Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee accepts the report as relevant information in relation to Flintshire Safeguarding for the period 1^st April 2021 to 31^st March 2022 and the additional information;

(b)       That the Committee takes due regard to the variety of activity across the Safeguarding Unit and the continuing development and improvement in the service provision; and

(c)        That the Committee is satisfied that the Safeguarding Process for Adults and Children in Flintshire is robust.

The Senior Manager - Safeguarding and Commissioning introduced the Adult Safeguarding Manager and one of the Child Protection Conference Chairs who was there to answer any questions from Members, due to the absence of the Safeguarding Unit Manager who wrote the report.  She explained that the purpose of the Annual Report was to inform Members of the work that had been done, the work that would be done and to consider key statistical and performance related information about children and adults at risk for whom the Authority had significant safeguarding and corporate safeguarding responsibilities.  Also to consider the impact of the All Wales Safeguarding procedures that were launched back in 2019.

                      Councillor Ellis questioned if the Safeguarding Board included Health which the Senior Manager - Safeguarding and Commissioning confirmed that they were a key partner at the Safeguarding Board as well as all of the sub-groups that sat beneath.  The Adult Safeguarding Manager added that there were two Safeguarding Specialists based in Wrexham Maelor Hospital with whom they were in regular contact.  She also advised of good links with the Countess of Chester which could be difficult cross border with the different legislation.

                      The Senior Manager - Safeguarding and Commission confirmed that there were 191 Children on the Child Protection Register in response to Councillor Ellis.

                      Councillor Mackie was concerned about children leaving care because of their age and thought that they should be looked after beyond the age of 18.  The Senior Manager (Children and Workforce) explained that there were different categories of care leavers but if a child had been looked after for more than 13 weeks, the responsibility did not end at the age of 18 as there was an additional responsibility to support them up to the age of 25.  He explained that the ‘When I’m Ready’ initiative was when children who turned 18 were given the opportunity to stay in the foster care environment if they wished.  He added that the policy was in the process of being updated based on what has been learned and feedback that has been received since it was introduced a few years ago.

                      The Chair further questioned what guidance was given in respect of the lump sum of money they were given by Welsh Government.  The Senior Manager (Children and Workforce) advised that the Basic Income Pilot (BIP) was a Welsh Government two year pilot where care leavers received a guaranteed monthly income.  He confirmed that locally they were working with CAB who gave financial support to young people to use the money responsibly.  Welsh Government were also undertaking an evaluation and had sent out questionnaires to our Looked After Children who were in receipt of BIP so that they could understand the impact it had.   Councillors and Corporate parents were also involved in the evaluation in order to get their perspective. The Senior Manager - Children and Workforce advised that when received, the results would be reported back through the Children’s Services Forum to get opinions from young people to see how it had worked, what had been learned, what the benefits were and what were the challenges. He added that whilst BIP was a two year pilot scheme, there would need to be an exit strategy as there could be significant implications, as some care leavers had become reliant on it.

                      Councillor Gladys Healey queried where Dementia sat under as she did not think it should come under Mental Health.  The Senior Manager - Safeguarding and Commissioning advised that collectively they had a huge part in Dementia along with the Health Board.  In addition, there was the North Wales Dementia Strategy across the six local authorities and locally within the Regional Strategy was the Flintshire Strategy which dealt with a lot of issues that were raised.  A lot of the work was around awareness of professional colleagues and networks. The work of the Alzheimer’s Society and Dementia Champions helped us to understand what Dementia is at all stages but particularly in the early stages when it was not diagnosed and people were living with it.

                      The Senior Manager - Safeguarding and Commissioning explained that the Adult Protection Reviews and Child Protection Reviews principles were both the same, in response to the Chair.  Key learning issues from one particular practice review was who held the case in the safeguarding world when it was multi-disciplined i.e. person moving from a care home to care home or home to a care home, as people transitioned a lot; the reviews were about learning and not blaming.

The Senior Manager (Children and Workforce) added that within the last two years, there had been two Child Practice Reviews of which one had just been concluded and the report was with Welsh Government.  He explained that the outcome was expected to be published in mid-February.  He explained that the event happened a couple of years ago which had enabled them to have learning events to look at themselves and see how they worked with others.  The second review was still live and was due for its third review meeting at the end of January.  He pointed out that lessons learned reoccurred at all levels within Children’s reviews and emphasised the need to understand their daily lives and experiences in the home as well as looking into the history of the referrals to get the whole picture, to enable a multi-agency understanding for assessment and support.  Communication between all agencies was key.

The Chair questioned how often children on the Child Protection Register for over 12 months were visited.   The Protection Conference Chair responded by saying that the All Wales Child Protection Procedures dictated the involvement with families and the guidelines stated that visits to any child on the Child Protection Register should be every 10 working days but that Social Workers met up with them more frequently depending on the individual cases as they were rated red/amber/green.   Visits could be announced or unannounced and could take place at home, at school or on their own on a one-to-one basis.

The recommendations in the report were moved by Councillor Gladys Healey and seconded by Councillor Mackie.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee accepts the report as relevant information in relation to Flintshire Safeguarding for the period 1^st April 2021 to 31^st March 2022 and the additional information;

(b)       That the Committee takes due regard to the variety of activity across the Safeguarding Unit and the continuing development and improvement in the service provision; and

(c)        That the Committee is satisfied that the Safeguarding Process for Adults and Children in Flintshire is robust.