Cabinet Member: Cllr. Mair Rowlands
To
consider a report by the Cabinet Member Children and Young People on the above.
11.15 a.m. – 12.00
Minutes:
A report was submitted by the
Cabinet Member for Children and Young people outlining what had been achieved
by the Panel between April 2014 and March 2015, in addition to external
inspections received during the period and future proposals.
It was noted that the report
focused on the corporate arrangements of safeguarding rather than specific
cases in the field. It was stressed that
other statutory regional arrangements existed for children and vulnerable
adults. The above Panel sought to ensure
that the arrangements were robust and the real success was to prove that the
service made a difference to individuals.
Members were afforded an
opportunity to scrutinize the report and the Cabinet Member for Children and
Young People and the officers responded appropriately as follows:
(i)
In terms of how
many cases of whistleblowing there had been, the Corporate Director gave an
undertaking to send the figures to Scrutiny Committee Members.
(ii)
Councillor Annwen
Daniels had been appointed as champion for Children and Young People – Corporate
Parenting
(iii)
a promise was
given that the assessments of persons with disability when leaving College
would be discussed with a Member and would not be referred to day care service
(iv)
cyber-bullying
issues would be added to the relevant policies and an assurance was given that
this was not a huge problem in Gwynedd.
(v)
that schools were
key to safeguarding arrangements for children and young people and the
importance of communication was stressed.
It was confirmed that a high number of referrals were submitted from
schools and they received an invitation to a meeting that took place once a
referral had been received. It was
further recognised that schools were vital to contribute to the discussions Whilst accepting that school staff found it
difficult to attend meetings, it was assured that they received the written
reports and there was no concern regarding working together.
(vi)
In terms of how
children could gain confidence to whistle blow, it was explained that
whistleblowing and encouraging confidence were two different things. Only a few
children self-refer, referrals were submitted via other relevant agencies. In the context of pre-school arrangements, it
was noted that midwives were vitally important.
It was ensured that there were effective systems in Gwynedd and a good
relationship at grassroots level.
(vii)
That only a very
few referrals were received from parents regarding bullying and the process
they could follow was explained by telephoning Galw
Gwynedd, designated telephone numbers for the Team based in Pwllheli
and also a telephone number for outside working hours.
(viii)
Children spent a
great deal of their time in school and part of the Panel’s work was to ensure
that every Department, including elected Members played a role in the
arrangements.
(ix)
Regarding
inspecting how schools deal with bullying, it was explained that the Corporate
Director had met recently with the Head of Education and assurance was given
that arrangements were in place to:
·
Appoint a
safeguarding children officer
·
Look at the
policies and procedures including the bullying element
(x)
That every
governing body had a champion to deal with safeguarding children
(xi)
Teachers had a
responsibility to refer any known case of abuse at home and it was assured that
no concern had been highlighted to the Panel or by the Head of Education
regarding the capacity of schools to undertake this.
(xii)
Concerns were
noted regarding the CSSIW report on the private residential home at Plas y Bryn, Bontnewydd. It was explained that arrangements were in
place for inspectors to inspect residential care homes and discussions were
on-going to adopt the best arrangements but it was recognised that it was not
an easy field to resolve. A report would
be submitted to the next preparatory meeting of this Scrutiny Committee on 15
December regarding arrangements and specifically to discuss the implications
stemming from the CSSIW report on the specific home above.
(xiii)
An update was
expected on the arrangements and procedures to safeguard vulnerable adults as a
result of the recommendations of the Winterbourne Review and an assurance was
given that this information would be shared with Members.
(xiv)
Disappointment
was expressed that there was no reference in the work programme to individuals
with learning disabilities.
(xv)
Assurance was
given that a copy of the project report to ensure the whole Council’s ownership
of the safeguarding field would be given to Members.
(xvi)
It was confirmed
that there was a process in place to ensure DBS checks every 3 years and this
was monitored by the Corporate Support Department.
(xvii)
An assurance was
given that a meeting in Meirion/Dwyfor would be re-arranged with the parents of
young people with learning disabilities and an apology was given for cancelling
the meeting in May and there were various reasons for this.
Resolved:
(a) To accept and note the
contents of the report;
(b) To request that the relevant
officers submit further information on the following to the Scrutiny
Committee’s preparatory meeting on 15 December 2015:
Supporting documents: