 This
CSCB newsletter sets out the priorities for the Board’s work. It then describes
some of the wide ranging work being done in the city that reflects those
priorities. Safeguarding involves much more than social workers protecting
children and young people who are already in difficulties. It is also about
prevention and there is a role for all of us in helping to stop bad things
happening to children and young people.
Specialist training, like that described below for taxi drivers can help
people to play a role. For professionals working with children, the Board
provides multi-agency training to make them better equipped to work
together. Sometimes prevention is about
making sure that young parents have the support they need to become really good
parents through innovative programmes like the wonderful iBumps run by the
University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire.
Janet Mokades
Independent Chair, Coventry Safeguarding Children Board
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The LSCB have reviewed their priorities. We put
the voice of children and young people at the heart of everything we do and use
our priorities to plan the work we undertake.
Our current priorities are:
- To listen to and learn from the voice of the child and young person
and to ensure that this learning shapes the way in which services safeguard
young people in Coventry
- To ensure that the learning from Serious Case Reviews is used to
improve outcomes for children and young people and that reviews are carried
out efficiently and to timetable effectively
- To evaluate the impact of Early Help arrangements on outcomes for
children
- To ensure that missing young people and those at risk of sexual
exploitation are protected by effective multi-agency arrangements
- To ensure that children and young people are protected from domestic violence by effective multi-agency arrangements.
Under the Licensing Act 2003 businesses are required to obtain a Premises Licence if they wish to sell alcohol, provide late night refreshment (hot food and drinks between 11pm and 5am) or provide regulated entertainment which includes facilities for dancing, live music or indoor sporting events. When making license applications businesses must state how they intend to ensure that the licensing objectives are upheld. The licensing objectives include:
- The prevention of crime and disorder
- The prevention of public nuisance
- The protection of public safety
- The protection of children from harm.
In March 2015 the Government issued revised guidance under Section 182 requiring businesses to have systems in place to protect children from exploitation in licensed premises.
The LSCB is one of the named ‘responsible authorities’ who have a duty for ensuring that the licensing objectives are upheld within the licensed process. The LSCB Licensing Officer may:
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Place conditions on new licence applications to protect children or reduce the risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE). For example, it was identified that a hotel was vulnerable to Child Sexual exploitation due to an entrance allowing unmonitored access to the hotel. The LSCB Licensing Officer agreed with the hotel that they would employ Security Industry Authority Door staff to monitor the entrance
- Ask for existing licences to be varied to include conditions to protect children or reduce the risk of CSE
- Gather evidence to call for/support a review where it is deemed that the Protection of Children objective is being undermined or where it is deemed that the premises is being used for CSE. This evidence will be presented to the Local Authority Licensing Committee who have the power to amend, suspend or remove the premises licence
If you are concerned that any licensed businesses in your area are selling alcohol to children, are turning a blind eye to adults buying alcohol on behalf of children, are unsafe for children to attend or are being used for the purpose of CSE please contact the LSCB Licensing Officer on 024 7683 1477 or safeguardingchildrenlicensing@coventry.gov.uk.
In May 2015 Coventry City Council sent out an invitation to all
Coventry taxi drivers inviting them to book onto Child Sexual Exploitation
awareness training. There was a large response to this invitation, with approximately
700 drivers booking on voluntarily at this stage, demonstrating how strongly
the City’s taxi drivers felt about protecting children.
One of the owners of a
taxi firm responded to this invitation by saying:
‘I was deeply shocked and
disturbed by the atrocities in Rotherham, so I think it is commendable that
Coventry City Council appears not to be shying away from educating people from
certain areas/ backgrounds/ professions and instead have decided to ensure
people are given the knowledge and tools to recognise exploitation and hence
feel accountable’.
A Cabinet Report was then submitted in July 2015 asking for
Child Sexual Exploitation awareness training to become mandatory for taxi
drivers. This was agreed and came into effect in September 2015 and since then
approximately 1000 drivers have attended the sessions. This equates to roughly
80% of the City’s taxi drivers. The remaining drivers will be trained during
the coming months as they will need to complete this training before they are
able to renew their licences.
The feedback from the sessions has been good, with a driver on a
recent course reporting how useful he found the session and how he believes it
will increase vigilance amongst taxi drivers to children being exploited across
the City.
A new webapp on FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) created by Coventry University has now gone live at: http://petals.coventry.ac.uk.
Local
Safeguarding Children Boards have a responsibility to ensure that single and
multi-agency safeguarding training is provided for people who work with
children or in services affecting the safety and welfare of children.
The
Safeguarding Boards also have a responsibility to monitor and evaluate the
effectiveness of this training.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare
of children is dependent on the effective joint working between agencies and
professionals that have different roles and expertise. Multi-agency training
can support this by bringing professionals together and building a shared
understanding of responsibilities and improving effective information sharing and
working relationships.
Coventry Safeguarding Children Board provides a comprehensive
multi-agency training programme with courses at different levels depending on
job role.
The programme is
supported by trainers from a range of agencies in Coventry plus external
specialist trainers.
Courses are selected each
term for evaluation around impact on practice and outcomes for children.
Participants complete an end of course evaluation form and also an evaluation
form three months after the training, asking if they have used the learning in their
work and whether they have any specific examples of how this has made a
difference to the outcomes for a child. Managers are also asked to comment on this.
The following are examples of how training has had a direct impact on outcomes for children, taken from the two latest courses to be evaluated:
Parental Mental Ill Health and Safeguarding Children
All those who responded after three months said that they had
used the course material and learning at work. Outcomes for children:
- A mother with mental health difficulties thought that she
was protecting her children from her behaviour but it was impacting on them.
The worker enabled her to recognise this so that she could address the concern
- A worker in a one to one role recognised a child
protection concern around parental mental health difficulties and informed her
supervisor
- A young person with risky behaviour was helped to see how
what she was doing was risky
Motivational Interviewing Skills (for working with
resistant families)
All those who responded after three months said that they had
used the course material and learning at work. Outcomes for children:
- Communication between the agency and mother improved
considerably and the mother became more involved with the agency as a whole
(which in turn had a positive effect for her child)
- Parents became more engaged in a whole range of areas
which they hadn’t previously (which again had positive effects for the
children)
- A student who hadn’t been attending school started to
attend
More information on the programme and how to book onto courses.
University
Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire’s (UHCW) recently launched ‘IBump’ programme
is providing early help and support to teenage mothers throughout pregnancy and
beyond.
The
programme gives young and vulnerable expectant mothers a dedicated specialist
midwife help and support them during their pregnancy, alongside links with
schools, careers advice to new mums through the ‘Right Step’ programme and
information on access to care grants.
IBump
has helped young mothers such as Sophie, who said how the support from the
specialist midwife took the fear factor out of her pregnancy and helped her to
prepare to be a good parent. Having one person that she knew and could contact
whenever she needed to was what made the difference for her.
Sophie felt that her midwife was more of a friend to her rather than a professional
who was in and out of her life, and encouraged the service to be publicised
more widely.
The
scheme offers different levels of support for mothers as appropriate. This includes
being able to reach the midwife via phone or text and the possibility to liaise
with other services city-wide. Support for second and third time mothers is
also available. IBump is currently funded for two years.
The
work of the scheme has been praised by John Forde, Public Health Consultant. He
highlighted the work of the midwifery staff and urged that the next phase of
the project focuses on post-natal care.
 We would like to let everybody know that we have a brand new website available at: www.coventry.gov.uk/lscb.
We also have a Twitter account if you would like to give us a follow for updates on board activities @coventrylscb.
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