Agenda item

The Strategy and Resources Executive Advisory Board (EAB) considered the Council’s Corporate Safeguarding Policy and Procedure together with a supporting paper in the format of a policy mandate, which were presented by the Senior Policy Officer - Strategy, Performance and Events.  The Safeguarding Policy and Procedure consisted of two parts, namely, Part 1: Procedure on how to respond if you have a safeguarding concern; and Part 2: Safeguarding Policy.

The policy mandate addressed the following areas:

·             Policy Overview

·             Ownership

·             Case for Change

·             Key Deliverables

·             Success Criteria

·             Strategic Objectives

·             Scope

·             Organisational Impact

·             Collaboration Considerations

·             Strategic Assumptions, Issues and Risks

·             Strategic Dependencies, Constraints and Opportunities

·             IT Project Requirements

·             Resources

·             Governance and Approvals

·             Updates and Review

·             Recommendations / Comments to / from the Corporate Management Board (CMB) and the EAB

·             Recommendations to the Executive

The policy mandate recommended that the EAB:

(i)           Reviewed the policy mandate for the draft Safeguarding Policy and Procedure; and

(ii)         Commented on the appropriateness of the draft Safeguarding Procedure (Part 1) and Policy (Part 2) as set out in Appendix 1 and 2 to the mandate, respectively, with specific reference to:

o      The Council’s commitment to safeguarding people it interacted with and provided services for.

o      The accessibility of the documents for all staff and councillors.

o      The Council’s statutory safeguarding duties.

o      The local authority’s roles and responsibilities.

o      The organisation’s training needs.

The principles behind the policy mandate and approach were two-fold.  Firstly, it was felt that this approach would standardise the method by which officers developed new policies acting as a checklist to some extent to support the development of sound and well considered policies to meet objectives.  Ideally, the mandate would be a living document utilised throughout the policy development process to support the process and bring clarity to the purpose of the policy and identify how it linked with wider Council goals, taking account of whether the policy had resource requirements for implementation, provided clear governance for approval gateways and included future updates.

Secondly, it was deemed that this methodology would standardise the manner in which policies were presented to committees / the Executive in the future to provide clarity with regard to the purpose and scope of emerging policies and to ensure that they were of a consistent quality with a clear purpose facilitating effective implementation.  Feedback from the EAB in respect of the policy mandate approach was welcomed.

Concerning the Safeguarding Policy and Procedure, the Board was advised that this document was a new draft Policy and Procedure which would replace the current policy written in 2018.  Since that time, the existing policy had been updated to reflect some legislative changes, updates to guidance and learning from best practice which had influenced how the Council managed its safeguarding responsibilities.  There had also been some changes in the way that Surrey County Council (SCC), as the local authority with the remit for safeguarding arrangements in Surrey, responded to referrals and assessments.  In comparison with the current policy, the new draft Policy and Procedure included a clearer structure reflecting the corporate approach and provided a quick reference guide in the event of an urgent case, facilitating alignment with the Council’s new accessibility standard.  The new documents had been streamlined, incorporated learning from practice in terms of day to day operating and reflected the recommendations of the internal safeguarding audit.  Enhanced clarity in respect of roles and responsibilities to support changes in the organisation’s structure and updated training pathways aligned to levels in an associated training programme also featured.  Safeguarding across the Council, particularly in terms of front line delivery staff, remained strong in practice.

The policy mandate included the views of the CMB which sought a review of the implications and opportunities associated with the adoption of a joint Guildford and Waverley Safeguarding Policy in June 2023 as the preferred way forward.  This recommendation was being pursued by officers and would lead to the deferral of the submission of the document to the Executive while the review was undertaken.  The outcome would be reported to the Executives of both Councils after June 2023.

The following points arose from ensuing questions, comments and discussion for forwarding to the Executive:

1.           The issue of safeguarding councillors was raised owing to increases in public involvement in Council business and approaches from residents, particularly in relation to potentially contentious planning matters.  However, whilst councillor safety was an important consideration, the matter was more aligned to the remit of the Community Safety Partnership than safeguarding in general, which related to the parameters within which the Council operated and sought to safeguard the Borough’s most vulnerable residents and track referrals to Social Services and other relevant agencies.

2.           With regard to safeguarding case management, the importance of possessing the correct tools to complement the Policy and Procedure was raised and reference was made to the CPOMS safeguarding software system operated by SCC to monitor safeguarding, wellbeing, and pastoral issues in its schools.  The system offered seamless confidentiality and security for logged cases enabling access by those needing to input and monitor related information.  As the Council’s current system was unrefined and complex to manage, officers were exploring other case management systems with a view to implementation.  This process commenced with assessing the current position with a view to providing a comprehensive universal record system across the Council, which all authorised officers were able to access, supported by a corporate audit trail.  Two potential safeguarding case management systems were currently being explored, in line with an Audit Action Plan, with a view to developing related options and business cases.  The first was a corporate system involving Salesforce Customer Relationship Management software whilst the second was the Empowering Communities with Integrated Network Systems (ECINS) which consisted of an end to end secure collaborative case management platform.  A version of the latter system, Surrey CINS, was operated by Surrey Police and utilised across areas of the County in respect of Community Safety and Social Care.

3.           Support was expressed in respect of the policy mandate and the Policy and Procedure document, the style and format of which were considered to be clear and easily legible.