Issue - meetings

The report of the Director – Neighbourhoods is attached.

The Director – Neighbourhoods, introduced a report, which provided an update on the Council’s approach to safeguarding, and advised the Group that the Council worked closely with key partners as a team, to ensure the safety of children and vulnerable adults in the Borough, and the Group was reminded of the key role that Councillors played whilst undertaking their duties.

Mr Steve Baumber from Nottinghamshire County Council attended the meeting, to assist with the consideration of this item, in relation to safeguarding children.

The Service Manager – Public Protection, the Communities Manager and Mr Baumber delivered a presentation relating to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, which provided details on the following issues, and members of the Group were invited to make comments and observations on the presentation and report:

·        What is safeguarding.

·        Main types of abuse.

·        The role of Rushcliffe Borough Council.

·        Adult safeguarding.

·        Definition of a child.

·        Self-assessment audit 2021 for children.

·        How to report concerns.

·        What is the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and what is its purpose.

·        How we work with others.

·        MASH pathway to provision.

·        Number of adult and children referrals/enquiries across the county.

·        Various adult and children data for Rushcliffe.

·        What can Councillors do.

The Chairman thanked officers for the excellent presentation and requested that the possibility of having all Councillors signed up to the Nottinghamshire safeguarding website be investigated.

Councillor Jones referred to Council staff working in particular areas, including sport and leisure, and those dealing with homelessness, and sought assurance that they were appropriately trained to focus on potential areas of abuse and domestic violence.  The Service Manager – Public Protection confirmed that Lex Leisure participated on the Council’s internal group and was fully involved, and it would continue to report any issues or concerns, as it previously had.  The Group was advised that in respect of homelessness, all staff undertook mandatory e-learning training.

In answer to a question regarding the use of Council facilities by outside sports bodies, the Communities Manager advised that the Council’s Sports Development Officer worked with voluntary, community based clubs, ensuring that they had appropriate safeguarding policies in place, and how to share information, if they had any concerns.  The Group noted that there was an expectation that each club would have a Safeguarding Officer and that they would know how to make any referrals.  If any concerns were raised, they would be fed through the channels in a similar way, and officers were trained on how to make any safeguarding referrals to the MASH.  Mr Baumber added that connecting and engaging with sports clubs and voluntary bodies was a considerable challenge given their numbers and ensuring that those groups were aware of safeguarding issues was extremely important.  The Group noted that a piece of work was currently underway, to strengthen engagement with those sectors and faith groups, and a conference with sports clubs would be held on 6 October 2021.

Councillor Jones emphasised that in many cases checks did not work as offenders were not listed and it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4