Agenda item

Emily Kate Holmes, Assistant Director – Transformation and Strategic Development:

a.    presented the revised Safeguarding and Protecting Vulnerable People Policy to request feedback before consideration by Executive

b.    gave the background to the report advising that the Council had statutory duties to undertake in relation to safeguarding and to promote the wellbeing of individuals and communities

c.    explained that the report provided an updated version of existing policies and framework to fulfil statutory duties and demonstrate safeguarding competence and compliance following a full review

d.    summarised the key policy changes as follows:

·         Updated Policy title to include Protecting Vulnerable People

·         Roles and responsibilities updated to reflect change in personnel

·         Sectioned the policy into parts for ease of navigation and to enable clear version control and updates for topics

·         Updated guidance on domestic abuse to reflect the implementation of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and joint multi-agency domestic abuse protocol

·         Updated to reflect multi-agency working practices including the joint agency escalation protocol, self-neglect protocol and joint multi-agency domestic abuse protocol

·         Updates to Prevent reflect the updated statutory guidance and Venue Hire Policy

·         Refreshed and updated links to external resources and guidance

e.    invited members questions and comments:

Question: There had recently been the first conviction for cyber flashing. Would it be included in the policy?

Response:There were areas covered the policy and procedures and multi-agency work that would cover inappropriate images but not explicitly referencing cyber flashing.  This could be looked into further. 

Question: The revised format of the policy and procedures was much more accessible. How would the policy be accessed by staff and members? Could it be circulated to Members for information?

Response: Once agreed the policy would be circulated to Members. It would also be placed on the Hub, an article would be placed in ‘In Brief” and All Member Briefings would be held. There would also be specific member sessions held on PREVENT.

RESOLVED that the updated Safeguarding and Protecting Vulnerable People Policy and procedures be supported.