Agenda item

            The Members of the Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0     Purpose of Report

 

1.1            The purpose of this report is to present to Members the draft Safeguarding (All ages) Policy and to inform them of the proposed timetable for public consultation.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Members of the Committee are asked to recommend that, in accordance with the Council decision of 4th May, the Chief Executive exercise her delegated authority to:

 

                                          i.        approve the draft Safeguarding (All Ages) Policy, which complies with the most recent developments in safeguarding. The Committee should note that the draft policy has been shared for comment across a range of frontline services including AGRS, Legal Services and corporate HR; and

 

                                        ii.        endorse the public consultation timeframe for the draft policy document from November 2021.

 

3.0       Main Report

 

            Key Issues

 

3.1       The new policy includes a series of arrangements to support an enhanced and robust assurance framework for safeguarding compliance across the council. These include more stringent pre-employment checks and periodic checks during the course of employment (every three years), improved training, clearer reporting procedures and line management responsibility, coupled with a greater awareness and understanding throughout the organisation.

 

Background

 

Context

 

3.2       Child protection has been a priority for organisations for many years, and there is a well-established process in place throughout Belfast City Council to deal with child protection issues. The current policy was written in 2009 and whilst it remains broadly compliant, changes in the wider operational environment, developments in technology, the rapid growth of social media and fluctuating socio-economic standards across the world has led to the need to revise the policy to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose. The main guidance for safeguarding is currently managed by Volunteer Now.

 

3.3       Adult safeguarding is a distinctly different area of practise and, in reality, it is still in its infancy in comparison with child safeguarding. In April 2009, the Department of Health (formerly the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety) commissioned the ‘Our Duty to Care Team’ from Volunteer Now to develop standards and guidance for good practice in adult safeguarding for voluntary, community and independent organisations based on their experience of developing ‘Keeping Children Safe’. Since the guidance was first published, there have been considerable developments in the area of adult safeguarding in Northern Ireland.

 

3.4       The Council has a corporate responsibility for safeguarding all ages (children and adults) which is currently supported by ‘Policy and Procedures for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults’ which has been in operation since 2009.

 

3.5       The policy applies to elected members, BCC Chief Officers and all staff and volunteers who work within or in the name of the council. It is a demonstration of the Council’s commitment to providing and maintaining services across all Departments that protect these service users from harm as well as protecting the organisation and our staff and volunteers from potential allegations.

 

3.6       The policy is broadly relevant; however, it is no longer fit for purpose and presents a significant risk to the organisation particularly when considered alongside rapid growth in social media, technology, and recent news reports concerning high profile Safeguarding issues.

 

            Current Position

 

3.7       Since August 2019, officers have worked to review the existing provision, identify the areas for improvement and enhance the risk assessment for the Corporate risk register.

 

3.8       The new policy has been developed and has been circulated to Members. The document is based on the principles of current good practice, shared learning and current legislation and will be reviewed every three years in line with new developments and best practise.  The policy document is supported with robust operational procedures and guidance for all staff.

 

3.9       This policy is the basis on which the assurance framework will be built and will include the following steps:

 

§   Safeguarding is on the BCC corporate risk register with the Director of Neighbourhood Services as risk owner. This risk has recently been reviewed by AGRS and is subject to review on a quarterly basis. The risk is reviewed in line with corporate policy with the last review being June 2021.

 

§   SROs:  Director of Neighbourhood Services and the City Solicitor act as joint SRO’s.

 

§   Safeguarding Panel:  Meets every two months starting April 2021 to provide strategic direction and leadership, discuss outstanding matters and is made up of senior Safeguarding champions from different departments across the Council.

 

§   Safeguarding Operational Group:   Will be established to disseminate information to the teams and help with the roll out of the new policy. This group meets in the alternate month to the Panel.

 

§   Adult Safeguarding Champion: Although the Council does not currently have any regulated posts in relation to adult safeguarding, best practise would suggest that we should nominate an Adult Safeguarding Champion (ASC). Therefore, the Director of Neighbourhood Services was nominated and accepted by the panel as ASC. We can only name one ASC, however, there can be as many nominated persons as operationally required.  The Panel suggestion is the Director of Neighbourhood Services will be the ASC and the responsibility is delegated to the Safeguarding Compliance Manager (SCM).

 

§   There is now a clear structure, as demonstrated below:

 

Training programme

 

3.10     The Panel has also agreed a new training programme, for both adult and child safeguarding.  There will be four levels of training:

 

	Who	When	Delivery method	Time Commitment	Refresher requirement
Level 0	All staff	At induction	Online/Paper based/in person	1 hour	Every 3 years or in response to major changes.
Level 1	Staff working in regulated positions, line managers of regulated staff, staff with regular contact with the public and other identified staff	During the first six months of employment	Face to face facilitation	6 hours	Every 3 years or in response to major changes
Level 2	Line managers	During the first six months of employment	Face to face facilitation	3 hours	Every 3 years or in response to major changes
Level 3	Designated/nominated Officers	As necessary	Face to face facilitation	3 hours	Every 3 years or in response to major changes

 

·     Safeguarding training will be offered to all Elected Members.

 

§  HR/Access NI checks:  As part of the review process a piece of work has been completed to identify all ‘regulated positions’ within the council.  This work is reaching completion and has to date identified 165 identified post holders undertaking regulated activity on behalf of the council. This provides a baseline for one part of the Safeguarding Compliance and assurance in the recruitment process.

 

§  A list of regulated posts will be maintained and reviewed periodically. 

 

§  All new job roles will be reviewed and assessed using the defined descriptions of regulated activity by the continuous improvement department.

 

Projected Consultation Timetable

 

3.11     Below is the expected timetable of events to allow the new policy to become operational, this is dependent on multiple factors and may be subject to amendment.

 

Date	Activities associated with Safeguarding Policy are as follows:
July 2021	Final draft policy to be presented to the Safeguarding Panel
	Present policy to CMT
August 2021	SP and R Committee report to be prepared and presented
	Equality Screening and RNIA to be undertaken
September 2021	New staff training rolled out.
September  – November 2021	External engagement and consultation with relevant public bodies to be undertaken
	Public consultation to be undertaken
Ongoing	Explore communications needs with Corporate Comms – internal and external
November 2021	Consultation analysis
December 2021	Final Committee Report to be prepared and presented.
Jan 2022	Roll out of new policy and Communication to staff.

 

Financial and Human Resource Implications

 

3.12     The cost of the Safeguarding Compliance Manager - the salary is secured within CNS revenue estimates. 

 

All other costs have been absorbed by existing budgets:

 

·                  Training

·                  Access NI Checks

 

            Equality, Good Relations or Rural Needs Implications

 

3.13     There are no relevant equality considerations associated with the report at this time.  The implementation plan will include arrangements for Equality Screening and Rural Needs Impact Assessment of the new Safeguarding Policy.”

 

            The Members of the Committee agreed to recommend that, in accordance with the Council decision of 4th May, the Chief Executive exercise her delegated authority to adopt the recommendations contained within the report.