Agenda item

The last Ofsted Inspection had identified Section 11 auditing as a particular area for improvement. These audits were designed to ensure that all Council services understood their role in safeguarding, and were implementing policies to undertake this.

Senior Management meetings were discussing the matter regularly, with the Director of Children’s Services having ownership. Online training had been the major issue; however, reporting was proving difficult with individual line managers asked to implement robust monitoring. The integration of audits with the 5 Year Plan also demonstrated corporate commitment.

The Panel raised the following points in discussion:

·  The online training was at Level 1. Lists of staff who have not completed the course would be sent to managers at the end of April 2017.

·  The commitment of senior managers to the process was harder to measure, which placed its risk rating as ‘amber’.

·  The Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board was accountable to SBC’s Chief Executive. Quarterly monitoring of this was now underway, with the last meeting having been held in April 2017.

·  The development of a Children’s Early Help Commissioning Board had not been on track at the time the current Interim Director of Children’s Services took her position. This placed the risk at ‘amber’, but was now due to meet in the near future; all parties were confident this would be completed by the new deadline of July 2017.

·  Training for Councillors on safeguarding was available; however, this did not include the online course. The appraisal system should be used to measure the level of understanding possessed by the individual.

·  Frontline staff were supported by further training well beyond the online course aimed at all staff.

(At this point, Cllr Chohan entered the meeting).

Resolved:  That the online training on safeguarding children be extended to Councillors.