Impact of budget cuts on Safeguarding Satinder Gautam Director, Safeguarding

Areas addressed Impact of budget cuts on Safeguarding Future projections of demand on service Strategies developed to address high referral rates and impact of budget cuts The role Scrutiny could play in assessing quality of the service to tackle inconsistency Welfare Reform 17 February - 43 recommendations

3 National Picture Disabled Children - £9 billion of cuts by 2015 Cuts to child care for parents of disabled children Cuts to child credits, child benefit and housing benefit Education Maintenance Allowance cut Supporting People Grant cuts Overall Impact: Every family with a disabled child will be £3K worse off Cuts to childcare may force parents to give up work Cuts to benefits will increase household poverty and increase risk of vulnerable children achieving poor outcomes Poor educational outcomes for children from low income families ( Source: Destination unknown- Demos Think Tank- November 2010 )

Biggest impact Families with new babies – From April 2011 Loss of child trust funds Health in Pregnancy Grant removed Baby element of child tax credits removed Restrictions on the Surestart Maternity Grant 3 year freeze on child benefits A baby born to a low income family from April 2011 will be around 1,500 worse off compared to a sibling born in April 2010 (Source: Destination unknown- Demos Think Tank- November 2010)

Biggest impact Increase in working hours: Couples with children to work at least 24 hours a week ESA withdrawn after 1 year A couple with children, one working 20 hours on Minimum wage and the other on Employment and Support allowance, could lose £ per week Large families on low income: Cap on total household benefits (April 2013) VAT rise, rise in mortgage payments, fuel, food, energy and clothing bills An unemployed, able bodied family with 6 children will not receive any help with rent or council tax

Nottingham Context – what we know children receive free school meals (29% of 60k) 13 th most deprived LA area as assessed by Index of Multiple Deprivation with 64% of children classed as living in poverty Referrals higher than statistical neighbours Between 7000 and children currently living within DV environments (British Crime Statistics) Between children that are part of high risk families are being considered at MARAC 424 Children on CP Plans 508 Children in Care 1524 Children in need (396 CWD Team) 96 qualified frontline social workers supporting a total of 2456 children/families

Nottingham Context – Key cuts relating to safeguarding activity Crime and Drugs Partnership, made up from Home office, mainstream, Reward Target, ABG and WNF Funding being cut Supporting People Grant cut and ‘rolled up’ into Early Intervention Children’s empowerment Contract will end (Domestic violence (DV), Substance misusing families and Young Carers)

Referrals to Social Care & Future Projections

Referrals Where Domestic Violence (DV) Has Been Recorded Between January 2010 and January 2011 PeriodTotal ReferralsReferrals involving DV Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan * Domestic violence taken from trilogy of concern within referral assessment. Trilogy of concern only fully implemented in June 2010.

Classifications of CP Plans AbuseTotal Emotional abuse44 Emotional/Physical abuse78 Emotional/Sexual abuse14 Neglect138 Neglect/Emotional abuse31 Neglect/Emotional/Sexual abuse9 Neglect/Physical abuse9 Neglect/Sexual abuse19 Not Recorded5 Physical injury36 Physical/Emotional/Neglect15 Physical/Emotional/Sexual abuse2 Physical/Sexual abuse8 Sexual abuse16 Grand Total424

Value of Early Intervention For every £1 spent on early intervention services in the voluntary sector, the cost for the same service in public sector will be £6 (National Calculator on Deprivation, Dartington ‘I’ research and Research In Practice)

Nottingham Context – impact of budget cuts Increased referral rates to Social Care for family support Increased referral rates for children with disabilities More children at risk of neglect/safeguarding due to increased poverty and reduction of support services Increase in children coming into care of LA Poor outcomes for vulnerable children Increase in DV referrals due to increased family pressures

Strategies to limit impact of budget cuts Citywide Screening service with partners Partnership Board – agreed for CAF compliance Continuing Support Panel for CAF/Screening Housing Protocol established – SW in team DV referrals – SW/Police work Locality Access Points established at Children’s Centres Family Community Team redesign Pilot of first contact in Clifton Targeted Support Team – edge of care work Robust Pathway planning process for care leavers CP/CIC plans driven jointly with partners

Possible future role of Scrutiny in Assessing Quality of Outcomes Focus on early intervention (causes not problems) QA Framework for family support CAF/FIP/Children’s Centres Assess data quality around poverty trends – Section 17 payments to families, referrals to Social Care and Children's Centres, increase in numbers of CP Plans relating to neglect and emotional abuse, NEET Measure cost, impact and outcomes of services