Agenda item

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director Social Services.

The Corporate Director Social Services advised that the report outlined the concept of Contextual Safeguarding and the approach being taken across Gwent and Wales. The Corporate Director added that the report had been requested at a previous meeting and thereupon gave a detailed overview of the key points as detailed in the report.

A Member referred to point 2.6 in the report – “as an example, overcrowding at home means the young person spends a lot of time out in public spaces. When in those places, the young person is experiencing robbery and violence. These violent incidents impact the behaviour of this young person, and many others in school. The inability of the school to respond effectively further normalises violence amongst peer groups at the school. These peer groups have more influence over the young person’s behaviour than their parents – and impacts the capacity of the parents to safeguard their child from the harm they experience in (and the pull of) public and peer spaces. We must not forget to consider online environments too. These might be related, for example gangs using social media to track or groom young people, but they will have an influence on children and young people. Every situation and context is different but whatever the issues and problems, contextual safeguarding aims to help provide an approach to help keep children and young people safe”. The Member felt that this paragraph had been poorly worded as schools were a safe haven for some children and young people as teachers are trained to identify problems and therefore felt that this paragraph did not reflect the good work of schools in these instances.

The Corporate Director Social Services advised that the wording was not a criticism of schools. The report was written based on the processes used in London Boroughs and larger cities. There are no examples in Wales and concurred that teachers are trained to look out for vulnerable learners. The Corporate Director stated that Wales would operate differently to schools in London who had tested this concept.

The Corporate Director Social Services agreed to look at the wording of the paragraph.

In response to a question raised in relation to the success of contextual safeguarding, it was advised that Bedfordshire University had tested the methods in London Boroughs which had proved to be very positive. However, the Corporate Director added that the issues in and around London would be more challenging than those in Blaenau Gwent, however the concept had supported children in these challenging environments positively and made them safe.

An Officer gave an example of how contextual safeguarding was embedded in processes in Blaenau Gwent and the positive work undertaken with Community Safety.

Further discussions ensued around the concept of contextual safeguarding and training to be undertaken. The Corporate Director Education added that if these methods were fully utilised in schools it would mean a great deal of additional training for teaching and Social Services. The Corporate Director felt that the work with colleagues in Community Safety placed Blaenau Gwent in a good position and the model could be adopted to fit Blaenau Gwent. It was felt that with it being a smaller Borough it would be less complex, although it would have a significant impact in terms of training across social services and education.

A Member welcomed the groups and clubs available for young people, however it was noted that there was nothing available for children who did not want to participate in youth groups or sporting clubs, therefore the Member felt that these children were being overlooked.

The Corporate Director Social Services advised that the Youth Service provision supported children and young people that did not engage in youth groups or sports clubs. The Corporate Director Education added that the Youth Service had a presence on streets in and around town centres where the children and young people were gathering. The detached youth team was partly funded by Police to address the aforementioned issues and at present work was being undertaken to recruit additional resource and a restructure of working hours. The hours the team worked was largely evenings and weekends to improve their reach and support young people in the community.

In terms of the next steps for Blaenau Gwent, the Corporate Director Social Services advised that work would continue with Welsh Government and the Safeguarding Board and it was hoped that the Authority could recruit the much needed social workers.

The Chair welcomed this approach and suggested that dialogue be undertaken with the Assembly Member for Blaenau Gwent to gain his support.

The Committee AGREED that the report be accepted and the information contained therein be noted (Option 1).