Agenda item

The Committee considered a report which highlighted what CYSUR has achieved in the past year and what the priorities are going forward for the regional board, including a review of the current arrangements. The report also considered trends and themes within Carmarthenshire. The Chair welcomed Liz Blazey, CYSUR Regional Board Manager, to the meeting.

The following issues were raised during consideration of the report:

Further information was requested regarding the Elected Member engagement process. The Head of Children’s Services advised that the nominated Lead Member for each Authority is circulated with the relevant CYSUR Executive Board agendas and also subsequently briefed by the Chair, who happens to be Jake Morgan, Director of Community Services in Carmarthenshire. Local Members received general safeguarding training and the Committee Members were also offered visits to frontline teams. He was happy to offer additional sessions on a more regular basis. In response to comments about the lack of Elected Member involvement in the CYSUR Executive Board and decision making process, he stated that there was no Elected Member representation on the CYSUR Executive Board. The Director added that the aim of CYSUR was to establish the best possible and most safeguarding systems across the region, professional practice rather than governance.

A question was asked about the financial arrangements for CYSUR. The Regional Board Manager clarified that a £100k budget had been agreed with contributions from each authority. This included business support and regionally commissioned training. The implementation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 might specify partner contributions going forward.

It was asked what advantages there were in working regionally this way. The Head of Children’s Services stated that most of the benefits were yet to be seen however partners such as Dyfed-Powys Police, Hywel Dda Health Board and Probation found it easier to communicate strategic issues at a regional level. The local Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) had created invaluable information sharing and the ability to react rapidly at the point of referral. A regional MASH could potentially be a more effective use of resources.

Clarification was asked for in relation to Looked After Children (LAC) placed by other authorities. The Head of Children’s Services advised that the Corporate Parenting and Safeguarding Panel monitored the numbers of LAC placed by other authorities and raised the risk issues with Welsh Government which had yet to respond.

It was asked why the numbers of children on the Child Protection Register (CPR) suffering emotional abuse and the numbers being re-registered were increasing. The Head of Children’s Services stated that children were registered for one over-riding issue however often suffered multiple issues. There were an increasing number of children experiencing domestic abuse which was an area of concern usually classed as Emotional Abuse; hence the rise as safeguarding training delivered to schools and other partner agencies had raised awareness. A key message was that mental health services for children and young people needed to be improved. The re-registering of children was an issue that needed to be looked at however, as stated in the report; there is a desire to only use the register as a short term measure. It was important to note that his teams continued to work with families when they came off the CPR and a Children in Need plan was always put in place.

A question was asked about the nature of Section 47 enquiries. The Head of Children’s Services confirmed that these were where a referral proceeds to a formal investigation, usually jointly with the Police, because of the likelihood of an offence committed against a child causing significant harm.

RESOLVED

5.1       Endorse the report

5.2       To request that the CYSUR Executive Board gives consideration to Elected Member representation on the Board.