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Agenda item

Revised Safeguarding Policy

To consider the revised Safeguarding Policy and to recommend to the Executive Committee that the Policy is adopted.

Minutes:

84.1          Attention was drawn to the report of the Head of Community Services, circulated at Pages No. 25-36, which asked Members to consider the revised Safeguarding Policy and to recommend to the Executive Committee that it be adopted.

84.2          The Head of Community Services explained that the Council had a Safeguarding Policy which detailed issues regarding children and vulnerable adults and how to respond, report and work with other local authorities.  The original policy had been adopted in November 2016 and required periodical review to ensure it was fit for purpose.  There had been a few significant changes to the policy including the incorporation of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and there had been changes at county level which did not affect Tewkesbury Borough Council directly but needed to be acknowledged due to the changes to working together guidance – there had a been a big change in the way safeguarding, especially safeguarding children, was delivered countywide in that the statutory responsibility was now with Gloucestershire County Council, NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group and Gloucestershire Constabulary as opposed to the County Council being the sole accountable body.  One further change which did impact Tewkesbury Borough Council was in relation to the annual audit; previously, district and borough councils were required to complete a Section 11 audit to demonstrate compliance with safeguarding duties; however, this was not the best way to reflect the activities undertaken by those authorities.  As such, in future, each agency would provide an annual safeguarding report and the relevant Officer may be invited to an assurance panel to answer questions. 

84.3          A Member questioned what training was in place for staff and Members in relation to safeguarding.  The Head of Community Services advised that he was working with HR and Democratic Services on training for Members and that would be coming forward shortly; in future, Members would receive initial training on induction with periodic refresher training.  He provided assurance that the majority of staff and Members needed more of an awareness in terms of what to look out for and who to report it to as opposed to in-depth training.  The training was likely to be a seminar as feedback from the previous online Member training had been that it was too long and detailed.  He undertook to raise the subject of training at the next District Safeguarding Network meeting which was taking place within the next couple of months and he would then be able to confirm a date for the training.

84.4          A Member questioned who had made the changes to the policy and why they had not been highlighted as it was difficult to see what had been amended or updated.  The Head of Community Services confirmed that he had made the changes in consultation with the District Safeguarding Network and he undertook to ensure that he provided the current policy as well as the revised policy in future so that changes could be highlighted.  Another Member questioned how compliance was monitored to ensure that the Council was not putting people at risk and was advised that the Corporate Management Team considered safeguarding activities on a quarterly basis and he provided assurance that action would be taken if any issues were identified; he stressed that, due to the sensitive nature of the material being handled, it was important that none of this was done within the public domain.

84.5          A Member drew attention to Page No. 36, Paragraph 11.1 of the revised policy which related to volunteers and he queried whether they should be required to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check as children quite often helped with activities such as litter picking.  In response, the Head of Community Services explained that it was a question of assessing the risk of individuals being alone with children and vulnerable adults and having the opportunity to potentially cause harm – generally litter picking and other voluntary activities were carried out in the open, in full view of other people.  He was not aware of volunteers having undergone DBS checks elsewhere but undertook to look into this further.  Another Member drew attention to Paragraph 12.1 which referred to elected Members being fully trained and aware of their responsibilities and the correct procedures to follow with regard to safeguarding and he asked whether Members could volunteer for a DBS check to highlight any potential risks.  The Head of Democratic Services confirmed that, the level of risk had been carefully considered in relation to Members and, whilst Members were not DBS checked, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor were required to undergo a check given their exposure to children and vulnerable adults as a result of their civic duties.  Previous training had highlighted to Members that they should not put themselves in a position where they were alone with a child or vulnerable person and she was not aware that any other local authorities in Gloucestershire carried out DBS checks on their Members.  A Member questioned whether volunteers received any training when they enrolled with the Council and if this included safeguarding and the Head of Community Services undertook to find out and advise Members following the meeting.  A Member indicated that, in his opinion, the priority should be staff who carried out visits who would potentially be able to identify vulnerable children and adults, for instance, those who worked in housing, environmental health etc.  The Head of Community Services provided assurance that those staff received in-depth training.

84.6           In response to a query as to what lessons had been learnt from reviewing the policy, the Head of Community Services advised that the main change was introducing ACEs which was a very important element.  A Member drew attention to Page No. 33, Paragraph 6.2.2 of the report which stated that nearly half of all people in England experienced at least one ACE with around 9% experiencing four or more, and that people with six ACEs died on average 20 years younger than people with no ACEs and he questioned where these statistics were from and what the sample size had been.  The Chief Executive advised that the figures were from national research papers and were taken on board by Police and health partners when the ACEs project was established; this had led to a number of projects up and down the country to research and understand that people’s behaviour was often as a result of things which had happened in childhood.  The Member felt that the source of the statistics should have been noted in the report.  The Head of Community Services suggested that it may be beneficial to invite the lead Police Officer to give a Member seminar on ACEs and the Chair indicated that, whilst he would welcome a seminar, Gloucestershire County Council often ran similar events which were open to other local authorities which would avoid duplication. 

84.7           A Member drew attention to Page No. 35, Paragraph 8.1 of the report and indicated that bullet point 6 should be amended to read: “6. Regularly review Safeguarding referrals are regularly reviewed” and bullet point 7 should be amended to read: “7. Review This policy and procedure, associated documentation and training plans are reviewed to ensure that they are fit for purpose”.  It was subsequently

RESOLVED          That the revised Safeguarding Policy be NOTED and that it be RECOMMENDED TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE that the policy be APPROVED, subject to the following amendments:

-        Page No. 35, Paragraph 8.1, bullet point 6 to read: “6. Regularly review Safeguarding referrals are regularly reviewed”; and

-        Page No. 35, Paragraph 8.1, bullet point 7 to read: “7. Review This policy and procedure, associated documentation and training plans are reviewed to ensure that they are fit for purpose”.

Supporting documents: