Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendation.

Councillor Jones introduced the report which recognised that as young people grew and developed they were influenced by a whole range of environments and people outside of their family. For example in school or college, in the local community, in their peer groups or online.

Children and young people may encounter risk in any of these environments. Contextual safeguarding looked at how those risks could be best understood, and to engage with children and young people and help to keep them safe.

An operational forum had been developed that brought together professional

organisations to discuss concerns relating to extra familial harm (harm outside of

the family home) and to plan responses that reduced risk. The Contextual

Safeguarding Hub did not replace safeguarding of individual young people but

recognised the important role that communities and partner agencies had in

creating safe places and spaces for the children and young people.

The Senior Manager – Children and Workforce added that there were, however, opportunities to streamline and align approaches to individual and contextual safeguarding and this would form the second phase of work to develop the Councils approach to effective safeguarding.

RESOLVED:

That the ongoing development and co-ordinated approach to contextual safeguarding that maximises resources to enable a streamlined and effective approach to individual and contextual safeguarding be supported.