At the meeting of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 6 October 2016, consideration was given to a report of the Strategic Director – Children’s Services in relation to the arrangements that the Council and its partners have in place to safeguard against Child Sexual Exploitation.  The Committee resolved, amongst other things;

‘That the Corporate Parenting Panel looks into the number of children being placed in care in Bradford from outside the district and any emerging issues.’

A report of the Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care)(Document “J”) is now submitted for Member’s consideration.

(Jill Hudson – 01274 434511)

At the meeting of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 6 October 2016, consideration had been given to a report of the Strategic Director – Children’s Services in relation to the arrangements that the Council and its partners had in place to safeguard against Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). The Committee resolved, amongst other things;

‘That the Corporate Parenting Panel looks into the number of children being placed in care in Bradford from outside the district and any emerging issues.’

A report of the Deputy Director (Children’s Social Care)(Document “J”) was therefore submitted for Members’ consideration.

It was explained that this recommendation had arisen due to a concern expressed by a Member of the Scrutiny Committee in respect of the responsibility of this Authority and its ability to make checks with the same level of robustness for any young people  who had been placed in Bradford from outside the district as was done for the Authority’s own looked after children.

An overview of the CSE team was given and it was noted that there had been a significant increase in staffing since the last report to the Panel. It was explained that:

·         If a child looked after by another authority was placed in the Bradford district then the responsibility for that child remained with the placing authority.  However any child that was placed in Bradford and being at risk would receive the same response as any other child in terms of going missing or CSE.  They would be discussed on a daily basis just as any other child and if they went missing attempts would be made to locate them and advice and support offered to them. There was a statutory duty on the placing authority to inform the authority where the child was being placed, albeit that this did not always happen. Each child would be flagged on the system including information on where they were from and their risk factors.  If a child was from within West Yorkshire the West Yorkshire Risk Assessment Tool would be used; if from further afield then the tool for the authority concerned would be used and the CSE Team would assist with the development of a risk management plan.

·         The CSE Team visited private providers and foster carers to offer support, training and advice and they also worked closely with the residential homes.

The following responses were given to questions:

·         It was believed that approximately 80 children or young people from outside the district were currently placed in Bradford only a proportion of whom would be at risk of going missing or CSE.

·         All the young people in residential care were Bradford children.

·         Each looked after child in Bradford with a social worker had an active open case; if a child placed from outside the authority did not have an active open case there was still a sub-section specifically dedicated to recording information relevant to CSE or going missing.

·         Information was shared with other authorities.

·         The numbers of children recorded as missing included any from other local authorities.

The Co-opted Member representing the police said that there was only one ‘disrupting officer’ within the district but each Neighbourhood Team had ‘problem solvers’ who would have the profiles of any young people who regularly went missing.

Members noted that the current ‘disrupting officer’ was very effective.

Resolved –

(1)       That the contents of the report be noted.

(2)       That the Panel is reassured that children and young people placed in Bradford from outside the district are treated exactly the same as children from Bradford in terms of safeguarding from child sexual exploitation and going missing and also that appropriate information sharing takes place between Authorities.

NO ACTION