Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Children and the Safeguarding Adults Partnerships.

The report presents the annual reports of the safeguarding partnerships and outlines the work of the partnerships and current trends in safeguarding.

The Board is requested to note the report.

Officer contact: Nuala O'Rourke by email: Nuala.orourke@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Children and the Safeguarding Adults Partnerships submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which presented the annual reports of the safeguarding partnerships and outlined the work of the partnerships and current trends in safeguarding.

The following comments were made/issues raised: -

·         Thanked colleagues for a comprehensive report outlining the key issues and progress of ongoing work.

·         Whether the children remanded in custody that became looked after children under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 were included in the looked after children figures.

·         In response, it was stated that there were children who were on court mandated care orders at home as a result of going to court for youth violence or crime which were included in the figures. However, children in remand were housed by the criminal justice system as opposed to the local authority.

·         It was queried how many unaccompanied asylum seekers were currently in the borough.

·         In response, it was commented that there was a commitment and obligation to take 0.07% of the population as unaccompanied asylum seekers which was approximately 38. The current figures of unaccompanied asylum seekers in Stockport were under 20. Whilst funding was provided, it did not cover the full cost of care including healthcare and education as if they came part way through the year they would not be on the school census.

·         It was noted that there was new accommodation in Stockport which offered 7 independent flats for care leavers and was accompanied by outreach support and the Board welcomed plans to offer further accommodation to open 20 more flats.

·         It was noted that 110 Safe accommodation referrals were made with 94 of the 110 being offered safe accommodation and it was queried what happened to the remaining 16 referrals.

·         In response, it was stated that the authority would on occasion use hotels for a temporary period of time until suitable accommodation could be provided. When people were looking for safe accommodation, they would be rehoused or moved into a refuge. It was recognised that there was a large pressure in refuge at the moment and limited void properties within Stockport homes with long waiting lists so it was difficult to find provided safe long term accommodation.

·         Recognised the value of the development day to embed safeguarding activity which was well attended and representative of all agencies across Stockport.

·         Congratulated the service for the number of attendees at the training and education courses. It was queried whether it was felt that holding these face to face would affect the volume of attendees on the courses.

·         In response it was commented that the service had experienced an increase in attendees when hosted virtually and did not want to lose the benefits of virtual working. As a result, the service had identified two types of training, transactional and relational training. It was felt that transactional training could be completed effectively online whilst relational training was suited to in person.

·         Thanked the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Children and the Safeguarding Adults Partnerships for her high support, high challenge role and contributions to safeguarding across Stockport.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Children and the Safeguarding Adults Partnerships.

The report presents the annual reports of the safeguarding partnerships and outlines the work of the partnerships and current trends in safeguarding.

The Board is requested to note the report.

Officer contact: Nuala O'Rourke, Nuala.orourke@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Children and the Safeguarding Adults Partnerships submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which presented the annual reports of the safeguarding partnerships and outlined the work of the partnerships and current trends in safeguarding.

The following comments were made/issues raised: -

·      Commented on the importance of the wider support from the partnerships to implement the changes.

·      Noted the impact of COVID-19 on the procedures in place for Looked After Children including court backlogs and commended staff for their work to adapt processes in light of these challenges.

·      In response to a question in relation to whether the council had consulted with voluntary sector colleagues to develop training opportunities, it was stated that the council were exploring future prospects and the Clinical Commissioning Group had held GP masterclasses as part of this piece of work.   

·      Requested that the bid for funding be shared with the Chair and other Members of the Board prior to submission for comment and support.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.