The Assistant Chief Executive submitted a report to the City Executive Board on 20 June which reported on the progress made on the Oxford City Council’s Safeguarding Action Plan 2016/17.

The City Executive Board agreed the recommendations as set out in the report and in the minutes of the meeting attached later in this agenda.

There are no decisions for Council.

Councillor Tidball, Board Member for Young People, Schools and and Public Health, and Councillor Hayes, Board Member for Community Safety, will present the report.

Recommendations: Council is asked to note the report.

Councillors Abbasi and Mailk left the meeting for the duration of this item as the report made reference to one of their current or previous disclosable pecuniary interests. Councillor Altaf Khan did not have to leave as he did not have a current disclosable pecuniary interest to declare but chose to do so in response to a query from Cllr Hayes.

Councillors recorded their thanks to Val Johnson, Policy & Partnership Team Leader, for her hard work on this and on the many other projects over the years and wished her well in retirement.

Councillor Hayes, Board Member Community Safety, presented the report.

Council resolved to note the report.  

The Assistant Chief Executive has submitted a report which reports on the progress made on the Oxford City Council’s Safeguarding Action Plan 2016/17

Recommendations: That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.            Note the key achievements of the Safeguarding work delivered through Oxford City Council  during 2016/17

2.            Agree the Safeguarding Action Plan 2017/18 set out in Appendix 1

The Assistant Chief Executive submitted a report which reports on the progress made on the Oxford City Council’s Safeguarding Action Plan 2016/17.

Councillor Tom Hayes, Board Member for Community Safety presented the report and councillors discussed the key emerging challenges.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.    Note the key achievements of the Safeguarding work delivered through Oxford City Council during 2016/17;

2.    Agree the Safeguarding Action Plan 2017/18 set out in Appendix 1.

The Policy and Partnership Manger, the Safeguarding Co-ordinator, and the Board Member for Community Safety, Councillor Hayes, introduced the report and answered questions.

The Committee noted in answer to questions:

1.    The full Self-Assessment Audit had been completed and the full report was available. The action plan was not fixed for the year but would be updated as necessary.

2.    There had been a significant investment in safeguarding training.

3.    In state schools, teachers and other staff had detailed training and the schools completed a safeguarding audit. There were monitoring and reporting systems in place to report concerns, including absences, involving the home and then a multi-agency panel and the police. The communities team worked directly with schools on some issues.

4.    Independent schools were not subject to the same requirements as state schools and did not participate in the same reporting or monitoring regime. There was no mechanism by which local authorities could oblige them to do so.

5.    Licensing authorities across the county now contributed to monitoring, information sharing and joint working on taxi licensing, and with other councils through shared service arrangements.

6.    Targeted mental capacity training had been offered to nearly 130 key staff.

7.    Information sharing across IT systems was complicated: the proposed corporate system would help but may not interface well with existing systems.

8.    Training in safeguarding for the voluntary sector (such as community associations and parish councils) could be provided through the safeguarding boards rather than this council, although there may be a cost for this. The council had offered awareness training to its own volunteers.

9.    It was currently too early to assess the full effectiveness of the training.

10. The team were working on how to ensure adults and mental health referrals were always adequately followed through.

11. The team were working with county council and community centre colleagues to ensure that the most effective service possible was offered within the resources available and without duplication. Staff were aware of the impacts of cuts to services.

The Committee asked for:

·         the next report to set out how far the councils’ ability to intervene where issues and concerns were identified has been compromised by the changes to the supporting and surrounding service provision, and on the risks that raised.

·         as well as the annual report, any key issues that arise should be put before the committee mid-year

·         the action plan to be clear and readable for a wide audience.

The Committee thanked the Policy and Partnerships Manager for her work on this.

The Committee made no recommendations to the City Executive Board.