LSCP Subgroups

The group is chaired by a representative from Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust and has met six times since April 2021.  

This is a significant sub-group that is responsible for oversight of multi-agency safeguarding training for the partnership. It also takes forward learning and improvements identified in the city resulting from case reviews and auditing. 

Key areas of work have included the future model of training delivery following the move to a hybrid (online and face to face) approach to training. The development of a training needs analysis to understand multi-agency safeguarding training requirements of the partnership has been developed and is currently being analysed by the subgroup. 

It has also developed a mental health subgroup to consider learning from Rapid Reviews whereby mental health (parental and child’s) has been a feature. Areas of learning have been shared with relevant agencies and there has been an offer to pilot an internal training session in relation to parental mental health as a multi-agency session.

The Learning and Development offer and approach established during the pandemic has been retained, with a core training offer of training that included:

• Introduction to Safeguarding Children and Young People, 
• Working Together to Safeguarding Children and Young People
• Safeguarding Children and Young People refresher training 

Thematic specific training and a series of topic-based briefings: 

• Mind Your Language – the impact of language when assessing risk
• Introduction to Domestic Violence and Abuse (joint with Safer Stronger Leeds)
• Introduction to County Lines
• Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
• Harmful Sexual Behaviour
• Teenage Interpersonal Violence and Abuse
• Child to Parent Abuse
• Sudden Unexpected Death In Infants (SUDIC)
• Fabricated and Induced Illness
• Safer Recruitment
• Introduction to Child Exploitation
• ReThink Formulation
• Stress in Infants
• Managing Allegations Against Professionals
• Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
• Prevent
• Introduction to Initial Child protection Conferences (ICPCs)
• Safeguarding Children and Young People with a Disability

The training offer has remained online due to the positive evaluations and feedback from practitioner surveys in relation to the LSCP online approach and moving forward a hybrid offer will continue to be available. In addition, learning and development opportunities are also available through a variety of resources available within the Safeguarding Topics section. 

Over the year the offer has grown as partners capacity to offer briefings, and support delivery has grown, along with demand. Joint development of a domestic abuse training session with Safer Stronger Leeds has supported the LSCP Priority “children witnessing and experiencing domestic violence” and ensured the impact of domestic abuse on children and young people is included. All learning and development opportunities are informed and updated in relation to identified learning from the Partnerships review and audit processes.

Training demand data and attendance by agencies identified that in 2021-22 bookings for the Introduction and Working together course increased by 100%, with completion rates for the introduction course increasing by 6%. Completion rates for Working Together were down by almost 50%, however it should be noted that the session is a 2-part course and that at the time of reporting not all participants will have completed part 2. 

Partner agency demand is comparable to 2020-21 where the highest demand came from:

• Third Sector organisations, 
• Leeds Community Healthcare, 
• Private sector organisations and 
• Leeds City Council Children’s Services (non CSWS) 

All sessions are evaluated and used to inform training delivery. These remain positive, with over 85% of participants indicating that the session had met expectations, learned outcomes and increased knowledge and understanding either to a great extent or to some extent in 2020-21. In addition, over 90% participants indicated that their confidence had increased as a result of attending LSCP training. The impact of training remains a difficult area to measure and over the years many methods have been used to try to quantify this. This remains an area for improvement.

During the initial phase of COVID-19, the use of the LSCP Multi-agency Training Pool to deliver training was paused for 10 months due to partner agencies responding to the pandemic. To ensure that opportunities for staff training continued the LSCP developed flexible online training to support professional development 

Initial live interactive sessions were delivered by the LSCP Training and Development Officers, with Pool trainers delivering from January 2021. Contact with previous training pool members to express interest in delivering training in 2021/22 resulted in a significant decrease in numbers within the pool (28 compared to 84 in 2019/20), and of those who expressed an interest in continuing, a significant number identified capacity issues and therefore were not able to deliver sessions.
 
In 2021/22 a total of 11 trainers delivered (compared to 60 in 2019/20). The need to train existing trainers with regards to the technical elements of the current delivery methods, and recruit and train new trainers remains a priority when the capacity allows. Proposed methods of delivery going forward, and their associated capacity requirement, have been discussed at the LSCP Learning and Development Subgroup. A training Needs Analysis which includes sections in relation to provision of trainer and preferred delivery method is to be sent to all partners in January 2023 and will inform both the training programme and the delivery method (a training pool or via commissioned trainers).

This group has been chaired by a policing partner since September 2021 and vice chair represented by Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust. This group has met 7 times since April 2021. 

The PMSG undertake audits and monitor safeguarding data to be assured the child protection systems are robust, effective and identifies areas for improvement. 

The PMSG have reviewed the safeguarding data it monitors and have identified changes in how it intends to request data. The PMSG has noted an absence in narrative within provided data. Therefore, going forward partners agencies will be requested to present safeguarding data and provide additional narrative to ensure the PMSG is informed to better understand the significance of the presented data. 

The PMSG also intends to refocus its efforts to be assured that learning from LSCP reviews have been effectively implemented and can demonstrate impact and better outcomes for children and families. 

PMSG Activity

In 2021 the Review Advisory Group (RAG) requested the PMSG undertake an audit seeking assurance that information is being effectively shared between agencies involved in multi-agency plans, namely Child in Need and Child Protection, and that practitioners are confident with what the plan involves and what their role is in ensuring positive outcomes for children. The PMSG recognise that they are not sighted enough on children in care, and this should be a key focus over the coming year. 

Child in Need (CIN) Audit
Following the notification of a safeguarding incident, the Review Advisory Group reflected on whether all the agencies involved with the family were aware of the multi-agency plan around the child and when made aware, if there was insufficient notice for the practitioner to attend the meeting or provide information.

An audit of 10 case files was undertaken by the LSCP Business Unit Quality Assurance Officer in January 2022 and was presented to the LCYPP meeting in March 2022. The audit highlighted good information sharing amongst practitioners and a commitment to supporting families and safeguarding children who are subject to CIN plans. Good relationships between social workers, local schools and local services were highlighted by practitioners in being instrumental in being able to effectively share information. 

The audit identified the Covid 19 Pandemic has not had a significant detrimental impact on information sharing within CIN plans and may have improved communication and information sharing in some areas. This is a credit to practitioner’s commitment to safeguarding children and supporting families as well as a commitment to finding effective ways of communication during a difficult time. CIN plans were reviewed within statutory requirements in 80% of occasions. CIN plans made when the pandemic had started were reviewed more frequently. Practitioners spoke of a high level of information sharing between meetings and there were examples of this evidenced within the case file audits.

Attendance at Meetings was also considered:

• Attendance at Child in Need meetings was good (91%). Virtual meetings aided practitioner attendance. 
• Attendance from adult services, when invited, was good. Practitioners attended the CIN meeting in 93% of cases. Attendance at reviews was 79% and at the second review was 83%. 
• At the beginning of the pandemic there was an NHS England directive, detailing that staff groups should be redeployed which may have resulted in a change of practitioners within the 0-19 service. Social workers highlighted they did not always know who the allocated health visitor or school nurse was. The Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children acknowledged that initially at the start of the Pandemic there may have been some challenges however, the service returned to usual practice in September 2020, 

Child Protection Audit
A case file audit of 10 cases where a child was made subject to a Child Protection Plan between September and November 2019 was undertaken to consider the effectiveness of information sharing between agencies involved in multi-agency plans. An aim of this review was to identify practitioner confidence with plans and their role in ensuring safe and positive outcomes for children and young people. 

In addition to the case file audit, a questionnaire regarding general experiences of information sharing within a child protection plan was sent to all practitioners who had been involved in the core groups in the 10 cases. Individual interviews also took place with four of the lead social workers for the cases audited. 

There was particularly good information sharing between children and family services, children’s social work services, education, health visitors, children’s centres and family support services. In the sample of cases reviewed, practitioners recognised the need to share relevant information and were committed to plans. Attendance from these practitioners at both Initial Child Protection Conferences (ICPC’s) and Review Conferences was very good, and case files suggested they had a shared understanding of their role.

Child Protection Systems
Data on child protection systems are routinely examined through the LSCP PMSG. The purpose of analysing data is that it acts as an early warning system. This enables the partnership to be informed when performance indictors may be falling out of normal parameters. Although data on child protection is provided by children’s services, this should not be seen as a performance measure for children services but a performance measure for the Partnership as all agencies have an equal role in contributing to children in need of help and protection. 

As of March 2023, there were 611 children on a child protection plan (CPP). This is lower that in March 2022 where 619 children were on a CPP. This equates to rate per ten thousand of 36.8 which is lower than both the national average (41 per 10,000) and statistical neighbours 52 per 10,000. 

The number of children experiencing emotional abuse remains the key reason of being on a CPP, reflective of the awareness in the city of the impact of this type of abuse on children. The city continues to recognise this through the strengthening of its Trauma Informed strategy. 

The age categories of children requiring a CPP have broadly remained the same over the four years of data.

The PMSG raised questions that in quarter 2, 2021 the number of Initial Child Protection Conferences (ICPC) undertaken on time fell to a significantly low level (11.4% on time in December 2021). Children’s services provided a response to the PMSG that this was due to restructure and redeployment of administrative staff across the council. Interim safety plans were presented to the PMSG and assurance that children and young people were being appropriately safeguarded. Data continues to be monitored by the PMSG and ICPC’s increased to 87.5% in March 2022. RCPC’s were not significantly impacted in the same way dropping to 61% in January 2022 and returning to levels of over 90% March 2022.
 
For children who have been on a CPP it is essential that the plan achieves both short and long-term outcomes. A measure that is considered in the PMSG is whether a child is re-referred to children’s social work service 12-24 months after the plan ends. It is welcome to see that there has been a reduction in children re-referred with 10.7% of children re-referred in 20-21 dropping to 6.4% in 21-22 and further again in March 2023 to 5.9%.  Those children who’s plan ends continue to be supported to appropriately access local universal services, including those commissioned and in the third sector.

Where families have more complex issues, it is sometimes appropriate to extend the level of support that is usually provided if safe to do so. As of March 2023, there were 8 children on plans for over two years which will include households with more than one child on a plan. This equates to 1.3%, which is lower than the mean average for all English metropolitan boroughs (4.3%)

Children Looked After (CLA)
Data pertaining to children and young people who are looked after continues to be monitored by the PMSG. The number of children who are looked after has risen over the year. 

In Leeds, as of March 2023 there are 1452 children who are looked after which is a 6% increase since March 2022. The current CLA numbers include 77 unaccompanied asylum seekers which is in line with the city’s strategy to increase and support the number coming into the city.

For context, in England, there has been a 26% increase in the number of 13–17-year-olds entering care between 2012/13 and 2018/19. The result is that more than a third of the children who entered care in 2018/19 were teenagers. Compared to younger children in care, teenagers in care are 50% more likely to have an Education, Health and Care Plan, ten times more likely to have attended alternative education, and six times more likely to be living in a residential or secure children’s home. It is important that Leeds recognises the significant events that lead to family breakdown much earlier. There are often significant points in a child’s life that can impact of their safety and wellbeing such as parental substance use, school exclusion or the death of a significant family member. 

The most recent comparative data, from March 2021, demonstrates England average shows a rate per ten thousand of 67, the core cities average at 94, and the Yorkshire and the Humber average at 78. Leeds rate per ten thousand currently sits at 80.

Most children who are looked after, live with extended family members, such as grandparents or aunties and uncles under kinship care arrangements. Leeds recognises the importance of kindship care and continues to explore and encourage these arrangements where it is safe to do so.

The ages of children coming into care have broadly remained the same over two years.

Key data in relation to CLA identified that In December 2022 (LSCP Score Card 2022-23):

• Health needs assessments undertaken on CLA remains high with 89.3% completed
• Dental checks undertaken on time reduced to 58.2% reflecting the continued difficulty of identifying a dentist for young people following Covid restrictions. These are now rising to pre pandemic levels
• All children who are looked after have a qualified social worker assigned to them to support them with their needs 
• 93% of children have engaged and completed their looked after reviews.

All three areas of Leeds have dedicated looked after children teams within the Children and Families directorate for two different age groups, age 12 and under, and 13 plus. These teams focus on the specific needs of looked after children implementing plans to ensure that more children experience permanence through adoption, special guardianship, return to their family or independence. Further scrutiny of Children’s Homes is undertaken through Independent Regulation 44 visits. Reports on the outcomes of these visits are provided to both the local authority, Ofsted and the LSCP and provide assurance that young people are provided with the best possible care.

Leeds Corporate Parenting Board chaired by the Executive Member for Adult and Children's Social Care and Health Partnerships, set out as a three-year strategy delivery from 2021-2024 is supported through a series of live action plans that are driven within specific priority theme groups led by partners / officers and supported by elected member champions. These groups are:

• Strategic Priority 1 - Looking after learning and supporting engagement and achievement in education, training, and employment
• Strategic Priority 2 - Ensuring that our children in care and care leavers have stable homes and secure support
• Strategic Priority 3 - Listening and responding to the voice of our children, young people, and care leavers
• Strategic Priority 4 - Ensuring that our children, young people and care leavers are healthy and are supported in the physical and emotional wellbeing
• Strategic Priority 5 - Developing a highly effective Care Leavers partnership
• Strategic Priority 6 - Support children and young people and care leavers to have fun and new experiences and develop their own interests

Assurance on the progress of the Corporate Parenting Board’s strategic priorities and progress are to be presented to the CYPP in 2023.

Areas for Further Assurance for the Partnership

Care Leavers are more at risk of poorer outcomes than their peers. Care leavers are much more likely to be homeless or end up in prison and may suffer from poorer mental health and higher suicide rates. The Council, as their corporate parent, has a responsibility to ensure that they have the same aspirations and interest as any parent would have for their own child. This should also include those care leavers transitioning into adulthood. This engagement should be closely monitored and supported within the PMSG to identify further opportunities for shared learning and improvement.

The LSCP PMSG need to have more assurance on the outcomes of those children that are in the care system. Although children in care data is monitored by the PMSG there needs to be more oversight on the quality of care, transitions, and outcomes. This will be built into the PMSG workplan in 2023. 

The PMSG requires more robust information regarding early help activity. Leeds Childrens Services are developing data streams to evidence this activity however, partner agencies should provide their own data and narrative that highlights evidence of change when leading on early help plans. This should include any challenges or opportunity they identify when working with children and families

Poverty remains a significant challenge for the city. All professionals across Leeds need to ensure that that they are sighted on wider social economic factors that are impacting on parenting and children alongside presenting safeguarding issues and ensure this is reflected and addressed in plans for children and families. 

This group is Chaired by a representative from the Leeds Health and Care Partnership and has met five times between 2021 and 2023.  

The purpose of this group is to maintain a line of sight of children supported through the child protection (CP) medical process and after care. This group is represented by the Police, Children and Families Service, and the Child Protection Medical Service (CPMS). Mountain Health Care are commissioned to provide sexual abuse medicals throughout West Yorkshire and contribute to this meeting, providing the MASOG with assurance that pathways into their service are effective and the support children receive following their medical is robust. 

In January 2021, the MASOG undertook the review of five cases to consider elements of decision making at the Front Door when a child is referred, and a suspected non-accidental injury may have occurred. The following learning points were identified.

• When it is not clear how a child has sustained a suspected physical injury and there is a decision not to refer a child for a CP medical, the rationale for this must be clearly recorded. This decision should never be made in isolation and consultation with all relevant partners involved in the strategy discussion must be undertaken.
• Health practitioners at the Front Door may require further specialist advice from the CPMS on whether a CP medical should be undertaken. When seeking the views from the CPMS, this should be clearly recorded within in the assessment including the name and job role of the professional consulted. 
• The review identified challenges for the CPMS in balancing the rights of parents to refuse their child from having a CP medical, and what is in the best interests for the child. If a parent (or child with capacity to make decisions themselves) refuses a CP medical, a further strategy discussion to assess the impact this may have on the child’s safety and well-being must be considered. In non-emergency situations, when parental permission is not obtained, the social worker may need to seek legal advice. 

The child protection medical guidance has been updated to reflect this learning and can be found here.

The LSCP Secure Settings Subgroup monitors the safeguarding arrangements in three secure settings in Leeds (Wetherby Young Offenders Institute, Adel beck Secure Children’s Home and the Police Custody Suite) providing oversight and challenge in relation to safeguarding. 

Due to their different cohorts, their different governing bodies, and the different ways in which they operate it is not possible to provide a comparison across the estates, rather a narrative and analysis of each setting.

For all of the secure estates 2021 - 22 continued to be a particularly difficult year with respect to the COVID Pandemic, periods of isolation and everchanging landscapes in relation to government guidance and how that translates within the different estates. However, each estate has adapted practice in relation to the current circumstances and worked hard to ensure the safety of both children and staff, often in a backdrop of reduced staffing capacity due to issues arising because of the pandemic.

It is acknowledged that all children and young people within secure settings remain an extremely vulnerable group. All the establishments have worked hard, creatively and within some ever-changing unknowns to safeguard this group of children and young people. Both Wetherby YOI and Adel Beck have recently been inspected however the LSCP, through its Secure Setting Sub-group monitor and support these secure settings to be assured that children and young people’s safety and well-being continue to be of a good standard. 

The Sub-Group acts as the link between the secure estates and the wider LSCP in providing assurance in relation to the safeguarding of the children and young people resident in the three estates, and in addition to the three estates the subgroup has the following representation:

• Children and Families Service; Youth Justice
• The South and West Yorkshire Resettlement Service
• Children and Families Service; CSWS 
• Leeds Community Healthcare who provides health services for Wetherby YOI and Adel Beck.

The group is chaired by a representative of the West and South Yorkshire Resettlement Consortium They meet quarterly having met seven times since April 2022.

Wetherby Young Offenders Institute (YOI)
Wetherby YOI caters for males aged 15 to 18 years old serving a detention and training order sentence of up to 2 years and those remanded into custody from sentencing courts within the catchment area of Humberside, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and designated areas of Lancashire and Greater Manchester. It incorporates the Keppel Unit (A national resource looking after some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the YOI estate) which specialises in providing a safe and supportive environment for some of the most challenging and vulnerable young people in the country, whose needs cannot be met in the mainstream prison system. The establishment is administered by HMPS (Her Majesty’s Prison Service) as part of the Yorkshire and Humberside Prison region and has a capacity of 326 young people, including 48 in the Keppel Unit. 

The LSCP were informed in 2022, that following the closure of Rainsbrook Secure Training Centre, girls would be placed at Wetherby YOI. Concerns were raised by Partners within the Secure Setting Subgroup with regards to the appropriateness of the placement of girls at a male YOI, and specifically the anticipated timeframe for this arrangement to be in place, decision processes in relation to placing girls at Wetherby YOI, the impact in relation to available accommodation in the Keppel Unit and appropriate medical facilities for girls including any pregnant girls and new mothers. 

The LSCP Independent Chair also contacted the Executive Director of the Youth Custody Service (YSC) to raise these concerns. A response was provided giving assurance that placing females at Wetherby would be a temporary measure for the next 18-24 months whilst other options are considered. This is an area that will be closely monitored by the Sub- group.

The LSCP has also been assured of ongoing work in relation to the accommodation of females into Wetherby YOI, including identifying a suitable area within the Keppel Unit which has been reconfigured to provide females with a suitable physical and emotional environment. Funding has been secured to allow for the reconfiguration of other parts of the establishment to accommodate the needs of females, for example, medical facilities, and staff have been specifically selected to work with the girls along with the appointment of a Head of Young People’s Female Services, who is responsible for coordinating and managing the work with the girls within Wetherby YOI.

The LSCP were also made aware of the challenges of undertaking child protection medicals with children within secure estates. All child protection medicals for children from Wetherby YOI currently take place within community setting, however this requires all children from Wetherby YOI to be transported and escorted to medical appointments, sometimes in handcuffs and accompanied by prison staff throughout the process, although prison staff are separated by a curtain when the medical is taking place. This is resource intensive and impacts on the child’s privacy and dignity. However, to hold child protection medicals within Wetherby YOI is also resource intensive requiring a pediatrician to attend Wetherby YOI impacting on their limited time to manage clinics within the hospital.  Conversations have been held between NHS England, (the service commissioner) Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (the service provider), and the YCS with regards to identifying the most suitable location for child protection medicals for children within Wetherby YOI. This work has been completed to ensure that child protection medicals currently held within the community setting continue to be undertaken in a way which affords the highest level of dignity and support for those children.

The impact of the introduction of Operation Safeguard (the national response to a surge in the prison population) whereby children are assessed on an individual basis, and where appropriate, their transfer to the adult estate is deferred until their 19th birthday in order to afford capacity within the adult estate, is being monitored by the Secure Settings Subgroup. This will be considered further in the next report LSCP Annual Report.

Adel Beck Secure Children’s Home 
Adel Beck is a secure children’s home (SCH) (Secure Childrens Homes provide accommodation for young people aged 10-17yrs who have been remanded into local authority care either as a result of a custodial decision, or on welfare grounds.) operated by Leeds City Council and is approved by the Department for Education. It accommodates up to 24 children and young people of different genders aged between 10-17 years of age. It provides for up to 14 children and young people placed by the Youth Custody Service and up to 10 children and young people subject to section 25 (welfare) of the Children Act 1989 who are placed by Local Authorities. The admission of children under 13 years of age on welfare grounds under section 25 requires the approval of the Secretary of State for Education.

In May 2021 Adel Beck were inspected by Ofsted receiving an overall judgement of outstanding, compared to good in 2020. The elements of the review were judged as follows:

• Children’s education and learning: outstanding
• Children’s health: good
• How well children and young people are helped and protected: outstanding.

Elland Road Police Custody Suite 
Leeds is one of five districts served by West Yorkshire Police and is the largest with regards to the population it serves. The main custody suite in Leeds is located at Elland Road Police Station and has 40 cells available, however if required there is additional capacity at Stainbeck Police Station

There is a dedicated booking in space for children, young people and vulnerable individuals, which is separate to the main booking space. Although all cells are the same, children and young people are placed in cells located on a corridor specifically for vulnerable individuals. This allows closer monitoring, and if required cells with CCTV and larger windows are utilised.

The total number of arrests during 2021 - 22 amounts to 1070, a slight increase from the previous year and represents 34% of arrests made by West Yorkshire Police Service. Additionally, the number of children and young people processed by attending on a voluntary basis rather than going through the custody area is 556, a higher percentage to other districts.  
West Yorkshire Police aims to process children and young people through the custody area as quickly as possible (unless being held overnight for Court). There were 608 young people detained and released within 12 hours. However, there has been an increase of those detained for longer periods during this year (38.3% being held over 12hrs compared to 35.2% the previous year.) This is likely to be reflective of the increasing number of serious offences for which those young people are held to enable the investigation to take place and to manage risk.

Youth Custody Service Incident Review 
A multi-agency review was undertaken by the Youth Custody Service in response to concerns regarding the transportation of a young person from a secure setting to a hospital environment. Within the course of the transportation the young person was placed within leg restraints, which remained in place for a projected time period including whilst in hospital which no one questioned. There was no ongoing assessment or consideration within regards to the need to retain the use of the restraints.

Relevant partner agencies were involved with the review and policing partners were praised for their openness, transparency and providing open access for the reviewer. This review was also presented to the RAG and below are key areas of learning:  

• A lack of professional curiosity, no-one considered if the restraints used on the young person continued to be necessary or questioned if the rationale for the use of restraints that had initially been applied remained applicable.
• A lack of handover between services in relation to the use of the restraints – the reasoning for the use of the restraints was not discussed or questioned. There was a level of professional respect with regards to decisions made by other practitioners.

This review highlights the consistency of other reviews across the partnership regarding the need to improve professional curiosity and to encourage practitioners to question what may not seem right. This review will now inform the broader plan to ensure this area improves across the partnership.
 
Restraints
The LSCP has a duty to report on restraints within secure estates and this data is collated annually through the Secure Settings Annual Report.

Restraints (all restraints undertaken by Wetherby YOI from low to high level, and planned and unplanned) within the Wetherby main site have fluctuated between 42 in September 2021 and 105 in February 2022, with the average of the other months being 74. Within the Keppel Unit, numbers were significantly lower (6 to 19) with a similar spike (42) in February 2022.

Unplanned incidents remain higher, and the spikes are attributed to a small number of children. These range from children waiting for hospital places and the behaviour they have displayed, preventing self-harm but also cuffing having to be used to escort them due the risk they have posed to themselves and others.

The reviewing of incidents involving girls is done separately by Wetherby’s MMPR manager and the YCS central team.

Wetherby YOI have adopted reflective practise after incidents and open discussions around them, looking for learning outcomes and support for the staff involved. It has been acknowledged that the arrival of the girls increased staff anxiety and extra training has been offered to upskill staff around this.

To support all staff with this learning, Wetherby YOI have adapted their refresher training to reflect the live incidents experienced in planned scenarios.

WYP Custody Suite 
Records detail that 915 children and young people had force used on them pre-detention, 739 of these recorded as having soft physical force used. 78 of the children and young people received physical force post detention within the custody area (55 recorded as soft physical). These numbers are reflective of the type of offence an individual was arrested for.

The third sector remains a significant partner. Within the LSCP structure there is a Third Sector Reference Group which is a valuable safeguarding resource to the partnership as third sector organisations often respond to safeguarding challenges for children and families that do not reach the level of statutory intervention. 
The purpose of this group is to maintain strong relationships with the Third Sector. It acts as a conduit to sharing learning from LSCP Safeguarding Reviews and highlight any challenges or opportunities from the Third Sector into the Safeguarding Partnership. The TSSG is also key to encouraging Third Sector agencies to have appropriate safeguarding governance arrangements compliant with Section 11 of Children Act.

The TSSG is led by Young Lives Leeds Forum, which is a strategic forum for Third Sector organisations working to improve the lives of children, young people, and their families in Leeds. It is important to note that not all third sector organisations are members of the organisation. The TSSG consistently reviews its membership to encourage broader engagement, especially from under-represented groups. The group is Chaired by the CEO of Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service and has met six times since 2021.

Safeguarding in Faith
In 2021 LSCP secured £32,500 of national funding to commission a part time officer to:

• Foster stronger relationships with the Faith Sector
• Develop self-assessment tools to encourage stronger safeguarding arrangements in faith organisation
• Ambition to deliver a multi-faith safeguarding conference to promote safeguarding and listen to the needs of the faith sector.

There have been some difficulties in recruiting to this post with the advert going out three times with no successful applications received. The LSCP Business Manager has met with the Leeds Faith Forum and a representative from Young Lives Leeds to jointly take this work forward early in 2023 which will include:

• Recruitment of a part time faith worker
• Establish a faith sector safeguarding steering group
• Work with safeguarding faith leads to co-design adapted versions of Safeguarding basics training
• Support safeguarding faith leads to deliver training in their communities
• Hold a multi-faith conference to share best practice and embed learning.
• Develop a ‘safeguarding in faith’ toolkit in different languages highlighting the importance of robust safeguarding governance arrangements within their place of worship

This project will also take into account findings from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse report, Child protection in religious organisations and settings. 

This meeting is Chaired by a senior representative from West Yorkshire Police and the Vice Chair is from the Leeds Health and Care Partnership.  

Leeds have developed strong multi-agency arrangements to respond to child exploitation through its Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) arrangements, the RVSG is the silver strategic group within these arrangements. The purpose of the RVSG is to ensure that the city’s Child Exploitation Strategy and action plan is delivered and to monitor data and intelligence to better understand the picture of exploitation across the city. 

The RVSG strategy outlines a focused approach and a robust multi-agency response towards prevention, early identification and intervention of children and young people, and the proactive targeting, disrupting, and prosecuting of individuals or groups who seek to exploit, abuse and harm children. The RVSG are responsible for ensuring the city’s Child Exploitation Strategy and Action plan in Leeds provides leadership and direction in this area and during 2022 acknowledged that the Strategy requires a refresh to reflect the complexity of this work. Progress on the action plan included:

• Review of the Bronze MACE arrangements in 2020 which recommended the Bronze group should be split into two separate meetings ‘Child Focused’ and ‘Contextual’ which is now in place.
• Developed online Exploitation training opportunities for professionals during the Pandemic. This course continues to be available however the numbers of professionals accessing this course has reduced during 2022. This course continues to be promoted throughout the partnership.
• Delivered campaigns as a response to emerging themes eg: money laundering 

Gold MACE: Gold MACE have strategic leadership and oversight of the city’s Child Exploitation Strategy. These meetings take place immediately after the LSCP Executive meeting while the leaders from the three key agencies responsible for safeguarding are in attendance. In response to the Gold Group’s request to review the Child Exploitation strategy, the RVSG are currently undertaking a multi-agency review of this strategy and underpinning action plan. There have been four sessions (September-March 2023) with representation from Health, Education, Police, Social Care, Youth Justice Service, Safer Stronger Communities, and the Third Sector reviewing the four strategic objectives:

1: Identify
To establish comprehensive and accurate data profiles and identify early indicators of risk and vulnerability. These are to enable the identification of children at risk and perpetrators (individuals, groups, locations, and patterns, including across borders), to inform partnership understanding and the targeting of professional responses, to enable early identification and effective child safeguarding and to prevent, divert or prosecute those who facilitate and /or seek exploit and abuse.

2: Prevent
To prevent children and young people experiencing or continuing to experience sexual and criminal exploitation. This in relation to preventing children being at risk of harm and abuse from: going missing from home, care or view; experiencing or continuing to experience sexual and / or criminal exploitation; peer on peer abuse, and harmful sexual behaviour. Through responding proactively to information and intelligence shared about individuals and groups in order to divert or prosecute those who seek to abuse and harm.

3: Support and Protect
To intervene early and provide information and services to children, young people, parents, carers, friends and communities through restorative, holistic and multi-agency whole family approaches.

4: Respond appropriately to those who seek to harm children 
To successfully disrupt and/or prosecute those who perpetrate the exploitation and abuse of children and young people; ensuring a child focussed approach where perpetrators are children. This in conjunction with the prevention and diversion of crimes against children wherever possible. 

The outcome of this review will be presented to the LSCP Gold Group with a view to being embedded into the safeguarding arrangements in the city in May 2023. 

Child Exploitation in Leeds

West Yorkshire Police have identified an increasing number of young people being exploited through online money laundering. Criminals resorting to the use of social media to recruit young people by using images of fast cars, piles of cash and messages such as “earn some fast cash”. 

Young people responding to these messages are offered money in exchange for their bank details. This led to a campaign, in partnership with West Yorkshire Police, that replicated the messages used by the criminals to inform young people about money laundering. Young people who clicked on the campaign were provided with an explanation of how criminals use social media to recruit young people, a definition of money laundering, what the long-term consequences could be and where to go for support. The campaign launched in March 2022 and achieved a total of 25,719 engagements. Young people spent an average of 2min 40 seconds on the page which is the amount of time it takes to read the information. 

Headlines of exploitation in Leeds include: 

• This is a highly complex area of work involving all partners, statutory services, early help, families, and communities. Significant progress is being made in relation to practice, process, systems, and learning
• A shift in the Leeds profile as systems have been developed to enable data capture and reporting of different forms of exploitation 
• Understanding, knowledge and practitioner confidence continues to increase around Child Exploitation
• It is essential that the city maintains continued focus on Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) to ensure children at risk of this receive the best possible support.
• LSCP social media campaigns around exploitation continue to reach large numbers of young people and enable them to access both information and where to get support
• Preventative work and early identification for younger children and young people identified with emerging risks is crucial. The Bronze Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) meetings and the Early Help Hubs partnership work are key to this area of work.
• Research highlights children on reduced timetables, who are excluded or who are Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET) are more vulnerable and the link between these issues and child exploitation remain clear

Data demonstrates that children in Leeds who are known to be at risk of/experiencing exploitation have been predominately White British, however further work should be undertaken to better understand the impact of exploitation in other communities in Leeds. This will be explored further through the refreshed Child Exploitation Strategy. 
Data on child exploitation in Leeds over the last 12 months demonstrated lower trends to previous years.  

The lower numbers of children experiencing exploitation may be a result of many factors. Exploitation awareness training aimed at professionals supports early identification and mitigation of risk factors. Targeted awareness raising to children provide opportunities for education and where to get support. The Bronze MACE allows professional to discuss emerging cases with other professional enabling early responses to divert children away from exploitative relationships.

Areas of improvement 

Child exploitation remains an issue that impacts on the most vulnerable children and young people in the city. The current refresh of the Child Exploitation Strategy and underpinning action for Leeds requires partners commitment going forward. Close monitoring of its implementation and evidence of improvements should be a focus for the LCYPP.

Exploitation goes beyond traditional CP processes where the risks to young people are generally intra-familial. This changes in the teenage years. Developmentally, adolescence is a time of exploration, increasing independence, and risk taking. Young people become more engaged with, and influenced by, peer norms and relationships, and other adults, groups and communities not connected to their families, including online. These extra-familial contexts can pose a new set of complex risks for children, and these must be considered and addressed in all exploitation risk assessments. In July 2022, Leeds Childrens Services were successful in a bid for Professor Carlene Firmin to work in Leeds to support the city’s plans to strengthen contextual assessments and pathways for children. There were initial trial meetings in the east of the city over January and February 2023. The outcome of this work will be incorporated into the review and refresh of Leeds Child Exploitation Strategy and action plan due for completion in March 2023.

There are often key identifiers which make children more vulnerable to being abused through exploitation and these should be considered in all assessments. Furthermore, Leeds should consider the language used when assessing children e.g., terms such as ‘low’ risk may minimise the perceived risk for children who may not yet be experiencing exploitation but have multiple indicators that may need addressing immediately to prevent risks escalating in the future. The Risk and Vulnerability Subgroup will review the city’s exploitation risk assessment tools acknowledging the work undertaken in the city by Carlene Firmin.

The LSCP Risk and Vulnerability Strategic group will promote and encourage organisations to sign up, and feed information into the Police Partnership Intelligence Portal. (PIP). This portal is used for professionals to share information about routine criminality through to serious and organised crime that can impact on children in the city.

Looking forward, the review of the Child Exploitation Strategy and Action Plan originally written in 2019 by the LSCP Silver group will be informed by these findings. This will be presented to the LSCP Gold Group in May 2023

Youth Violence 

In April 2021 the Violence and Vulnerability Unit (VVU) were commissioned by Leeds Council to undertake an Extended Learning Review. During the VVU over 60 staff from across the statutory, voluntary and community sectors were spoken to. During these discussions, those involved spoke about the violence and criminal exploitation challenges facing young people and their families across Leeds, the good practice in place to support these families, and what may be required to further develop work in Leeds linked to community harm.

From the information captured a set of recommendations were prepared by the VVU. These recommendations were agreed and accepted by the Safer Leeds Partnership.

Work on the VVU Extended Learning Review recommendations was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2022 work on the recommendations re-commenced. The senior leaders team agreed with the support of the VVU, the development of this work would be progressed through a multi- agency task and finish group. The task and finish group would have joint Chairs from Community Safety, Social Care, and the Police.

The Task and Finish group are now progressing its action plan which includes:

• Build a detailed understanding of the issue of violence, including youth violence, urban street gangs, wider community harm and violence in the city centre to inform the development of any future strategy and associated action plan(s).
• Review existing multi-agency approaches and work arrangements, with a view to streamlining governance and operational delivery alongside national best practice to present recommendations for improvement. This will feature a pan Leeds approach/meeting holding an overview of youth crime in and across Leeds. There will also be a locally based meeting structure in the three main areas of Leeds to support frontline workers with families and young people affected by youth violence and/or exploitation.
• Create a structure that will create a more integrated and streamline structure which will reduce duplication of work with young people and families in this complex landscape.
• Review existing interventions and support arrangements, alongside national best practice to align further with the multi-agency approach.
• Promote the understanding of signs and identification of violence including youth violence, USGs and associated issues across the public, private and community sectors in the city.
• Develop a partnership training and awareness raising programme for the multi-agency approach.

It is essential that the VVU and Risk and Vulnerability Subgroup maintain close working relationships ensuring a joined up approach to both youth violence and exploitation.

Education engages with children and their families every day and therefore have a significant role in safeguarding children. Early Years providers, school and college staff are key as they can identify concerns early, provide help for children and to prevent concerns from escalating. Early Years providers, schools and colleges and their staff form part of the wider safeguarding system for children where agencies are expected to work together to ensure children are safeguarded and their welfare protected.

The LSCP structure has an Education Reference Group which informs the Partnership and provides an opportunity to drive forward priorities. The purpose of the ERG is to maintain strong relationships and engagement opportunities within the Education Sector across Leeds. It also supports the sector with implementing updates of Keeping Children Safe in Education, being assured that schools are compliant with Section 157/175 of the Educational Act and ensures a central point for disseminating learning from safeguarding reviews. The sub-group will also be an opportunity for schools to share their issues to inform the partnership and support wider educational strategies including the Children and Young People’s Plan. This has led to seeking the broader engagement of partners including school nurses, school police officers and designated safeguarding leads and identifying a new chair from the education sector.

In the past the ERG has provided a significant contribution to the work of the LSCP; however, in 2021 There were some difficulties in identifying a Chair to lead on this group which significantly impacted on progressing its workplan. the ERG has met only twice in 2021 and met just once in 2022 limiting opportunities in this area. In December 2022 a new Chair has come forward and will be taking the work of this group forward. 

This is a key area for development for the Partnership, to ensure it continues to build on and strengthen partnership working with the education sector. The Independent Review of Childrens Social Care highlights the importance of the education sector having strategic influence in responding to the needs of children.