Wirral Safeguarding Children Board Statutory Responsibilities and Partner Induction David Robbins WSCB Manager https://www.wirralsafeguarding.co.uk/

The Wirral Safeguarding Children Board • Statutory basis of LSCB’s • Statutory responsibilities of LSCB’s • Organisational & Committee structure of the WSCB and resourcing • Key activities, priorities and Ofsted improvement • Responsibilities of WSCB members

1. Statutory basis of LSCB’s WSCB Annual Report www.wirralsafeguarding.co.uk

Statutory basis of LSCB’s 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. WSCB operates as an independent multi-agency body under the direction of an independent chair (Maggie Atkinson) and is not subordinate to any other body Effectiveness of LSCB’s tested by Ofsted

2. Statutory responsibilities of LSCB’s WSCB Threshold Document

Statutory responsibilities of LSCB’s The key functions of safeguarding boards are set out in the 2006 regulations: Developing multi-agency policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children (including policies and procedures relating to training, safer recruitment, managing allegations and private fostering) Communicating to persons and bodies in the area of the authority the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and raising awareness of safeguarding Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of what is done by partners to safeguard and promote the welfare of children Participate in the planning of services Undertake Serious Case Reviews and advise partners of lessons to be learned (learning and improvement framework)

3. Organisational & Committee Structure, and resourcing of the LSCB CSE Awareness Raising Day

Structure of WSCB and sub committees WSCB meets 6x a year. Committees vary from monthly, bi monthly or quarterly (approx 100 mtgs a year)

Resourcing of the WSCB Working Together 2015 states that all safeguarding board partner agencies have an obligation to provide LSCB’s with reliable resources, including finance Unhelpfully no national funding formula in place Staffing costs are highest cost for the WSCB (75%) Securing sustainable long term funding remains a challenge for the WSCB (and most LSCB’s)

Income and expenditure Staffing 190,035 Training 27,131 Serious Case Reviews Room Hire Included in training Operating Costs/ General expenses 34,994 Total 252,160 Income LA Children’s Services 123,100 CAFCASS 550 Merseyside Police 12,500 Health 31,800 Probation Service 16,100 Schools Budget 30,000 224,050 Income and expenditure

4. Key Activities, Priorities and Improvement CSE Poster Produced by a Wirral Young Person who is Looked After

Key WSCB Activities Section 11/175 Duty on organisations to comply with annual safeguarding audit. Over 200 agencies participated in 2017 (205 in 2016, 192 in 2015,). Audits completed online Audits reveal safeguarding arrangements on average are compliant with expectations of the safeguarding board Learning from Case Reviews Learning review undertaken on forced marriage case, critical incident undertaken on case with neglect and domestic abuse Learning disseminated through training, briefings, posters, leaflets, website and updates Annual Report Annual Report and Business Plan published October

Key WSCB Activities Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) Statutory Responsibility 31 Child deaths in Wirral. All reviewed and learning published Safer Sleep campaign including training and resources supported Policies and Procedures 80+ multi-agency policies and procedures Safeguarding Training 20 courses (over 70 sessions) delivered to over 1000 professionals Evaluation reports and 7 minute briefings published e-learning courses rolled out (virtual college)

Key WSCB Activities Auditing Practice audits completed by WSCB Audits include neglect, thresholds, parental mental health, quality of CP plans, CAF and TAF plans, CSE re-referrals Local Authority Designated Officer for Allegations (LADO) 281 allegations reported. Physical abuse (62%) and sexual abuse (18%) main categories LADO awareness raising undertaken, managing allegations training delivered, revised procedure, posters and leaflets CAF and TAF Quality Assurance QA group, monthly auditing, quarterly reports

Brief overview of LADO Role Signpost to guidance out to all schools and policy on WSCB website

Ofsted Review of the Effectiveness of the WSCB Ofsted inspected children’s services and reviewed the effectiveness of the WSCB in July 2016 Both children’s services and the WSCB were judged to be inadequate 19 recommendations for improvement were made to the LA and 7 were made for the WSCB. Including; Review of governance; independence, influence and challenge; sighted on needs of privately fostered children and those placed in Wirral; notifications of serious incidents; accurate performance information; review of auditing WSCB has developed an improvement plan and progress is reviewed at each WSCB meeting and through an improvement board and quarterly monitoring visits

WSCB Business Plan for 2016-18 Priority One – Children in need of help and protection are identified and responded to at the earliest opportunity by services effectively working together Implementation of the Supporting Families Enhancing Futures model of working with families Measurement of the impact of services Understanding and application of thresholds and use of assessment tools Data and auditing demonstrates how safe children and young people are Voice and feedback from young people and families assesses and informs the commissioning of services

Priority Two - Children are protected from sexual exploitation by a skilled workforce, and the wider community is equipped to understand and respond to concerns Children Services professionals and wider workforce have a good understanding of signs, symptoms and impact of CSE and are aware of when and how to report concerns Multi-agency lead officers identified in every partner agency, and the workforce is competent and confident to respond to CSE and agencies demonstrate effectiveness of response Children at risk of CSE are identified at the earliest opportunity and victims are supported for as long as is needed Perpetrators are identified, pursued and successfully prosecuted

Priority Three - Children and Young People who are Looked After, including those placed in Wirral by other Local Authorities are supported by agencies who effectively work together to keep them safe Establish a Care Home Governance group under the auspices of the safeguarding board Children and young people who are subject to Private Fostering arrangements and their families are well supported and safeguarded Children and young people placed in Wirral by other local authorities are aware of the ‘local offer’ and support is provided to make sure they are safeguarding Children and young people currently living in Wirral whilst their immigration or asylum status is determined have access to services and are safeguarded

Priority Four - Through its effective governance and relationships with influential forums and groups the Wirral Safeguarding Children Board ensures all partner agencies meet the needs of Children and Young people The WSCB develops clear improvement action plan which positively influences the governance and functioning of the safeguarding board The WSCB is prepared for the implementation of the forthcoming Children and Social Care Act The WSCB can demonstrate, through its work with other influential bodies a clear and smart approach to the commissioning of services The WSCB actively supports the Council led partnership 2020 vision and can evidence the positive impact on and improved outcomes for children and young people

Priority Five -The Wirral Safeguarding Children Board discharges all of its statutory duties and ensures the effectiveness of arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people The WSCB devises an improvement plan to address the 7 recommendations made in the Ofsted review of the effectiveness of the WSCB Work is completed through the Board and committees and other groups established to ensure actions derived from the recommendations are completed The improvement plan is reviewed and challenged at each full meeting of the WSCB and the multi-agency improvement board The WSCB demonstrates full progress against all the actions within 18 months

5. Responsibilities of WSCB Members WSCB multi-agency Neglect Strategy and multi-agency Domestic Abuse Strategy

Responsibilities of WSCB Members Job Role Purpose: To share responsibility with other members of the WSCB to work together as an inter-agency partnership to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people, in accordance with government legislation and guidance. Where members belong to a partner agency they should be able to: Speak for their organisation with authority Commit their organisation on policy and practice matters Hold their organisation to account.

Where members are representing educational establishments, independent health care organisations, voluntary, community or faith sector organisations, members should be able to: Communicate formally with other similar organisations about the work of the WSCB Champion safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people informally both in their own establishment and in their contact with other similar establishments or organisations

Objectives of WSCB Members To ensure there is an effective means of communication about the work of the WSCB within each agency To ensure that Wirral WSCB is adequately resourced To provide the WSCB with management information so that the WSCB can ensure the effectiveness of inter-agency safeguarding work To develop and evaluate the impact of inter-agency safeguarding procedures, practice guidance and protocols To develop and evaluate the impact of multi-agency training in safeguarding and child protection To contribute to the development of the work of the WSCB

The 16 responsibilities of individual WSCB members To be accountable to the Chair of Wirral WSCB in respect of the work of the Board - To ensure that agency contributions, both financial and ‘in kind’, are sufficient to enable the Board to function effectively To attend and contribute to all Board meetings To attend and contribute to all WSCB events, as requested - To co-ordinate the timely dissemination of information within own agency, and to consult agency staff on pertinent issues To represent own agency’s views with authority To promote good safeguarding practice within own agency and to monitor and evaluate their compliance with WSCB policies and procedures

To be aware of, and bring to the attention of the Board, any national or local developments or any changes to agency requirements which might impact on the delivery of services To prepare adequately for meetings, by reading minutes and associated papers and to contribute to debate and decisions To complete any actions within agreed timescales To accept shared responsibility for the development and satisfactory completion of the WSCB Annual Report and Business Plan, and for the development of policies and procedures both for the WSCB and own agency To attend at least one multi-agency training session every year

To participate in agreed frontline activity observations To ensure ‘home’ agency compliance with requests for information to support the Section 11 and Section 175 safeguarding audits To report to a senior accountable person within own organisation on the organisations performance in relation to WSCB activities To work with own agency to ensure that there is an appropriate response to requests for Case Review chronologies and information for multi-agency audits

Induction End of Presentation Wirral Safeguarding Children Board https://www.wirralsafeguarding.co.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/WirralSafeguardingChildrenBoard Follow us on Twitter @wirrallscb Follow us on Instagram @wirrallscb