To consider a report from the Director of Early Help and Children’s Social Care.

The Corporate Director for Children’s Services introduced the report and informed the Committee that this was the first time an annual report had been produced on safeguarding. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services recognised that this was an issue for local and national services. She hoped that the report gives an indication of how seriously the Council takes safeguarding and informed the Committee that it was about being child and young person centric.

The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents began by picking out some of the highlights of the report and referenced the difference it made to young people. The highlights included a really strong staffing resource with good retention and a low rate of interim staff, which helped in providing young people with a stability around their workers, and feedback currently reflected this. The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents spoke of the high level of expertise within the team, who had a greater understanding of the young people and there needs.

The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents mentioned that a lot of work had gone into the development of the complex safeguarding partnership, with a highlight being the partnership working. The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents referred to the development of the SHINE panel and said that these improvements had enabled the safeguarding team to respond to any concerns from young people, often on the same day.

The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents referred to a case study in the report but said that improvements to multi-agency working prevents young people becoming criminalised when they are often a victim of exploitation.

The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents spoke of a further highlight being the wide range of audits material, which helped to understand gaps for young people and gaps within the service. They also receive performance data that helps the team to understand the patterns and themes that were affecting young people. The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents said that what was known from the data was the low re-referral rate within the service. This stood at just 11% which equates to three young people and had been taken as a measure of success of ongoing direct work with young people.

The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents provided final reflections. She mentioned that it was a female heavy workforce, despite lots of boys using the services. She informed the committee that a male social worker had been recruited. The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents noted the need to be mindful of urban street gang children who have often been victims but were also potential exploiters of other young people.

The final reflection from the Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents was that it had been noticed that it was quite difficult to get feedback from young people, with an ongoing drive to ask families and young people for their feedback, to see what the service does well and not so well.

The Chair thanked the Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents for the report.

Councillor Bennett asked if there was any evidence of familiar patterns, such as children within the same family. The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents responded that there was some evidence, but there were very few cases. Councillor Bennett followed up by asking if there was a bigger problem than what the Council was aware of. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services added that there was a model at Greater Manchester (GM) level, which tried to keep the number of young people working with a shine worker quite low. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services mentioned that they have grown the service as there was a belief that there was an unmet need. In response to Councillor Bennett’s first question, the Corporate Director for Children’s Services responded that there was a pattern on criminality being entrenched within families.

Councillor Butt referred to the report and data on age profiles. He highlighted that around 13/14 there was an increased number of children becoming criminalised and agreed that this was a very vulnerable age. Councillor Butt also mentioned that it increased significantly again at age 15/16, and then tapers off after this age. He asked if there were any lessons being learnt from this. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services responded that this was an area where national findings and research, as well as the dynamic nature of the harm and concerns was continually growing. She mentioned that the Council did have the benefit of the GM complex safeguarding hub, which had often been at the forefront of much of the work that had been done. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services also spoke of recent engagement with the Lads Like Us GM scheme, where young men who have come through exploitation, have started to follow a different path in life.

Councillor Procter referred to the most recent OFSTED Inspection and its positive report on child exploitation. She thanked officers that she was able to read this, and felt it highlighted the good work being done.

Councillor Parker also thanked the officers and that the report privileged the voices of survivors. The Councillor asked if SHINE services were working with the virtual school. The Corporate Director for Children’s Services replied that there was a dedicated SHINE worker in place where there was a belief that a child may be at risk of exploitation. The Head of Service – Vulnerable Adolescents added that there was a member of the virtual school that sat on the SHINE panel.

The Chair emphasised how proud she was of the report.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.