Agenda item

To receive and note the annual report for 2015/16

(1)       Mark Janaway (Programme and Performance Manager) introduced the report and said it was a statutory requirement that the Kent Safeguarding Children Board (KSCB) reported its annual report to the Health and Wellbeing Board.  He also said:

·         The new independent Chair of the KSCB (Gill Rigg) had built on the previous year’s significant re-organisation of the Board and the increased contribution being made by the Board’s sub-groups was having a significant impact on  the conduct of the Board’s business;

·         One of the key challenges for the Board had been the continuing development of its response to Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE).  Work in this area included: the establishment of a multi-agency child sexual exploitation group; the establishment of a cohort of 100 multi-agency CSE Champions; and the development of training for taxi drivers and hoteliers in conjunction with district councils in support of Operation Willow;

·         A second challenge was to ensure that the voices of children and young people were captured and used to influence the priorities and activity of the Board and partner agencies. The Board has a standing item on its agenda to give young people the opportunity to give presentations to the Board and had provided the opportunity for significant challenge to the Board members from some young people who have experienced services as clients.  In addition young people had been directly involved in the KSCB annual conference 

·         The number of children with a Child Protection Plan in Kent had fallen from 1,240 in March 2015 to 1,049 in March 2016. The Board continued to monitor the position to ensure it was in line with its statistical neighbours and that all agencies had a common understanding of the thresholds for child protection intervention.

·         The number of Children in Care (excluding Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children) had fallen from 1,502 to 1,454 over the period being reviewed.  As of 31 March 2016 (excluding Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children) 1,283  Children in Care had been placed in Kent by other local authorities which was an increase of 72 on the previous year; 

·         At year end, 2014/15, there were 1,052 Children In Need (CIN) cases that had been open for 12 months or more compared with 992 in 2015-16, a reduction of 60 cases.  For CIN cases open for 6 months or more, the figures were 1,472 for 2015/16 against 1,633 for 2014/15, a decrease of 161;

·         The Kent Family Support Framework (KFSF) had been launched to ensure the highest quality service delivery and improved outcomes for children, young people and families who need Early Help.  The Early Help Triage team had received around 800 Early Help Notifications (EHNs) per month.  At 31 March 2016, there were 3,143 open cases of children and families being supported by Early Help Units.  The percentage of cases closed with a positive outcome had increased from 68.8% in March 2015 to 83.4% in March 2016.  The percentage of cases stepped up from Early Help to Specialist Children’s Services had reduced from 9.4% in March 2015 to 5.5% in March 2016. 

·      At 31 March 2016 there were 866 UASC Children in Care in Kent which was an increase of 498 from 368 at 31 March 2015;

·         KSCB was committed to publishing the findings from all serious case reviews.  One serious review had been commissioned in 2015-16 but had not yet been published because of continuing criminal proceedings; 

·         A number of multi-agency audits to understand what was happening in relation to protecting children in frontline settings were undertaken.  The follow up to the Section 11 audit on the “Voice of the Child” was also undertaken with statutory agencies providing evidence to the Board on progress against their action plans.  The outcomes of all audits were used to inform the KSCB training programme. 

(2)      Mr Janaway concluded by saying that the Board had continued with its scrutiny and challenge role through the development of a business group and that the stable membership of the Board’s groups had enabled them to be more focussed on key issues.

(3)      The involvement of young people in the work of the Board was welcomed.  Mr Ireland provided further information about unaccompanied asylum seeking children and children in care in Kent.  He said 1,300 children had been placed in Kent by other local authorities, despite representations to ministers.  Of 1,400 Kent children in care, only a very small number were placed outside the authority.  There were, however, in total more than 4,000 children in care resident in Kent which was the highest number for any English local authority.  Many of these placements were unplanned and, not only were there risks to the children being placed, there was pressure on services in some parts of the county.  He said conversations at ministerial level have moved from focusing on the numbers being placed in Kent to the risks to the children of being placed in some parts of Kent.

(4)      Mr Oakford said that he was due to meet the Minister of State for Children and Families in the next fortnight and had extended an invitation to that meeting to Kent Police.

(5)       Resolved that the Kent Safeguarding Children Board’s annual report for 2015/16 be noted