Improving the safeguarding process
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Information about the local authority
Monmouthshire County Council is located in the east of Wales and has a total population of just over 94,000 people. The local authority maintains four secondary schools, 30 primary schools, and a pupil referral unit. There are 12 maintained nurseries and 25 non-maintained nurseries in the authority. Currently, the average three year percentage of pupils receiving free school meals is 10.9%, which is below the Wales average.
The Leader of the Council has been in post since 2008 and Chief Executive was appointed in 2009. In 2017, the local authority appointed a new Cabinet Member for Education and the Chief Officer for Children and Young People.
Context and background
In the previous inspection in November 2012, Estyn identified a number of shortcomings in safeguarding arrangements across the local authority. These included the lack of a clear safeguarding policy and significant operational weaknesses.
This case study describes the steps that the authority took to improve operational practice and establish a culture where safeguarding is recognised as ‘everyone’s responsibility’. As a result of this work, Estyn identified a number of practices and procedures worth sharing as effective practice following Monmouthshire’s local government education services inspection in February 2020.
The authority began its work to improve its safeguarding arrangements with a sharp focus on schools and educational settings, followed by an extension of the approach across all aspects of the council’s work.
The development of a safeguarding quadrant, underpinned by strong leadership and governance, has enabled the local authority to structure strategic thinking, organise effective evaluation mechanisms and develop a holistic approach to ensure that the different aspects of safeguarding complement each other effectively. Over time, officers established a clear and well-understood picture of ‘what good looks like’ within each aspect of the quadrant.
Description of the strategy
Strong leadership and a continuous focus on embedding safeguarding culturally across all parts of the Council at a “hearts and minds” level has ensured that safeguarding for children and adults at risk is understood and accepted as “everyone’s responsibility”. The development of robust safeguarding policies and operating procedures supports schools, settings and wider services effectively to respond appropriately to concerns as they arise.
The development of a Whole Authority Safeguarding Group (WASG) built ownership, commitment and accountability for safeguarding for senior leaders across all of the authority’s directorates. The emphasis on continual improvement within this group has ensured that specific learning from safeguarding cases are discussed regularly, and that they inform practice and are reflected in routine Corporate Safeguarding Policy updates.
A Safeguarding Audit Framework for Evaluation (SAFE) has been developed to clearly set out the safeguarding standards within the policy. The SAFE has become the mainstay of how the authority develops understanding, compliance and development of safeguarding systems across every directorate within the Council. Its completion is supported by the Safeguarding & Quality Assurance Unit to offer consistency across standards and to maintain a healthy and robust level of challenge. Robust monitoring arrangements are in place to ensure that statutory processes and procedures are adhered to and reported on within the overall safeguarding evaluation framework.
The information from SAFE is collated to identify key safeguarding themes and standards where support and improvement is needed. This process is overseen by the WASG and provides additional support and challenge at senior level.
A strong process for safe recruitment is a key development, placing an emphasis on policy and compliance, supported by safe recruitment training for all managers. Clear arrangements have been established to ensure that the process for DBS certification is consistently and rigorously applied for the whole workforce and for external providers. Some specific challenges in recruiting and managing volunteers safely led to a thorough review and further tightening of the authority’s approach. As a result, a database was introduced to support the safe recruitment and training of all unpaid workers and volunteers across the Council.
A safeguarding training strategy has been developed to identify who needed training and at what level. A range of training tools and programmes has been developed to ensure that every individual is trained appropriately regarding safeguarding. There is a forum in place to support trainers in delivering the Level 1 programme and a ‘Training for Trainers’ approach to ensure sustainability. As a result, roles, relationships and responsibility within the safeguarding process are clearly understood by staff and supported corporately. There are opportunities to discuss any concerns, with support and guidance provided at the referral stage through the Safeguarding and Quality Assurance Unit.
Services operating in Monmouthshire, including commissioned services and those outside the direct control of the Council, are expected to operate in ways which promote the welfare and safety of children and adults at risk. A tiered framework for safe commissioning has been developed using agreed minimum standards for safeguarding for these services. This allows safeguarding to be a key consideration of contract monitoring arrangements and the council’s hiring and lettings. Extensive support, advice and practical assistance is provided to community settings and volunteer activity to ensure they have a good understanding of safeguarding practice and policy.
There is a whole systems approach to safeguarding in place across the council and developed through the Children and Young People’s strategic partnership, Place Based approaches in adult services and the Early Help Panel within Children’s Services. These networks foster good information sharing around themes and issues which helps to build a better understanding of our communities. The close working relationship between the Safeguarding and Quality Assurance Unit and key parts of the authority in respect of community safety enhance this work further such as, with the Public Protection Unit, Licencing and Partnership Officers.
There is a proactive approach in place for PREVENT and VAWDASV training and awareness raising with specific focus on issues specific to Monmouthshire, early recognition and referral of concerns. The authority has led multi-agency work around exploitation and modern day slavery to raise awareness and ensure signs are recognised and referred appropriately.
What impact has this had on improving safeguarding practice in protective process for children and adults at risk?
The continuous focus on embedding safeguarding culturally across all parts of the Council has established and embedded a culture where safeguarding in the local authority is recognised as ‘everyone’s responsibility’.
Sustained engagement with services within the Council and external partners has embedded a common understanding of safeguarding processes and standards set by the authority. As a result, the delivery of safeguarding is effective in supporting children and adults at risk across the system.
The development of the whole authority safeguarding group provides an effective forum within which safeguarding is monitored and evaluated to manage on-going improvements in safeguarding practice.
The establishment of strong working relationships across the local authority for the effective delivery of safeguarding means that education services and schools are supported well.