To consider the Torbay Safeguarding Children Partnership (TSCP) Annual Report.

(Note: the Chair of TSCP, Chief Supt Roy Linden has been invited to present this report.)

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services - Councillor Bye and Director of Children’s Services – Nancy Meehan outlined the submitted Torbay Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report for 2024/2025 which had also considered by the Health and Wellbeing Board, and responded to questions.  The Deputy Director of Safeguarding and Patient Safety, NHS Devon – Michele Thornberry also attended the meeting to respond to questions.

The key issues from the report included:

·                     The report was a statutory requirement and must be submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) by 30 September 2025;

·                     The format of the report would be changing to a standardised format from next year to support national AI analysis of safeguarding trends;

·                     each statutory partner (Police, Health and the Council) had contributed to the report;

·                     key developments included the implementation of the Families First programme, restructuring of internal teams, and a renewed focus on mental health; and

·                     Torbay remains an outlier in terms of children in need, which has implications for future service delivery and funding.

Members asked questions in relation to the following:

·                     Why were hospital admissions for tooth decay in 0–17 year olds in Torbay more than double the South West and England averages?  Was this primarily an NHS issue?

·                     Operation Compass had seen a rise in notifications.  Was there support in place for children in early years and primary schools?

·                     In the child protection plan data, one category was blank.  What does this represent? (A written response would be provided to clarify the blank category.)

·                     10% of strategy meetings were not quorate.  Was this affecting decision-making, and what was being done to improve it?

·                     What were the timescales for implementing the next steps, and how was capacity being managed?

·                     Education was not a statutory partner.  How were we ensuring their involvement in safeguarding?

·                     Was attendance at Core Group meetings monitored, and were social workers always present?

The following responses were received:

·                     There were multi-factorial causes of tooth decay in 0-17 year olds, this included issues with parental awareness around dental hygiene, and access to dental services in the South West was limited.  The NHS was prioritising children in care, with nurses supporting this vulnerable group.  The issue remains a high priority.

·                     Operation Compass was a national programme where police notifications were sent to schools.  In Torbay, the partnership extended this to early years settings and health visitors to ensure children under five were supported.  Weekly meetings were held to review cases and ensure trauma was addressed.

·                     Strategy meetings should include the three statutory partners.  While some meetings were not quorate, quality assurance and dip sampling were used to ensure decisions were sound.  The move to Family Protection Teams aims to improve quoracy as all Teams will include statutory representatives.

·                     Transformation of Families First had started and was due to be completed by the end of the financial year.  A plan had been submitted to the DfE, and key performance indicators (KPIs) were expected to be identified by the end of November 2025.  Capacity remains a challenge, especially with external pressures.

·                     Schools were invited to strategy meetings when relevant.  Efforts were underway to secure education representation on sub-groups.  A meeting with the DfE National Safeguarding Partner was scheduled for 3 November 2025 exploring this.

·                     There was no statutory requirement for quoracy in Core Groups.  Every child protection case must be led by a qualified social worker.  Dip sampling could be undertaken to review attendance.

Resolved (unanimously):

1.         that the Director of Children’s Services be requested to undertake a dip sampling of attendance at Core Group meetings to confirm that the correct people are attending to ensure that they are meeting the children’s needs and provide a written update to the Sub-Board; and

2.         that the Members of the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Board note and endorse the contents of the Torbay Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2024/25 as set out in Appendix 1 to the submitted report.