Agenda item

Draft Barnsley Local Safeguarding Children's Partnership Annual Report 2020-21

To consider a report of the Executive Director Core Services (Item 5a) and the Barnsley Local Safeguarding Children’s Partnership Annual Report 2020-21 (Item 5b)

 

Minutes:

The following witnesses were welcomed to the meeting:

 

Bob Dyson, Independent Chair, LSCP

Mel John-Ross, Executive Director, Children’s Services, BMBC

Pam Allen, Interim Service Director, Children’s Social Care & Safeguarding, BMBC

Cllr Sarah Tattersall, Cabinet Support Member – Children’s Services, BMBC

Chief Superintendent James Abdy, Barnsley District Commander, South Yorkshire Police (SYP)

Nikki Kelly, Named Nurse Safeguarding Children, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (BHNFT)

Angela Fawcett, Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children, Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

Emma Cox, Assistant Director of Nursing, Quality & Professions, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SWYPFT)

Diane Drury, Head of Safeguarding & Quality Assurance, Children’s Services, BMBC

 

Members were invited to consider a report of the Executive Director Core Services (Item 5a) and the Barnsley Local Safeguarding Children’s Partnership Annual Report 2020-21 (Item 5b). 

 

In the ensuing discussion, and in response to detailed questioning and challenge the following matters were highlighted:

 

Bullying is a constant theme within safeguarding and has far reaching impacts on children.  All schools are required to have an Anti-bullying strategy, which forms part of each school's annual self assessment.  Tackling bullying relies on initial reporting of concerns and schools need to recognise the impact of bullying on an individual and take action.  Schools are visited regularly and OFSTED inspect schools against their bullying procedure.  The SEND Youth Forum  and the Youth Councils were involved in refreshing the overall Strategy and included some very powerful case studies, with the voice of the child evident throughout.  These bodies also helped to develop the Anti-Bullying Commitment which all schools in the Barnsley Alliance have signed up to and is in evidence in all schools.  The SEND Youth Forum is being supported to produce a young people's peer challenge where they go in to schools and look for evidence of commitment. 

 

It was highlighted that bullying can lead on to tragedies such as the recent stabbing of a 15 year old boy in Monk Bretton, and needs to be tackled using a multi agency approach.  There is a definite crossover between safeguarding and the Community Safety Partnership.  Funding has been allocated by the Police to reduce knife crime etc., with a whole host of activities to address this.   Bullying and knife crime has to be considered against the backdrop of the online world, where online bullying can spill over into real life.  Prevalence of knives and gang activity is relatively low in Barnsley but nevertheless a significant piece of work is being done to address it, with Police Officers going in to schools to work with them and to offer support, as education is key to tackling this growing issue.

 

A discussion took place around ways to address the criminalisation of young people, particularly males, who engage in 'sexting' and sharing images on social media etc using mobile technology.  This type of behaviour can ruin future life chances and many young people aren't aware of the longer term implications.  All schools are involved in educating young people about the dangers of this type of behaviour.  A recent large scale operation involved the exploitation of children  by an offender in Wales, with a cluster of activity in Barnsley connected to Facebook.  It was pointed out that 'spent' convictions and cautions of young people will not reappear in later life, based on individual assessment.  The Police don't want to criminalise this type of behaviour when the issue is education.  Rather, there is a proportionate enquiry aimed at diverting individuals away from that behaviour through education.  Prosecution will be pursued only if it is in the public interest.  Education and diversion is a better option.  Barnsley is in the top quartile nationally for young people entering the youth justice system for the first time.  Partnership work is effective, with good outcomes evidenced.

 

Lots of work is done on child Neglect in Barnsley, which can present as a form of parental bullying and hidden harm.  Neglect continues to be most likely reason for a child to be taken into care. A Neglect Strategy and toolkit has been produced alongside the NSPCC.   It may be necessary to resurrect the Neglect sub-group, but this will need resourcing as responsibility for Neglect was shared amongst the other sub-groups in the Action Plan.  Early Help and Intervention to promote good parenting is important in tackling neglect, but parents have to accept help and parents need to be encouraged to use community support to help them.  Staff have to have the time to have difficult conversations and the time and skills to be curious and persistent, which has been difficult to achieve during the pandemic? 

 

The recent audit examined a wide range of issues.  Elective Home Education (EHE) is a particular area of concern as there has been a big increase during the pandemic, leading to potential safeguarding concerns as children are not seen in schools and may fall through the gap.  Work with the Barnsley Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Service (BSARCS) has been strengthened, as the audit found that Barnsley wasn't making best use of that organisation to ensure correct support for children needing wraparound care.  Our response to this has now been strengthened.  During the pandemic, the Board's training offer was increased, with almost twice as many people taking up the 'virtual' training offer.  Topics covered include safe sleeping and safety in the first year of life. 

 

Sexual abuse and harassment is a very emotive topic which when identified is taken very seriously.  This has evolved in recent times with the use of social media.  Education Improvement Officers ensure findings of the inspection report are cascaded and discussed with both primary and secondary headteachers.  There is also an audit tool to support schools to help them to review the robustness of their approach to this issue.  When OFSTED inspect schools this is a criteria which has to be evidenced.  Twilight training sessions and webinars are provided for head teachers and designated safeguarding leads.  An external trainer provides robust training covering policies, procedures and awareness raising. 

 

Availability of CAMHS for young people is a national problem, with long waiting times for treatment.    There is significant investment in the service alongside an action plan.  Schools can be a pathway into the acute service.  The Early Help offer is also in place and can be accessed before CAMHS.  CAMHS services worked differently during pandemic, both in terms of group and individual work, but never stopped and provided an emergency service at all times.  Where children and families did not have computer access, equipment was provided. Members were urged to feed in any concerns they may have so that they can be addressed.  Early Help offer in place before get to CAMHS.

 

It was reported that sadly 13 babies have died in 5 years in Barnsley, some of which may have been due to modifiable factors such as co-sleeping.  Child deaths are always investigated, with the aim of learning lessons and modifying practices.  Everyone has a responsibility to report concerns - for example, unsafe sleeping arrangements can be identified by agencies other than health such as a housing officer may see a child sleeping on a sofa, which will need addressing.  Training programmes are rolled out to different agencies to spread learning as widely as possible.  There are many training programmes, such as Managing Crying, Don't Shake the Baby and the ICON programme which gives parents strategies to deal with behaviours such as crying.  GPs, hospitals and community services all have procedures in place to alert when babies and young children are not being brought to appointments - they are not simply marked as 'did not attend' as there may be a safeguarding issue.

 

Early Help is a strong element of the partnership, with a review of the all age Early Help Strategy due to the pandemic.  There has been a lot of disruption and staff changes in some localities but the Early Help service is generally stable, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.  If Members are concerned about the Early Help service in their area they should flag concerns up with Children's Services, who are happy to investigate further. 

 

It was reported that court proceedings have been delayed during the pandemic, but the service is slowly getting back to normal.  This is a national issue which has had a significant impact on children.                   

  

RESOLVED that witnesses be thanked for their attendance and contribution and the report be noted.

 

 

Supporting documents:

 

A - Z Directory