Minute of Meeting Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee

Transcription

1 Minute of Meeting Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee Date Time Venue Wednesday, 20 May :30 CMR 2, Council Headquarters, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley, PA1 1AN PRESENT Councillor Maria Brown, Renfrewshire Council; Liz Daniels, Renfrewshire CHP; Dr Helen Gibson, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde; Dorothy Hawthorn, Head of Child Care & Criminal Justice; Councillor Jacqueline Henry, Renfrewshire Council; Lesley King, Locality Area Reporter; Andy Lawson, Police Scotland; Andrew Lowe, Independent Chair; Gordon McKinlay, Head of Service; Eileen MacLean, Head of Housing Services; Peter MacLeod, Director of Children s Services; Fiona McBride, Children 1st; David McLavin, Senior Communications Officer; Jim Melrose, Renfrewshire AST; Katrina Phillips, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership; and Oliver Reid Interim Head of Public Protection Community Resources. INDEPENDENT CHAIR A Lowe, Independent Chair, presided. IN ATTENDANCE Susan Bell, Education Manager (GIRFEC); Sharon Glasgow, Senior Officer (RCPC/GIRFEC); Helen Parker Lead Officer - RCPC; Paul Shiach, Committee Services Officer; and Fran Tran, Inter Agency Trainer. ALSO IN ATTENDANCE Pamela McKechan and Jennifer Douglas, Renfrewshire Reconnect.

2 APOLOGIES David Leese, Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership; Selwyn McCausland, Barnardos; Michelle McCargo, Principle Officer (Child Care) Social Work; John Trainer Project Manager (Achieving Step Change in Children s Outcomes); and Dr Aileen Van Der Lee, GP Representative. 1 MINUTE OF PREVIOUS MEETING There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee held on 25th March, DECIDED: That the Minute be approved. 2 RENFREWSHIRE RECONNECT There was submitted a presentation by Pamela McKechan and Jennifer Douglas relative to the work of Renfrewshire Reconnect and the Children Experiencing Domestic Abuse Recovery (CEDAR) Project. The presentation covered the aims of the project; outcomes; pathways; what CEDAR does; the client group; referral; barriers; evaluation and assessment. P McKechan and J Douglas were then heard in answer to questions from the Committee on various aspects the presentation. The Committee was advised that the Big Lottery Fund had requested that the project submit an application for funding and the Director of Children s Services requested that the Committee, through the Chair, submit a letter to the Big Lottery Fund endorsing the Project. This was agreed. DECIDED: (i) That the Committee approve the submission of the application for Big Lottery Funding by CEDAR Renfrewshire; and (ii) That the presentation be otherwise noted. 3(a) FATAL ACCIDENT INQUIRY UPDATE - RECOMMENDATION 1 - WORKFORCE PLANNING There was submitted a joint report by the Head of Child Care and Criminal Justice and the Head of Mental Health, Addiction and Children s Services, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership relative to recommendation 1 of the Declan Hainey Fatal Accident Inquiry. The report indicated that the FAI had recommended that Management must ensure that there is regular and ongoing assessment of the staffing levels necessary to

3 achieve at all times best practice in relation to the needs of the service which is provided The report updated members in relation to the progress made in implementing Recommendation 1 and advised that: Health and social work children s services had reviewed their oversight of staffing levels within teams in Renfrewshire; Social Work had, in 2011 redesigned children s services and had reviewed staffing structures as part of the Transforming Social Work Children s Services programme; and Social work had adopted (with minor adaptations for social work) the format of the risk management tool developed by Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership Children and Families service to further strengthen the monitoring of staffing levels and ensure that where any issues arose, effective action was taken. The Head of Child Care and Criminal Justice and the Head of Mental Health, Addiction and Children s Services, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership where then heard further in response to questions from the members of the Committee on the report. DECIDED: That the report be noted. 3(b) FATAL ACCIDENT INQUIRY UPDATE - RECOMMENDATIONS 2, 3 AND 4 There was submitted a report by the Independent Chair RCPC relative to recommendations 2,3 and 4 of the Fatal Accident Inquiry into the death of Declan Hainey. The report provided an update on progress in relation to the implementation of recommendations 2,3 and 4 of the FAI and advised that: Inter-agency work was ongoing to ensure that processes were robust; Processes were in place to ensure invitations to children s meetings were mandatory for General Practitioners; and Training needs were being analysed. The report detailed the work being undertaken in relation to recommendations 2, 3and 4 and contained in an appendix thereto, the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Child Protection Forum report, Supporting GPs in Child Protection Work. The Independent Chair, Director of Children s Services and the Head of Mental Health, Addiction and Children s Services, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership were then heard further in response to questions from members of the Committee on various aspects of the report and the FAI recommendations. DECIDED: That the report be noted. SEDERUNT Prior to the following item of business, the Interim Head of Public Protection left the meeting.

4 4 HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION The Head of Mental Health, Addiction and Children s Services, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership updated the Committee in relation to progress in terms of the Health & Social Care Partnership. She provided information in relation to staffing and strategic planning, and indicated that steps were being undertaken to ensure that connections were retained within the Health Care Partnership and Children s Services. DECIDED: That the information be noted. 5 CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE (SCOTLAND) ACT 2014: GETTING IT RIGHT FOR EVERY CHILD (GIRFEC) CONSULTATION RESPONSE MAY 2015 There was submitted a report by the Education Manager (GIRFEC) relative to the Children s Services Partnership response to the draft statutory guidance in parts 4 (Named Person), 5 (Child s Plan) and 18 (Wellbeing) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act The report indicated that the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 placed in statute the following key elements of GIRFEC: Every child and young person in Scotland to have access to a Named Person; A statutory Child s Plan should be prepared for every child or young person who required one as a result of their wellbeing needs; and A holistic explanation of wellbeing, which was set out in the Act. The report advised that the Scottish Government had consulted nationally on statutory guidance in relation to parts 4, 5 and 18 of the Act between 6 February and 1 May Renfrewshire Children s Services Partnership (RCSP) had invited comments from partners in relation to the statutory guidance. The response submitted was appended to the report. The report intimated that it was anticipated that the formal guidance would be published by the Scottish Government in August DECIDED: That the Renfrewshire Children s Services Partnership response to the draft statutory guidance to parts 4 (Named Person), 5 (Child s Plan) and 18 (Wellbeing) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, as detailed in the appendix to the report, be noted. 6(a) MISSING PERSONS STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT 2013/14 There was submitted a report by M Hamilton and J Clark, Analysis and Performance Unit (APU) Police Scotland relative to Police Scotland s Missing Persons Strategic Assessment 2013/14. The report provided details on the aim of the strategy; key points; methodology and data sources; definitions; background; National Missing Persons Unit; vulnerable

5 groups; incident analysis; long term missing persons; incidents given an initial service code Missing Person by division; incidents given a final service code Missing Person by division, temporal analysis, prevention and safeguarding; moving forward; recommendations and conclusions. DECIDED: That the report be noted. SEDERUNT Prior to the following item of business, the Head of Mental Health, Addiction and Childrenâ s Services, Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership left the meeting. 6(b) NATIONAL RISK & CONCERN PROJECT There was submitted a letter from the Chief Constable, Police Scotland relative to that organisations National Risk and Concern project. The letter indicated that protecting vulnerable children was a significant and expanding area of work for Police Scotland, reflective of the changing needs of communities. While this increased volume created challenges, opportunities also existed to more effectively identify, protect and support those in need. The letter indicated that there were a number of new pieces of legislation placing significant statutory responsibilities on the police and partners with regard to their contact, interaction and protection of vulnerable people. In particular, the introduction of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 places a number of statutory duties on the Chief Constable and partners. The letter provided details of the scoping phase; functionality and process; and engagement and communication relative to the National Risk and Concern project. DECIDED: That the information be noted. 6(c) NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATION UNIT - UPDATE There was submitted a letter from the Chief Constable, Police Scotland providing an update of the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit. The letter indicated that child abuse and neglect had received increasing levels of political and public interest and scrutiny, however much of this had been as a result of highly publicised failings in either single of multi-agency responses to child protection. The letter stated that new technologies had impacted significantly, affording new opportunities for perpetrators to target children, leading to increasingly complex investigations, requiring highly trained investigators with a range of specialist skills.. Furthermore there were a number of areas of child abuse that previously were unrecognised or under reported such as Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) or abuse within organisations, much of which was non-recent. The letter stressed the commitment of Police Scotland to tackle all forms of child abuse

6 collaboratively, within local circumstances and partnerships and advised that the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit (NCAIU) would add investigative value to local policing divisions which would retain responsibility for the delivery of child protection through devolved inter-agency arrangements within their geographical local authority boundaries. The letter added that to ensure equality of specialist support from the NCAIU to all local policing divisions, a national hub with several spokes across key locations across Scotland had been established, details of which were contained within the letter. DECIDED: That the information be noted. 7 RCPC TRAINING UPDATE 2015 There was submitted a report by the Chair of the RCPC Training Group providing details of training activity and of the planning activity undertaken by the RCPC Training Group. The report provided a brief outline of the multi agency training activity undertaken during 2014/15; factors which would have an influence on training activity during 2015/16 and beyond and of the decision to accordingly develop an interim training calendar for 2015/16; and the multi agency Training Needs Analysis (TNA). DECIDED: (i) That the headline training activity undertaken in 2014/15 be noted; (ii) That the current activity and future direction of the Training Sub-Group be noted; (iii) That the roll-out of the TNA in their respective agencies be supported; and (iv) That it be noted that the findings of the TNA would be presented to a future meeting of this Committee. 8 CONFERENCE PLANNING The Inter-Agency Training Adviser updated the Committee with regard to the annual Child Protection Conference to be held on 3rd September, She advised that the key note speakers, venue, workshops and catering had now been confirmed. DECIDED: That the information be noted. 9 PUBLIC AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES There was submitted a report by the Senior Communications Officer relative to the results of the child protection public awareness campaign undertaken between 19th January and 31st March, 2015and outlining proposals for future activity. The report advised that in comparison with the same period in 2014, the number of

7 Child Protection referrals rose by 450, which represented an increase of 26%, during the course of the campaign. The bulk of the increase was from concerns raised by the police however referrals from Education and members of the public also increased. The report indicated that the number of anonymous calls and calls from friends, relatives and others rose from 144 to 234, an increase of 62.5%. The report intimated that a further 15,000 was available for publicity purposes during 2015/16. The report provided details of activity to be undertaken during including zero cost activity; the Child Protection Conference; Child Safety week 1-7 June, 2015; and the public protection newsletter. The independent chair undertook to provide an item for the newsletter. This was agreed DECIDED: (i) That the proposed approach for the 2015/16 Child Protection public awareness content be approved; (ii) That the proposals for Child Safety Week be noted; and (iii) That the independent chair provide an item for the public protection newsletter. 10 ABOLITION OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND CHILD PEROTECTION REGISTERS There was submitted a report by the Head of Child Care and Criminal Justice advising of the closure of the West of Scotland Child Protection Register and outlining alternative arrangements in place in place in Renfrewshire in response to the closure. The report indicated following local government reorganisation in 1996 Social Work Standby Service (now known as Glasgow and Partners Emergency Social Work Service) maintained the West of Scotland Child Protection Register. The report advised that over the past few years a number of the new local authorities had withdrawn from the Standby Service and developed their own arrangements. AS a consequence the register being held no longer contained the details of all children on the child protection register in the former Strathclyde authority area. The report intimated that a decision had been made that the Standby Service would close the West of Scotland Child Protection Register on 20 April, The report stated that Renfrewshire Children s Services had reviewed local arrangements to ensure that partner agencies were able to find out whether a child for whom they had concerns was currently of had been on the child protection register in Renfrewshire. Details of the alternative arrangements developed in Renfrewshire were contained in an appendix to the report. DECIDED: (i) That the closure of the West of Scotland Child Protection Register be noted; (ii) That the arrangements for partner agencies to check the local child protection

8 register during office hours and out of office hours be noted; and (iii) That it be agreed that partner agencies circulate the report and appendix 1to their staff and operational units to ensure that practitioners were aware of the local arrangements. 11(a) PRACTICE IMPROVEMENT GROUP There was submitted the minute of the meeting of the Practice Improvement Group held on31st March, DECIDED: That the minute be noted. 11(b) TRAINING SUB-GROUP There was submitted the minute of the meeting of the RCPC Training Group held on 23rd April, DECIDED: That the minute be noted. 12 PROPOSED SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS There was submitted a report by the Director of Finance & Resources relative to proposed future meetings of the Committee. The report proposed the following dates until June 2016: 16th September, th October 2015; 2nd December 2015; 27th January 2016; 23rd March 2016; 18th May 2016, and 22nd June The Independent Chair suggested that the meeting proposed for 18 May be amended to 1st June, and that the meeting proposed for 22nd June be cancelled. This was agreed. DECIDED: That the following dates be approved for future meetings of the Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee: 16th September, 2015; 28th October 2015; 2nd December 2015; 27th January 2016; 23rd March 2016; and 1st June DATE OF NEXT MEETING

9 It was noted that the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee would take place on Wednesday 24th June, 2015 at a.m.