Doncaster Safeguarding Children Board Annual Report 2016-17 John Woodhouse Independent Chair, DSCB

Role of DSCB Coordinate what is done by each person or body represented on the Board for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area of the authority; and Ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each such person or body for that purpose Scope of LSCBs includes ‘early help’ Focus on learning and improvement The inspection framework includes review of LSCBs by OFSTED, with grading

Annual Report Requirements Rigorous and transparent assessment of the performance and effectiveness of local services Identify areas of weakness, the causes of those weaknesses and the action being taken to address them Include lessons from serious case reviews, child death reviews and other relevant reviews Report on the outcome of assessments undertaken on the effectiveness of Board partners’ responses to CSE Include an analysis of how the LSCB partners have used their data to promote service improvement for vulnerable children and families Include data on children missing from care, and how the LSCB is addressing the issue. List the contributions made to DSCB by partner agencies and details of what DSCB has spent

Annual Report Format Main report – review of effectiveness of safeguarding Annex 1 – safeguarding through the lens of partners Annex 2 - Learning and Improvement Main report – covers the key safeguarding elements which Working Together says must be covered, and evaluates the effectiveness of safeguarding in Doncaster. It also includes and executive summary and an evaluation of impact against the Boards strategic priorities Annex 1 – all partners have provided an overview of the effectiveness and impact of safeguarding within their agency Annex 2 – Uses the Boards L&I Framework to highlights key sources of learning that the Board has used to improve safeguarding, including the use of effective challenge

Headlines from 2016 - 17 Context of increasing demand for safeguarding services both nationally and locally DSCB making progress against all its strategic priorities Wide range of Multi-agency training Feedback from children and young people Strong partnership working Numbers of referrals, children subject to CP plans, LAC have never been higher – within this context arrangements have continued to improve and it could be said are more effective given this pressures on services at this time. The Board is meeting its statutory requirements and has made progress against its strategic priorities with impact in many areas DSCB provides well-evaluated training with some evidence this is having an impact on practice eg embedding of SOS and early help and thresholds Feedback from young people included through direct representation to the Board, Democracy event, audits Partnership working evidenced through contribution to the DSCB and its activities, contribution to Annual report shows high commitment to safeguarding in Doncaster

Headlines from 2016 - 17 Early Help continues to improve Good progress in partnership work on CSE Positive impact of Growing Futures Development of the Neglect strategy Effective culture of challenge Performance reporting Signs of safety rolled out Improvement in services for looked after children

Areas for Development 2017-18 DSCB will: Establish formal mechanism to ensure voice of children and young people is heard Scrutinise and challenge partnership’s strategy for managing demand Evaluate the communications strategy Partnership will agree arrangements for implementation of Children and Social Work Act

Areas for Development 2017-18 DSCB will seek assurance on effectiveness of: MASH Quality of early help PVYP Neglect Strategy

DSCB Annual Report Annual report and its annexes are available on the DSCB website: Young Persons version is also available: