Our staff need to understand their responsibilities so the first step is to have a very clear set of standards and guidelines for them to follow.
Corporate Safeguarding Policy
Background
Conwy has attempted to take a proactive approach to ensuring compliance with its safeguarding responsibilities, in support of the statutory Director of Social Services, who has ultimate accountability for this. National Developments in relation to multi-agency Safeguarding Board functions, including scrutiny functions, will increasingly be held at sub-regional and regional levels. This in turn places more responsibility on the council to assure its internal systems are working well. The development of a Corporate Safeguarding Policy in Conwy will provide the authority with greater oversight of the quality of work taking place in relation to safeguarding.
Developments
As part of the governance arrangements in relation to the corporate safeguarding policy, a corporate panel will be set up. Initial meetings of the panel have already taken place.
The main responsibilities of the Panel are to ensure that robust arrangements for safeguarding children and adults are in place within Conwy County Borough Council.
The Panel will act at a strategic level in order to:
- Assure relevant Lead Members that the Council’s procedures are robust where matters of safeguarding children and adults are concerned
- Bring together interdepartmental work in the safeguarding field and ensure effective corporate communication
- Support the functions and duties of the Statutory Director within the Council
- Resolve any possible barriers that could prevent having effective and successful procedures in place
- Identify any gaps in corporate policies and guidelines and ensure they are addressed, working appropriately with the LSCB and the Adult Protection Committee
- Ensure that appropriate training is available for officers and members
- Receive and consider information about trends in relation to allegations of professional abuse, and adopt action plans to respond should the need arise
- Receive and challenge information about corporate safeguarding performance and the progress against work programmes commissioned
A report will be presented to cabinet for formal approval of the corporate safeguarding policy in July 2014. We currently have two Task and Finish group to support the implementation of the safeguarding policy in respect of safe recruitment and training.
The outcomes we hope to achieve include:
- to highlight the manner in which Conwy as a local authority undertakes its legal commitments in the field of safeguarding children and adults
- to give assurance to members of the public, service users, Councillors, employees and people working on behalf of the Council that there are clear arrangements in place to safeguard and protect children and adults
- that Council staff and Councillors have clear guidelines to be used when there is doubt that a child or adult is at risk of harm