Agenda item

Consideration was given to the Oldham Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report. The Board was informed that The Oldham Strategic Safeguarding Partnership had been developed by Oldham Council, Greater Manchester Police, and the Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group to ensure that all children and young people in the area get the safeguarding and protection they needed in order to help them to thrive.

The Board was advised that the business year 2020-21 had proven to be a challenging one for the Oldham Safeguarding Children Partnership, in particular, the challenge of Covid-19 which had tested the strength of Partnership bonds that had only been in their second year of reformulation. It was noted that the impact of Covid on children and families in Oldham had been disproportionate due to the levels of poverty and inequality that affect the Borough. The partnership had responded well to the challenge of the pandemic by:

·         Identifying and responding to new levels of safeguarding demand – particularly with respect to harm to infants, increased levels of domestic abuse affecting children and meeting children’s mental health and well-being needs.

·         Enhancing the arrangements to enable reflection and learning of good safeguarding practice on a co-ordinated cross-agency basis.

·         Examining current safeguarding processes and asking how they could better meet the needs of children and young people. Transitioning from children’s services to adult services being a particular point of focus for this.

·         Engaging with children and young people so to ensure that the Partnership identifies and responds to their priorities and concerns.

The Board was advised of the six strategic aims which were as followed:

·         Excellent practice is the norm across all practitioners in Oldham

·         Partner agencies hold one another to account effectively

·         There is early identification of new safeguarding issues

·         Learning is promoted and embedded

·         Information is shared effectively

·         The public feel confident that children are protected

The Board was informed that three areas of safeguarding risk had been identified as priority areas of focus which were as followed:

·         Injuries to under 2-year-olds - During both periods of national lockdown Children’s Services saw an increase in the number of children under the age of two years who were experiencing accidental and non-accidental injuries. Whilst the majority of these incidents were as a result of lack of supervision or sibling mishandling the circumstances highlighted the additional stresses and pressures that were being faced by parents of new and young children in the context of isolation and reduced support as a result of the pandemic.

·         Significant increases in the number of high-risk domestic abuse incidents - Oldham saw a significant increase in high risk domestic abuse cases in Oldham during the Covid-19 pandemic, with a 92% rise in serious domestic abuse incidents affecting women and children. In the first week of February 2021 alone the Local Authority recorded 58 serious incidents of domestic abuse, compared to 43 in the whole month of February last year. Many of the families had not previously been known the Children’s Services but the severity of the incidents being reported were of significant concern.

·         Increased concerns for children’s mental health - Oldham Healthy Young Minds saw a large reduction in referrals in Q1 and Q2 of 2020-21 as the Country entered the first COVID-19 lockdown. Despite the reduction in routine referrals there was a notable increase in crisis referrals. Similar increases had been noted in the incidences of self-harm amongst young people which had risen each quarter since the start of the pandemic. Those areas were supported by a Partnership action and communications plans to ensure a coordinated response and awareness raising of the need and the available support for professionals and local communities.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.