Safeguarding peer review 18 th – 22nd January 2010 Northumberland county council

The peer team David Taylor, Director of Children’s services, Somerset CC Cllr David Kirk, Lead Member for Children’s Services, Hampshire CC Helen Smith, Assistant Director, Child and Family support, Cumbria CC Sheila Hogarth, North Tyneside Primary Care Trust Audrey Williamson, Operational Director, Health and Community Directorate, Halton council Mary McVey, Improvement manager, IDeA Carmel Gallagher, Review Manager, IDeA

The Process Not an inspection – invited as “critical friends” Peer review based on the established benchmark Familiarised ourselves with the service and the council, based on the wider document review, questionnaire, case mapping and on-site interviews and focus groups Visit very well organised and we have been made welcome People have been very open and honest: what you hear is what we’ve been told and seen and cross referenced

Issues you asked us to explore The consistency of core group functioning Developing the governance arrangements between the FACT Board and NSCB Engagement of partners agencies and individual membership of NSCB

The benchmark – six key areas Legislation and policy Leadership, accountability and culture Capacity and Capability Effective practice Performance, evaluation and monitoring Local Safeguarding Children Boards and ‘working together’

Structure of presentation We will present our findings under the benchmark headings as follows: strengths  Areas for development

Legislation and Policy Strengths Risk management work is an exemplar of good practice Review of policy on ‘vulnerable babies’ as a result of SCR by Care Trust Managing allegations against staff – process is very strong However

Legislation and Policy Areas for development Prevention strategy is overly descriptive and not linked to CAF and thresholds Agencies are ambiguous about applying thresholds to assessment of need

Leadership, Accountability and Culture Strengths The service is self aware and open to feedback Committed political and managerial leadership Cross party political support Good management support to front line staff However

Leadership, Accountability and Culture Areas for development Some unresolved policy tensions between partner agencies Insufficient understanding of some members in respect of their corporate parenting/safeguarding roles Scrutiny needs to extend its challenge around Safeguarding

Capacity and Capability: Core Groups Strengths Core group process is effective Some good practice in core groups Areas for development  Attendance at core groups is variable  Sometimes undue pressure on social work staff

Capacity and Capability: Information Sharing and Training Strengths Some good multi- agency practice in relation to information sharing and integrated working Training is valued with positive feedback from all partners Areas for development  Some blocks between agencies on information sharing  Insufficient training capacity to meet perceived need

Effective Practice Strengths Evidence of learning from SCRs Staff are positive about the support and supervision they get from their managers Many examples of commissioning and delivering innovative practice – Fire Service and Berwick Project etc.

Effective Practice Areas for Development Some partners are perceived to be risk averse Inconsistent feedback to professionals who refer cases Potential for more effective working between Adult and Children’s services Perceived gap between FACT and Universal Services

Performance, Evaluation and Monitoring Strengths Robust monitoring of performance information Use of CAF is increasing and needs embedding Good evidence of participation of young people

Performance, Evaluation and Monitoring Areas for development  Some practitioners do not understand the relationship between CAF and other assessments  There may be a need for further rationalisation of referral points  Limited evidence of parental involvement in service development

LSCB and Working Together Strengths Strong commitment from partners with effective regular meetings FACT newsletter – good vehicle for communication Internal governance structures in NHS Trusts Effective Sub groups with evidence of good outcomes for children

LSCB and Working Together Areas for development Seen as ‘LA driven’ which may impede engagement No evidence of shared ownership or solutions to rising CP numbers Lack of visibility of schools Relationship and reporting mechanisms between the FACT and NSCB are not clear Some areas of the SCR could be improved Effective feedback from partner agencies within their organisations is variable

Suggested Way Forward Formalise and codify the relationship between FACT and NSCB NSCB should provide multi-disciplinary leadership owning and resolving pressures currently being experienced FACT should commission a strategic and integrated approach to prevention Develop a multi agency referral process that includes a more consistent application of thresholds

Suggested Way Forward NSCB ought to revisit the approach to training to ensure there is adequate capacity which is effectively targeted Review the operational arrangements for agreeing and undertaking SCRs Formalise commitment of all Agencies to core group participation with the endorsement of Board members Scrutiny and Member Development

Opportunity for questions and clarification

What next?  There is now a chance to reflect on our conclusions  We will produce a draft letter for the authority to comment on  The final version will be agreed and issued  The council needs to provide feedback to people who contributed to the review

Thank you