Agenda item

Members considered the CYSUR/CWMPAS Combined Local Operational Group Safeguarding Report Quarter 4, between the period 1st January to      31st March 2023, 2022/23.

The Chair welcomed Councillor Alun Williams, Cabinet Member, to provide a summary of the key points, which were as follows:

Summary of Key points:

Ø  In Quarter 4, there was a decrease in the number of contacts/reports received regarding children/young people compared to Quarter 3-with there being 1112 contacts/reports received in Q3 compared to 1010 contacts/reports received in Q4.

Ø  However, there was an increase in the overall number of contacts/reports which proceeded to actions needing to be taken under Child Protection Procedures, from 193 in Q3 compared with 200 in Q4.

Ø  The percentage of reports that proceeded to a Strategy Discussion in this quarter, was 19.8% compared to 17.3% in Q3.

Ø  In Q3, 7.3% of reports proceeded to a Section 47 Enquiry compared to 8.4% in Q4, in this quarter. In this quarter, 1.6% of reports received needed to proceed to an Initial Child Protection Conference which was the same percentage that proceeded to conference in Quarter 3.

Ø  The total number of children subject to an Initial Child Protection Conference is Quarter 4 was 23, and this compares to 35 in Q3.

Ø  The total number of children placed on the Child Protection Register in quarter 4 following the Initial Child Protection Conference was 20 compared to 31 in Q3.

Ø  The total number of children removed after Review Child Protection Conferences in this quarter were 15 compared to 28 in Quarter 3.

Ø  The total number of Section 47 enquiries undertaken in this quarter were 85 compared to 81 in Quarter 3. 70 of those enquiries were undertaken jointly with the Police and 25 were undertaken as a Social Services Single Agency.

Ø  The main category of abuse which led to a Section 47 enquiry in quarter 4 was Physical Abuse (32), sexual abuse/exploitation (24), other exploitation (11), neglect (9) and emotional abuse (8). This follows the same pattern experienced in Quarter 3.

Ø  There were 52 children on the Child Protection Register as of the end of this quarter, compared to 49 as at the end of Quarter 3. 22 children were registered under the category of emotional/psychological abuse, in this quarter, 26 under the category of neglect and 4 under the category of both neglect and emotional/psychological abuse.

Ø  The main Risk Factors for the 52 children who were on the Children Protection Register as of the 31/03/2023, were domestic abuse, parental mental health, parental substance/alcohol misuse and parental separation.

Ø  In terms of Adult Safeguarding, there has been a significant increase in the number of adults suspected of being at risk of abuse and/or neglect, with there being 190 adults at risk reported in this quarter compared to 142 in Q3.

Ø  The most reported category of abuse this quarter again was emotional/psychological abuse, with 97 reports of adults at risk where this was the main category of abuse. Neglect was the second main category of reported abuse (66), then physical abuse (62), financial abuse (40), and sexual abuse (24). This follows the pattern from the previous quarter.

Ø  From the reports received, in relation to all categories of abuse, women are the highest reported to be most at risk, by a significant margin. However, in relation to concerns about neglect, there were more males (36) affected by this category of abuse than females (30) which has been very different to previous quarters.

Ø  In Quarter 4, as in Quarter 3, the Police were the highest source of reporting (46).

Elizabeth Upcott, Team Manager, then answered the questions raised by Committee Members.

Following discussions, the following was noted:

Ø  Further to a question regarding the increase in the number of meetings held, it was confirmed that as they are Statutory meetings and therefore must be held. With multiagency involvement this can sometimes prevent escalations and save resources in the long term.

Members agreed to note the contents of the report and the levels of activity with the Local Authority, so that governance of the Local Authority activity and its partner agencies are monitored.

The Chairman thanked Councillor Alun Williams, Cabinet Member and Elizabeth Upcott, Corporate Manager, for attending and presenting at this morning’s meeting.