The Assistant Chief Executive has submitted a report on the progress made on the Oxford City Council’s Safeguarding Action Plan 2018/19.

Recommendations: That Cabinet resolves to:

1.    Note the key achievements of the Safeguarding work delivered through Oxford City Council  during 2018/19;

2.    Agree the Safeguarding Action Plan 2019/20 set out in Appendix 1; and

3.    Approve Oxford City Council’s safeguarding policy updated April 2019

The Assistant Chief Executive has submitted a report on the progress made on the Oxford City Council’s Safeguarding Action Plan 2018/19.

The Cabinet Member for Safer Communities & Customer Focused Services, Councillor Chapman introduced and moved the recommendations for the reasons set out in the report. Cabinet noted the ongoing good and innovative work to improve safeguarding.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.    Note the key achievements of the Safeguarding work delivered through Oxford City Council  during 2018/19;

2.    Agree the Safeguarding Action Plan 2019/20 set out in Appendix 1; and

3.    Approve Oxford City Council’s safeguarding policy updated April 2019.

At its meeting on 12 June 2019, the Cabinet will consider a report on the Safeguarding report and action plan. This item provides an opportunity for the Committee to comment on the report and make recommendations to the Cabinet it wishes.

The Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Customer Focused Services, Councillor Chapman, introduced the report, explaining that he had just taken on this portfolio responsibility a few days previously.

The Safeguarding Coordinator, Rosie Woolcott, gave the background to the report, noting that the City Council worked in partnership with the County Council, Thames Valley Police and the Clinical Commissioning Group to protect the safeguarding interests of children and adults in the region. The 2018 Audit of the Council’s safeguarding provision was very positive with all 10 aspects deemed to have achieved the highest rating.

The Committee recalled the outcome of its previous review on the safeguarding risks posed by the practice of some guest houses in the City. None of the recommendations of that review appeared to be reflected in this report. Given the significance of the issues raised by that review, it was agreed that the issue should be revisited.

Following the deaths of 5 individuals who were or had previously been through the Oxfordshire Homeless Pathway, there would be an investigative review into the systems in place to support those who are on the pathway but not engaging with services. However, given the very different circumstances of the 5 cases, it was unlikely that any key themes would emerge.

The introduction of “My Concern” throughout the Council had been a success and enabled a number of safeguarding concerns to be logged and responded to where appropriate.  This highlighted, among other things, a high incidence of mental health issues, including suicide threats.

Relevant council staff had been given training in how to respond appropriately and sensitively to residents who might, for example, express suicidal thoughts. It was important also to be aware that communications from the council could, unwittingly, be a source of great distress to vulnerable people and care needed to be taken to avoid that.

The Policy and Partnerships Team Manager was confident that there was good engagement with women who might be considered hard to reach   about safeguarding matters via, for example, the Refugee and Asylum Seekers Group and noted that the Council had commissioned professionals to work with refugee and asylum seeking children who had been traumatised as a result of their experiences.

The Chair noted that the previous year’s discussion had included a commitment to report back on the number of children who had received safeguarding training face to face. Officers agreed that this would be revisited.