection.  It was noted that around 50% of statements were rejected, normally relating to the deliverability of timescales for actions.  If the statement was accepted we would be monitored against it in September and then every three months after.

Members asked and received responses to the following questions:

·                     How were we going to make improvement and build on existing strengths.

·                     Who has provided input into the written statement and how have people been engaged.

·                     How were you ensuring that the voices of the children were taken into account as well as the voice of the families.

·                     What were the proposed SMART targets around embedding the vision and values of the children and how long would this take to achieve.

·                     What were the anticipated milestones.

·                     Would the final version include a glossary of terms and would acronyms still be used.

·                     How many schools still need to sign up to work with you on this and what would be the role of the Regional Schools Commissioner.

·                     Were we in touch with the schools that had been identified during the inspection.

·                     What was the involvement of South Devon College in this work.

·                     How were we ensuring that action was followed up with those who had not responded to surveys to ensure that their views were also taken into consideration.

·                     The number of exclusions for children with SEND was too high, what action was being taken to address this.

·                     What action was being taken to ensure that health and/or social care representatives attend the annual SEND reviews as well as education representatives.

Resolved (unanimously):

1.         that the final written statement of action be circulated to the Board; and

2.         that the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Board receives an update on the progress of the implementation of the action plan.

To review the implementation of the Action Plan arising from the issues raised as a result of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review in respect of Child C80.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Councillor Law, and the Director of Children’s Services, Nancy Meehan, provided an update as set out in the submitted report on the implementation of the 23 activities arising from the Child Safeguarding Practice Review in respect of Child C80.  Members noted the important role of the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) who works within Children’s Services to help people who were worried about an adult who works with children may or could cause them harm – further details can be found on the website at https://www.torbay.gov.uk/children-and-families/services-and-support/sars/lado/.  Questions were answered in respect of the following:

·                     There was an expectation that people in early years would undertake training on safeguarding and whistleblowing how would this be carried out and how was it monitored to ensure that it was undertaken.

·                     What was the difference between AIM3 and the Brook Traffic Light tool which would need to be purchased.

·                     Was there a local contact person for people to speak to who had safeguarding concerns and what was being done to raise awareness of this person.

·                     How could we ensure in future that CCTV covers all areas and was used in accordance with the Data Protection Act and other relevant legislation.

·                     Was the PowerPoint presentation on training for early years providers on the Safeguarding Children’s website.  (A response to this would be provided after the meeting.)

The Board welcomed the progress made to implement the actions arising from the Child Safeguarding Practice Review and were encouraged by the support and training which had been made available to early years’ providers to raise awareness and help prevent such incidents from happening again as well as the role of the LADO.

To receive an update on Exploitation to cover:

a.         reporting outcomes and challenges arising from the work of the Exploitation Team and multi-agency partnership; and

b.         hidden impacts of Covid-19 and what action has been taken to address this.

(Note: Katie Buckley, Exploitation Team Manager will be present for this item.)

The Exploitation Team Manager, Katie Buckley, provided an update on the progress made to address issues in connection with exploitation as set out in the submitted presentation.  Katie provided reassurance that some excellent work had been caried out across the partnership and she was working with peers across the Country to ensure that they provided key information and support in respect of vulnerable young people and those who had been involved in various aspects of exploitation.  The website at http://www.torbaysafeguarding.org.uk/ had been updated to provide clear messages to children, parents or carers and professionals around safeguarding and exploitation and the support available.

It was noted that many vulnerable young people were also living in poor family environments facing domestic abuse, or alcohol or substance misuse and partners were identifying parent’s vulnerability and also providing them with support.  Education of children experiencing exploitation was identified as a high area for risk due to children often facing multiple exclusions due to deregulating or not attending school, which was not the appropriate course of action for these young people and work was underway with primary and secondary schools to raise awareness of these individuals to try to reduce some of these exclusions. 

Inspector Ian Stevens provided an update on his role as part of the partnership dealing with exploitation in Torbay.

Katie responded to questions on the following:

·                     How have you been sharing good practice cross border.

·                     Was county lines the biggest problem or were other types of exploitation more of a concern e.g. sexual exploitation.

·                     How was antisocial behaviour addressed.

·                     What action was being taken to ensure that young people have a safe place to go and know where to find such places within their communities where they can see someone that they know and feel safe.

·                     What after care was put in place for those who had been exploited.

·                     What was MACE (Multi-Agency Child Exploitation Forum).

·                     What progress had been made to improve the records for missing children through Liquid Logic.

·                     How far can you go with criminal exploitation prevention as this is a huge area.

Members noted the progress made and requested regular updates on this important issue.

Resolved (unanimously):

That the Cabinet be recommended to support a review of the impact of the Safe Places project to develop and work with our partners and young people to identify safe places for young people to go to within their communities linked to the Family Hub and Spoke Model and learning from best practice from others.

To receive an update on the implementation of the actions of the Board and consider any further actions required (as set out in the submitted action tracker).

Members noted the submitted action tracker.