Agenda and minutes

Members of the committee should declare any interests which fall under the following categories:

a)    disclosable pecuniary interests (DPI);

b)    other significant interests (OSI);

c)    voluntary announcements of other interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Council is part of the statutory safeguarding role within the wider public sector, with responsibilities to children, young people and vulnerable adults. This report provides updates since the Overview and Scrutiny Committee approved the Council’s revised safeguarding policy in Autumn 2021.

Councillor Hollingsbee provided Members with a brief introduction noting that the Council was part of a statutory safeguarding role within the wider public sector, that had responsibilities to children, young people and vulnerable adults.  She offered her thanks for the efforts of the officers involved in a number of recent successful safeguarding audits.

Ms Leney and Ms Madder presented the report (OS/22/06), it provided an update on the Council’s safeguarding activity since the Committee approved the safeguarding policy in November 2021.

The following points were noted during consideration of the item:

·       There was not a pattern to the referrals being received, however there had been an increase in threats of suicide among adult referrals.

·       There was a support network for the Designated Safeguarding Officers (DSO’s) dealing with referrals, this support included;

o   A staff chat group for DSO’s;

o   Mental health first aiders at work;

o   Wellbeing support offered by the Human Resources department;

o   An employee assistance programme.

·       Knowledge about people of concern was shared between neighbouring Districts when appropriate, however, work was underway to create a cloud based system to share records that would make the process more consistent and resilient.

·       Intelligence sharing between organisations outside of the Kent and Medway area, such as with London Borough Councils, could be improved.

·       DSO’s worked on a rota system, Members would be sent a link to this information to enable them to refer people of concern to the DSO on call.

·       The Council’s procurement process required organisations that provided Council services to have safeguarding practices in place. However, a recent audit highlighted that an area of improvement for the Council could be the provision of training for these organisations.

·       The District Vulnerability Panel (DVP) was chaired by the Police and met every month.  If concern about an individual reached a certain threshold it would be considered at a DVP meeting.

All Members agreed to receive and note report OS/22/06. 

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee acts once a year as the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel as set out in legislation to ensure that the Community Safety Partnership is working effectively, and responsible authorities are discharging their statutory functions in respect of community safety.

Councillor Hollingsbee advised that each year the Overview and Scrutiny Committee acted as the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel, to ensure that the Community Safety Partnership was working effectively, and that the responsible authorities were discharging their statutory functions in respect of community safety.

Mr Butler introduced the report (OS/22/05) and explained that Members would receive a presentation from each of the Subgroup leads of the Community Safety Partnership.

Mr Bulter provided a presentation that gave an overview of the Community Safety Sub-Group, it looked back at what had taken place over the last six months, and looked forward to its plans for the next six months.  The presentation has been attached to the minutes for reference.

After the presentation the following points were noted:

• The Police investigation into cases of antisocial behaviour involving the use of mopeds in parks were ongoing.  Members of the public were encouraged to continue to report criminal incidents online, or to call 999 if there was an emergency.
• Residents could sign up to My Community Voice using this link: https://www.mycommunityvoicekent.co.uk/.  It was a two way system of communication for residents with the Police.
• The Police were aware that criminals were targeting rural areas.  When their intelligence demonstrated a need, the Police could call for additional tactical support.  It was important that residents continued to report instances of crime, to help provide a clear picture of where this support was needed most.
• Bi-monthly operations took place that targeted areas known for speeding. 
• Facebook could be a source used to gather intelligence on people offering a waste collection service who were operating without the appropriate licence.
• There was a trial underway using noise recorders at fixed speed camera locations in Dartford.  The Council would be looking at best practice to see how the equipment could be used in future.  There were challenges in proving exactly where a recorded noise had emanated from.
• The Police were tracking graffiti instances across the district and had recently identified some individuals in the Folkestone town centre area.  The Council removed graffiti from private property and prioritised the removal based on its location and level of offense caused. 

Ms Button, Chair of the Safeguarding and Domestic Abuse Sub-Group provided a presentation about the sub-group. She explained that the sub-group worked closely alongside the Community Safety Sub-Group.  The presentation slides have been attached to the minutes for reference.

After the presentation the following points were noted:

• There was a correlation between cases of domestic abuse and the abuse of alcohol and drugs.  In the past there has been an increase in the number of domestic abuse incidents during events such as football tournaments and Christmas.
• Domestic abuse involving adults had increased during lockdown.  Following lockdown there had been an increase in the number of referrals involving children as stories emerged when they returned to school.
• Poverty and inequality issues were often aggravating factors, the Community Safety Unit would be hosting a ‘Winter Well’ event on 12 November, between 10am and 2  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.