Agenda item

For the reasons set out in the report,

Cabinet:

(i)              Approved the principles and approach to the new safeguarding arrangements and child death reviews as set out in this report

(ii)             Agreed to delegate to the Director of Children’s Services, after consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education, Children & Families, the responsibility for finalising the plan for the new arrangements by 29^th June 2019.

(iii)            Approved the arrangements for Independent Scrutiny set out at 3.1 of the report.

Cllr Robert Benham presented the report to Cabinet for consideration.

The report details proposals to form a new Local Safeguarding Partnership and approval was sought to publish these plans ahead of the implementation in the autumn.

The Children & Social Work Act of 2017 and the Working Together Guidance of 2018 required Local Authorities to move away from the existing Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards, and adopt a new approach to partnership working. Each Local Authority is required to publish the plans by the end of June 2019, and implement the new arrangements by the end of September 2019.

The new guidance provides much greater freedom for local areas to manage the way they approach the Safeguarding Partnership – there is no specific requirement to hold a ‘board’ meeting, and there is more flexibility to organise arrangements to fit with local priorities and objectives. The three statutory partners are the Local Authority, the Police and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Havering has taken the opportunity to re-think the approach to partnership working, retaining a local focus, whilst recognising the importance of working closely with our neighbouring boroughs – Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge.

This makes sense, as all partners share the footprint of the Metropolitan Police East Command Unit, and also the Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge CCG.

Partners are also tackling some common risks in relation to children and young people, such as adolescent safeguarding and child neglect, which affects children and families across all three local areas and makes sense to develop a joined-up approach.

The aim is to publish a common approach to these safeguarding arrangements, with a strategic alignment, although this arrangement will still allow for local variation. This arrangement is designed to ensure that all agencies collaborate across shared priorities, aligning processes and workforce development in an innovative response to the new guidance.

This approach will be cost-neutral in the first year of implementation, with the potential to achieve efficiencies through rationalising resources as the partnership matures.

It is proposed that a small, senior group of the statutory Safeguarding Partners will form the Safeguarding Leadership Group and develop cross borough approaches where appropriate, whilst ensuring there is a robust focus on local safeguarding priorities. This group will provide challenge, oversight and guidance and ensure there is adequate independent scrutiny.

Each local authority area will convene a Safeguarding Partnership Group. This group will provide oversight and challenge to the local safeguarding system and ensure that local priorities receive an effective response.

The Havering Safeguarding Partnership Group (HSPG), will be chaired by the Director of Children’s Services, and provide the overall strategic direction and governance for the safeguarding partnership within Havering.

There will be an annual work programme to identify key priorities for the local partnership. Four local thematic groups will oversee the key priority areas: Adolescent Safeguarding; Quality and Effectiveness; Schools and Learners; and a Case Review Group. The HSPG will also develop Task and Finish Groups as required to examine areas of particular concern.

There is a requirement under the new guidance to ensure that a mechanism for independent scrutiny of these Safeguarding Partnership Arrangements is in place. Havering will ensure that there is Independent Scrutiny of these partnership arrangements through the commissioning of an independent person.

The Scrutiny role will review the performance, challenge and work-plan of the partnership, and undertake dialogue with stakeholders, particularly children, young people and their families.

A key advantage of seeking to collaborate across the three boroughs is the opportunity to test new and improved ways of working. A number of functions have been identified that could be more efficiently provided across the whole area.

Over the first nine months of the new partnership, the three Local Authorities, the Police and the CCG will collaborate on developing alignment of processes in areas including audit and learning reviews, monitoring of performance data, and training.

A response has been constructed to the Child Death Overview Panel and, duties across our three areas.  It is the intension to extend and expand that approach as far as possible.

The first year of this partnership will be treated as a ‘shadow-year’ where the new approach can be tested. As such, we will be commissioning a report from the Independent scrutineer to review the effectiveness of the new arrangements, and provide recommendations for improvement. These recommendations will be presented to Cabinet for consideration in the autumn of 2020.

Cllr Benham commended the recommendations in the report to Cabinet.

Following discussion and for the reasons set out in the report,

Cabinet:

(i)              Approved the principles and approach to the new safeguarding arrangements and child death reviews as set out in this report

(ii)             Agreed to delegate to the Director of Children’s Services, after consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education, Children & Families, the responsibility for finalising the plan for the new arrangements by 29^th June 2019.

(iii)            Approved the arrangements for Independent Scrutiny set out at 3.1 of the report.