Wirral Safeguarding Children Board Annual Report (14-15) and Business Plan (15-16) December 2015

1. The Wirral Safeguarding Children Board

Statutory Objectives and Functions of WSCB WSCB Annual Report 14-15 Section 14 of the Children Act 2004 sets out the objectives of LSCBs, which are: to coordinate what is done by each person or body represented on the Board for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area; and (b) to ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each such person or body for those purposes. The WSCB operates as an independent multi-agency body under the direction of an independent chair and is not subordinate to any other body.

Structure of WSCB and sub committees WSCB Annual Report 14-15 Wirral Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB) WSCB Executive Group Staying Safe Strategy Group Performance Child Death Overview Risk Management Governance Serious Case Review Domestic Abuse CAF/TAF Quality Assurance Prevent/ Channel Child Sexual Exploitation Policy, Practice and Procedure Learning and Development Wirral Children’s Trust Board Health and Wellbeing Board

Local Background and Safeguarding Context for 2014-15 WSCB Annual Report 14-15 Population of Wirral is 320,200 with 70,500 children and young people (0-18) 22% of Wirral children live near or below poverty line. Almost 100% of these live between Wallasey, Birkenhead and Rock Ferry 2014-15 has continued to be a time of austerity and significant public sector change. Key challenge for partnership is to prioritise reduced resources with a focus on the effectiveness of early help Action to combat child sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and neglect Multi-agency working with some of Wirral’s most troubled families through the IFIP programme has been successful

2. Progress against Priorities 2014-15 CSE Awareness Raising Day 18th March 2014

Progress against Priorities WSCB Annual Report 14-15 1. Domestic Abuse Joint children and adults multi-agency committee established Domestic abuse strategy developed and published New procedure and guidance documents for children and adults published including revised referral pathway Procedure includes tools to measure the impact of domestic abuse on children New domestic abuse training designed and delivered Operation Encompass launched across Merseyside Domestic abuse needs assessment undertaken Retained as a priority for 15-16

Progress against Priorities WSCB Annual Report 14-15 2. Child Sexual Exploitation Multi-agency Wirral practice guidance to support the pan Merseyside protocol developed and published. Launch supported by multi-agency briefings Launch of the www.listentomystory.co.uk campaign Campaign launch included focus groups, radio interviews, website, briefings, posters and leaflets etc. Chelsea’s Choice theatre production seen by 2,000 young people from 15 schools and over 450 professionals CSE strategic group issued 4 key challenge questions to partners 8 multi-agency training sessions delivered by Catch22 Two multi-agency workshops held to assess current response to CSE

Poster promoting the listentomystory campaign CSE poster developed by a Wirral young person who is looked after

Progress against Priorities WSCB Annual Report 14-15 3. Neglect Multi-agency neglect strategy published Neglect strategy 2 year delivery action plan published Review of neglect training and publication and delivery of revised training Re-presented Graded Care Profile tool published with Practice Guidance and a guide for families (following audit findings) Referral pathway for cases across the continuum of need published Plan to audit the effectiveness of the revised training and guidance in 15-16

Progress against Priorities WSCB Annual Report 14-15 4. Learning and Improvement Learning and Improvement framework (LIF) published including framework for reviewing cases below the SCR threshold Methodology published for WSCB reviews based on the SCIE Learning Together model – two Case Review committee members trained One Critical Incident Review undertaken and one learning review in progress. Two other cases to be reviewed in Autumn 2015 Four cases referred to the National Panel for SCR’s. National panel agreed with WSCB’s assessment of each National and local learning embedded in training and disseminated to partners New evaluation strategy for training includes how learning has improved outcomes

Progress against Priorities WSCB Annual Report 14-15 5. Effectiveness of Early Help CAF/TAF Quality Assurance Framework revised and published Establishment of a partnership Early Help strategic group led by Targeted Services Early development of a multi-agency Early Help strategy led by the strategic group Effectiveness of Early Help performance dataset developed and continuing to be refined Audit of CAF/TAF episodes evidenced effective working and good understanding of thresholds Early Help response for CSE and domestic abuse developed

Progress against Priorities WSCB Annual Report 14-15 6. Signs of Safety Specification written for the development of a new model for the conduct of child protection conferences and reviews based on the signs of safety and strengthening families models and focused on the lived experience of children and young people Professor Jan Horwath from Sheffield University commissioned to develop and introduce the ‘Wirral Model’ Multi-agency steering and operational groups established and trial area of Wallasey identified Implementation of the model scheduled to last 18 months beginning September 2015

Progress against Priorities WSCB Annual Report 14-15 7. Supporting Safeguarding Joint protocol between Children’s Trust, Health and Wellbeing board the WSCB and the SAPB published to ensure coordinated approach to strategies to safeguard children and young people Virtual College commissioned to provide an online Section 11/175 Audit solution WSCB sub committees, task and finish and project groups ensure good safeguarding practice is identified and promoted. Supported by audit activity Work begun to raise awareness of safeguarding issues with wider workforce and identified groups e.g. work with licensing authority and taxi drivers about CSE Use of Twitter and safeguarding updates to ensure wide dissemination of safeguarding messages CSE work developed with young people

3. WSCB Key Activities 2014-15 Multi-agency CSE Forum Nov 2014 – What are we going to do differently?

Key WSCB Annual Business WSCB Annual Report 14-15 Section 11/175 Duty on organisations to comply with annual safeguarding audit. 192 agencies participated in 14/15 (153 in 13/14, 117 in 11/12). Audits completed online Audits reveal safeguarding arrangements are compliant with expectations of the safeguarding board Learning from Case Reviews One completed Critical Incident Review. Learning about vulnerabilities of teenagers with MLD and need for robust assessment of connected carers Learning disseminated through training, briefings, posters, leaflets and Friday updates. Auditing 8 practice audits completed by WSCB

Key WSCB Annual Business WSCB Annual Report 14-15 Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) 11 Child deaths in Wirral. All reviewed Focus on safe sleep strategy following 5 deaths in Merseyside Safeguarding Training 25 courses (over 70) delivered to over 1000 professionals Many courses now with a joint child and adult focus e-learning being developed as a training solution Local Authority Designated Officer for Allegations (LADO) 229 allegations reported (179 in 13-14). Physical abuse (66%) and sexual abuse (18%) main categories LADO awareness raising undertaken

4. The WSCB Business Plan for 2015-16 CSE Poster Produced by a Wirral Young Person who is Looked After

WSCB Business Plan For 2015-16 Priority One Safeguarding is Everyone’s Responsibility WSCB holds agencies to account for safeguarding arrangements and promotion of safeguarding WSCB develops a model of young people’s involvement in the work of the Board and support for the 2015 Youth Voice Conference about being safe Review of multi-agency understanding of thresholds Diary of key safeguarding events dates publicised Launch of WSCB website Engagement with community groups

Child Sexual Exploitation Priority Two WSCB Business Plan 15-16 Child Sexual Exploitation Expansion of training through train the trainer Review of local and regional procedures including functioning of MACSE Development of detailed regional data set and profile Engagement of young people in the assessment of services and needs assessment to identify gaps in service Promotion of the listentomystory campaign including development of website Review of effectiveness of work to disrupt activity and successfully prosecute offenders Continued programme of auditing

Effectiveness of Early Help Priority Three WSCB Business Plan 15-16 Effectiveness of Early Help Review of thresholds and Guide to Integrated Working Review of the functioning of the ‘front door’ into children’s services Support for the publication and promotion of the multi-agency early help strategy Development of multi-agency early help performance dataset Introduction of CAF champions and support for agencies Audit of effectiveness of neglect strategy

Priority Four Domestic Abuse WSCB Business Plan 15-16 Domestic Abuse Publicise and test the implementation, usage and understanding of the children and adults procedures Publish the findings of the needs assessment to inform the commissioning and allocation of services Involve young people in the testing of the effectiveness of services Develop harmful practices guidance and training Evaluate Operation Encompass Review MAPPA and MARAC Develop domestic abuse performance dataset

Priority Five Radicalisation WSCB Business Plan 15-16 Radicalisation Deliver WRAP train the trainer sessions to build partnership knowledge and expertise and training capacity Establish the multi-agency channel panel Identify local intelligence, themes and trends Develop an awareness raising strategy with young people Support Youth Conference session on radicalisation and exploitation Develop and publish multi-agency guidance

End of Presentation Wirral Safeguarding Children Board Annual Report and Business Plan http://www.wirral.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/children/wirral-safeguarding-childrens-board/wirral-safeguarding-childrens Follow us on Twitter @wirrallscb