Agenda item

(To receive a joint report from Chris Cook, Chair of Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) and Stacey Waller, LSCP Business Manager, which advises the Committee of the performance of the LSCP during 2019/20)

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Chris Cook, Independent Chair of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP), Stacey Waller, LSCP Business Manager and Joanne Davison from the Officer of the Police and Crime Commissioner who was attending on behalf of PCC Marc Jones and Fenella Chambers from the NHS Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

The Chairman advised the Committee that he would be allowing Joanne and Fenella to participate for this item and ask questions to Chris and Stacey.

The Chairman invited Chris and Stacey to present their report, and presentation which advised the Committee of the performance of the LSCP during 2019/20.

The Committee was advised of the role of the LSCP, its membership, assurance arrangements and its strategic priorities for 2018/21 and the progress made during 2019/20, which included some of the following: 

·       Tackling Child Exploitation - The Committee was advised of the progress made in tackling child exploitation, this included: that a multi-agency Child Exploitation audit had been undertaken which had led to a further review of Multi Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) arrangements; the introduction of a new screening tool for all practitioners; and partners, and the taxi CE e-learning module;

·       Enhancing the Emotional Wellbeing of Children and Young People - It was reported that there had been an embedding of Healthy Minds in Lincolnshire, there had been on-line safety campaigns; and support for Children's Mental Health training embedded in a six year pathway;

·       Promoting Healthy Relationships – It was noted by the Committee that a healthy relationships campaign had been run over the summer, which had been informed from the views of young people and there had been a review of training and resources for partners to support their direct work with children;

·       Working Together to reduce Risk Making Behaviours – The Committee was advised that there had been a Keeping Safe On-line survey; there had been promotion of contextual safeguarding practices including the supporting of a key pilot in Gainsborough; and work with the Stay Safe Partnership.  The Committee noted that the Junior Online Safety Officers scheme had been welcomed by schools and that virtual delivery was increasing, so far 109 children and 29 schools had been trained.  It was also noted that a further 36 schools had booked on to virtual sessions;

·       To identify and reduce the impact of neglect of children and young people – The Committee was advised that there had been the publication of a new chapter on Responding to abuse and neglect; and that a Neglect Strategy had been agreed; and

·       To identify and reduce the impact of Domestic Abuse on children, young people and families – The Committee was advised that a toolkit had been developed to support children and families where child to parent/carer abuse was evident; there had been partnership working with the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership in the development and delivering of Domestic Abuse training; and there had also been Operation Encompass, which involved notifications to schools.

Further information of LSCP activity for 2019/20 was shown on pages 21 to 24 of the report pack.

In conclusion, the Committee was advised that the new multi-agency safeguarding arrangements had further strengthened the Lincolnshire Partnership.  The partnership was assured that the requirements listed in the statutory guidance were being robustly met, which had served Lincolnshire well to manage the risks and issues presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Looking forward, the Committee was advised that the partnership would work to establish a needs analysis to further develop the problem profile for exploitation across Lincolnshire; ensure there was a re-run of the Keeping Safe Online survey; review the Business Plan and Priorities in light of Covid-19; completion of the Section 11 Audit; and to have a review of training facilitation.

The Chairman on behalf of the Committee extended his thanks for the presentation and invited members of the Committee to speak on the report.

During discussion, the following points were raised:

·       Whether there had been an increase in county lines during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The Committee was advised that there had not been a significant increase in county lines.  It was noted that Lincolnshire tended to be an importer rather than an exporter of exploitation.  The Committee noted further that the Stay Safe Partnership session with year 9 and 10 students covered the issue of county lines.  The Committee noted further that more would be done to develop a profile for exploitation across the county;

·       The impact of lockdown on the safety of children and young people.  Reassurance was given that there was no significant evidence to date that there had been any increase in incidents of hidden harm, nor had there been an increase in Domestic abuse.  Further reassurance was given that this was continually monitored;

·       Home Schooling – Assurance was given that there was a very robust structure in place to manage home schooling effectively;

·       Online Bullying – The Committee was advised that following a survey, bullying on-line was not as frequent as initially feared.  There was a realisation that it did happen; and to help children and young people with online issues, the Stay Safe Partnership visited schools to help support and educate pupils;

·       Extremism – The Committee noted that extremism in Lincolnshire was on the increase; and that assurance was sought from the Prevent Steering Group;

·       Whether Taxi Driver Safeguarding training was provided across Lincolnshire and included county lines.  It was highlighted that some district councils had more robust training plans in place than others, but it was understood that the training of taxi drivers was a countywide process.  Officers agreed to check and report back to the Committee;

·       Child Sexual Exploitation - Reassurance was given that this was an area looked at by the Child Exploitation Sub-Group and was being led by a Detective Superintendent from Lincolnshire Police to combat exploitation.  Further reassurance was given that the matter would be given further consideration through the review of the business plan and priorities, in light of Covid-19;

·       Work of the Education Sub Group - Reassurance was sought as to what measures were being taken regarding the 23% of schools who had not provided positive assurance regarding safeguarding standards.  The concern raised was taken on board and there was acknowledgement that there was still more to do, and that there were still challenges ahead;

·       Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) – It was reported that Lincolnshire had completed 28 death reviews between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 and had found that none of the deaths had been attributed to injury, neglect or abuse.  The most common cause of death was from an acute medical or surgical condition or chromosomal, genetic and congenital abnormalities.  It was highlighted that recommendations from the CDOP had resulted in the need to produce Safe Sleeping Guidance for Lincolnshire.  Confirmation was given that work would be done alongside third sector and other agencies, locally and nationally to maintain an education programme to highlight safe sleeping.  The Committee was also advised that all child deaths were  referred to the Child Death Overview Panel;

·       Serious Case Reviews - The Committee was reassured that learning identified from a serious case review was put into action straight away; and that any actions would then be monitored by the Serious Incident Review Group;

·       Audit recommendations from the Child Exploitation Audit.  Officers agreed to make this information available to members of the Committee; and

·       Whether more could be done to make parents more aware of the need for online safety.  The Committee was advised that this was an area of challenge, which the team had encountered difficulties with in the past; but one that would continue to be considered going forward.

The Committee extended their thanks to the presenters for attending the meeting and for their very interesting presentation.  It was suggested that going forward the Committee may wish to focus on a specific area, for example preventative work and how the LSCP worked with other agencies.  The Committee noted that a further update would be received at the March 2021 meeting.

RESOLVED

That the work of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership in promoting the safety and welfare of children across Lincolnshire be received.