Partnership Responses to Safeguarding

The following provides a summary of safeguarding work undertaken by the LSCP’s partner agencies (Children and Families services is referenced later in the report).

The Health Economy

The Heath Economy is the term used for all of the different health agencies that make up the whole of the health service in Leeds. This includes: Leeds CCG of healthcare services; Leeds Community Healthcare Trust (LCH); Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust (LTHT); Leeds and York Partnership Foundation Trust (LYPFT); and Primary Care (includes General Practices).

Leeds CCG has employed a Specialist Safeguarding Nurse Practitioner since 2017 to represent Primary Care at the Front Door. This role is co-located alongside social care and the police, and in January 2020 was integrated within a newly established Health Economy Team at the Front Door. LCH currently provide a full time practitioner from within the 0-19 service, and LYPFT employ a full time practitioner and a clerical support post, with funding which was jointly provided from the LSAB and LSCP. The impact of this is under review to ensure it continues to be effective and meet the needs of families in Leeds.

The Health Team at the Front Door has 3 main functions;

• Providing support to social care colleagues at Duty and Advice
• Contributing to the Daily Risk and Co-ordination Meetings incorporating the MARAC (Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference) known as the Front Door Safeguarding Hub (FDSH)
• Working with West Yorkshire Police and Children’s Social Care to facilitate Strategy Meetings.

Emotional and Mental Health of Children

The LSCP continues to recognise the importance of how children and young people are supported with their mental and emotional health needs. Leeds continues its commitment to promote mental health and emotional wellbeing for all children and young people through its Transformation Plan. This is a five-year strategic plan with a vision to deliver whole system change to children and young people’s emotional and mental health support and service provision in the city. The plan incorporates priorities from primary prevention through to specialist provision and focuses on improving both children and young people’s experience and outcomes.

Progress continues with the Best Start Programme, a broad preventative programme from conception to age 2 years which is jointly led by Pubic Health and Children’s Services. The Best Start Programme aims to ensure a good start for every baby, with early identification and targeted support for vulnerable families early in the life of the child. In the longer term, this will promote social and emotional capacity and cognitive growth, and aims to break inter-generational cycles of neglect, abuse and violence. Evidence demonstrates that frequent, intense and poorly resolved parental conflict can have a negative impact on children’s mental health and long term life-chances.

There is a detailed partnership Implementation Plan which is currently being refreshed. The Infant Mental Health Service is jointly commissioned by LCC Public Health, Children’s Services and the CCG. The model of service includes training, consultation and advice to professionals, and a referral service. In the last year, the Infant Mental Health service has enabled 289 practitioners to understand infant neurodevelopment, attachment theory and how to promote responsiveness and sensitivity in parents.

There are a number of services commissioned to support young people and the following provides examples of services in Leeds (this list is not exhaustive):

• Teen Connect is a Leeds CCG commissioned service providing confidential online / phone emotional support for young people aged 13-18 (and their parents), who are experiencing mental health crisis. From April 2020 the offer was extended to children aged 10 in recognition of the key impact transition to secondary school can have on mental health
• Leeds Mind Mate (mental health and wellbeing work with children and young people in Leeds) continues to be developed and includes the Mind-Mate self-help website, MindMate SPA, a single point of access for many emotional wellbeing and mental health referrals; and MindMate Wellbeing Support.

In response to this, Leeds is working with other local authorities across Yorkshire and Humberside to jointly commission a website, awareness raising campaign and workforce development programme called ‘Relationship Matters’.

LCH is the lead CAMHS provider for the West Yorkshire New Care Models (NCM) two-year pilot, which commenced in April 2018. This programme has evidenced a reduction in admissions and length of stay in CAMHS beds and the expenditure gains retained by the provider partnership have been reinvested in improving community CAMHS services.

This created funds to support the creation of a dedicated community CAMHS crisis team, though only within normal working hours. The 2019 commissioning intention created the resource to expand the provision to seven days a week until midnight. The service model is peripatetic and will support children and young people where they are, e.g., Safe Zone, children’s home, school / college, etc.

The new West Yorkshire purpose-built specialist community CAMHS unit is being built in Leeds (completion due September 2021). This unit will provide 18 specialist places and six psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) beds. The unit will support young people from across West Yorkshire suffering from complex mental illness, such as severe personality disorders and eating disorders.

Within the estate is the design for a Section 136 unit, for children required to be detained for their safety, which in the first instance will be for Leeds young people and is seen as integral to the Leeds crisis offer for children and young people.

Data provided to the LSCP on Emergency Department attendances for mental health / emotional health issues can be seen below.

Diagnosis / Chief Complaint	2018/19	2019/20
Depressive disorder	233	22%	349	31%
Intentional self-harm	229	22%	220	19%
Anxiety disorder	161	15%	154	14%
Suicidal intent	150	14%	146	13%
Recreational drug use	62	6%	62	5%
Self-inflicted injury	58	5%	50	4%
Anxiety	28	3%	18	1%
Depression	26	2%	21	2%
Behaviour: bizarre	25	2%	19	2%
Personality disorder	25	2%	16	1%
Psychotic disorder	19	2%	20	2%
Eating disorder	13	1%	20	2%
Behaviour: violent	12	1%	16	1%
Hallucinations / delusions	9	1%	7	1%
Other	10	1%	14	1%
Total	1060	1132

It is difficult to assess from the data provided whether or not the attendances to Emergency Departments were always appropriate or not. The number of attendances does not necessarily mean the number of children and some children may have attended on more than one occasion. However, it clearly demonstrates that attendance has increased for depressive disorder and that there has been a reduction or stabilisation of attendances in all the other domains.

The Community Support Record

The Community Support Record (also known as the dynamic risk register), regarded as a key deliverable of the Transforming Care Programme, and has been fully implemented. The register is a tool used by practitioners across agencies to dynamically assess the risk, of a child or young person with a learning disability and or Autism, experiencing placement breakdown. 

This approach enables practitioners to risk assess children and young people using a traffic light system. Where a child or young person is assessed at being at greatest risk (red) the lead practitioner is expected to notify the Commissioning Manager for Children with Complex Needs at the CCG to discuss whether a Care Education and Treatment Review (CETR) should be held. Where lower level risks are identified practitioners work together to ensure the child or young person is able to access appropriate co-ordinated multi-agency services across health, education and social care. The CSR enables health colleagues to work more effectively with partners to support this group of children and young people to work towards meeting their needs in the community and the number of children admitted into tier four CAMHS inpatient provision is reduced.

0-19 Public Health Integrated Nursing Service (PHINS)

As of 1st April 2019, Leeds City Council (LCC) Public Health commissioned the 0-19 Public Health Integrated Nursing Service (PHINS), bringing together Health Visiting and School Nursing services for the city, which includes:

• A single integrated nursing service for children from 0-19 years old. This will ensure that families see the right practitioner, at the right time, in the right place and enable families to continue to work with the same health practitioner over a longer period of time
• Co-location of the service into Children’s Centre’s as part of Early Start Teams, to reach children, young people and their families in the heart of their communities, building on the existing integrated service model
• A new digital offer to children and young people (11-19) to access the support of the school nursing service. ChatHealth, a confidential text messaging service that will enable young people to send questions via SMS. The response may include brief advice, an offer of direct support from the service or signposting to other services. The CCG Communication team periodically shares data with the LSCP on levels of engagement and was especially important during COVID-19
• Increased flexibility and accessibility to the service. Clinical staff are available 8.00am – 8.00pm on weekdays and elements of the service will be delivered within these extended hours in order to better meet the needs of families
• Increased focus on improving coverage of the mandated contacts for those families who have been assessed as having greater need for support
• Contributing to reviewing child deaths and implementing any recommendations.

Both early help and safeguarding are key functions of the 0-19 PHINS service, and improved access to the service seeks to maximise the ability of the service to contribute to the safeguarding agenda across Leeds.

The LSCP recognises the work and investment across the city in young people’s mental and emotional health services. Previous LSCP annual reports identify the importance of having services that respond to young people’s early emotional needs, through providing information and advice and continuously to those children requiring more intensive interventions.

The LSCP would like to explore further how adult services across Leeds contribute and respond to those parents who may be struggling to care for their children due to their own emotional or mental health, drugs/alcohol misuse or domestic violence.

Education

The LSCP recognise that when children are accessing good quality education provision this increases their ability to be protected and have access to good quality support to protect them from harm. 

Within Leeds there are 222 primary schools, 44 secondary schools, five LA maintained Specialist Inclusion Learning Centre’s and four special or alternative provisions.

Leeds has 73 Academy schools, in comparison there are 193 Maintained Schools (overseen, or ‘maintained’, by the Local Authority), and while the number of academies in England is expanding, the majority of state schools in Leeds are maintained schools.

Ofsted judgements of schools demonstrate that the vast majority of schools in Leeds are judged either ‘Good’ (67%) or ‘Outstanding’ (16%). There were 11% of schools judged as ‘Requires Improvement’ and 6% ‘Inadequate’. Those schools where Ofsted identify improvements are required can access support through the local authority Education Safeguarding Team or the LSCP Education Reference Group.

As a major city Leeds also has a wide range of further education colleges and three universities with internationally recognised research and teaching; University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University and Trinity Leeds University.

Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)

The law requires all young people in England to continue in education or training until at least their 18th birthday, although in practice the vast majority of young people continue until the end of the academic year in which they turn 18.

Whilst the Department for Education (DfE) provides the framework to increase participation and reduce the proportion of young people NEET, responsibility and accountability lies with local authorities who have a critical role to play in supporting young people to access education and training, and therefore in understanding the characteristics and current activity of the young people in their area.

The DfE monitors the performance of local authorities in delivering their duties, and specifically in their tracking and supporting of 16 and 17 year olds, using data collected by authorities and submitted to the National Client Caseload Information System (NCCIS). NCCIS includes data showing the numbers of young people participating in education or training, those who are not participating, those who are NEET or those whose current activity is not known.

The overview of NEET in Leeds is as follows:

• In 2020, the NEET / Not Known figure has come down to 7.2%, an improvement of 2.7% since the previous year. This reflects the cross working that has taken place with colleagues across children’s services and with other directorates. Leeds is ranked 126th out of 150 LAs and remains in the 5th quintile but closer to the 4th quintile
• The combined NEET figure of 7.2% is made up of NEET 2.4% and Not Known 4.8%
• Leeds is behind all comparators except core cities where the figure for NEET / Not Known is 8.4%
• NEET / Not Known figures have fallen in Leeds for young people who are Special Education Needs (SEN) Support (from 8.4 to 5.1) or have a Statement / Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in place (15.9 to 11.5), however they are behind the national averages
• NEET / Not Known figures have fallen in Leeds for all ethnicities, with White (7.8) and Mixed 6.9 young people representing a bigger proportion of the overall NEET / Not Known figures
• More boys are NEET / Not Known than girls, 6.4% and 7.9% respectively.

National statistics identify groups most likely to be NEET for the year were similar to those in research carried out by Social Finance in Newcastle:

• Were or have been a child looked after 
• Were or have been in the Children in Need census but not a child looked after
• Attended alternative provision or a pupil referral unit (AP/PRU)
• Over 10% absence in key stage 3 or 4, excluded in key stage 3 or 4 or have special educational needs at age 15 (SEN/Absent/Excluded)
• Eligible for free school meals during secondary school (FSM).

Educational attainment is one of the ‘Obsessions’ of the Leeds Children and Young People’s Plan. It is acknowledged that some children and young people face particular challenges in getting the most out of their education, with research and national data highlighting the following areas of greater inequalities:

• Children from deprived families and communities
• Children with special educational needs and disabilities
• Children in Need
• Children from Black, Asian and Minority backgrounds are all more likely to be vulnerable to underachievement than their peers.

Leeds have identified some improvements in outcomes for the most vulnerable learners, the performance is still below that of other areas of the country. In improving educational outcomes for all, there needs to be a continued drive to narrow the gap between vulnerable learners and other children and young people in the city.

It is vital that every child has the opportunity to reach their potential or the city will miss out on the skills and potential of its young people. While the Council has a different role in education than in the past, it retains a duty to champion the needs of all children, to promote equality and cohesion and to build an inclusive and successful economy for all. As such, it is clear that change is needed.

The ‘Three As’ strategy sets out the city’s direction and approach to change. The Three As are:

• Attendance’ because it is recognised that being in schools means children are not just more likely to learn but be safe and build friendships
• Attainment’ to focus on exam results and academic progress
• Achievement’, here defined in its widest sense to include not just exams but personal and social development and wider growth and success.

Outcomes for children in the early years foundation stage are among the lowest in the country and the proportion of young people remaining in learning and achieving good qualifications by age 19 is also low although improving. Leeds have committed to significantly improving outcomes in all of these areas, so that all children and young people in Leeds, at every stage of their education, are supported to reach their potential.

Following the implementation of the Leeds Learning for Life Strategy there was an improvement in results at the end of primary school, and GCSE results are also much improved, and the strategy demonstrates a determination to continue to build on this progress.

Effective Governance in Schools

The Annual Review Monitoring (ARM) return is a self-reporting compliance document which aims to support schools in ensuring safeguarding arrangements are robust and in line with LSCP Section 11 audit standards. In 2019/20 297 forms were sent out with a 100% return rate. Schools are advised to share the returns with their full governing body as part of their own safeguarding quality assurance processes, however due to COVID-19 restrictions returns were not counter-signed by the Chair of the requisite governing body this year.

Overall schools are reporting a high compliance to their statutory safeguarding arrangements with all schools reporting over 90% compliance across all areas with the exception of safer recruitment training of head teachers and governors, and governing body briefings. However, this is mainly due to schools identifying that refresher training is required. Improvements in compliance is monitored and supported the Local Authority Education Safeguarding Team.

Electively Home Educated (EHE)

An Association of Directors of Children and Families survey in 2019 evidenced how across the 106 councils which responded, around 40,000 children were being home educated. The survey suggests around 58,000 children were being home educated across England as a whole and that as many as 80,000 children could be home educated at some point during the school year as they may dip in and out of accessing school provision. Nationally the precise figures are unknown due to parents not having to register children that are home educated, resulting in councils using various sources to estimate the numbers.

As in previous years Leeds has continued to see a rise in the number of new notifications of children becoming electively home educated.

The number of young people who are home educated are 630, up from 610 in 2018 and 468 in 2017. Of the 630, 272 were of primary school age and 358 were secondary school age. 25 of those children had an Education and Health Care Plan

While each case is unique, there are some clear trends:

• Around 1/3 have come from BAME families- particularly Asian / white and dual background ethnicities, with family groups all becoming EHE at the same time 
• 27% are eligible for free school meals. This is a trend seen in previous years
• Four have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
• 22 are recorded as requiring SEN support
• More cases having had previous social care involvement at some time prior to EHE
• Many children had previous low attendance at school
• Some are below expected levels of attainment for their years.

From 1st September 2020 to 1st October 2020 (Census Day), 153 new notifications of parent’s choice to home educate were received, this is in comparison to 62 in the same period the previous year.

It is of particular note that some children feature more than once in the year.

The number of EHE closures seems partially due to the closer working of the EHE Team and Attendance Team, with work to streamline the processes where there has been little or no evidence of a suitable education for the child’s age, aptitude and special needs if any. This has led to 128 referrals for school attendance orders resulting in 62 children returned to school and 66 currently being supported to either provide more evidence of a suitable plan for education or moving to a school return. No cases have yet gone to court but attendance officer support has enabled a process of escalation, much of which is in line with the updated DFE Guidelines  for local authorities published in April 2019. 

In Leeds there remains a continued focus on the safety and wellbeing of EHE children with a specialist teacher working directly with those on a Child in Need (CIN) plan / Child Protection Plan (CPP)  or experiencing mental health issues to enable swift supported return to school or to appropriate educational provision (e.g. Medical Needs Teaching Service). There is also a relentless focus on literacy and numeracy and whether the child is socially integrated with other children and activities.

During the initial period of the COVID-19 Pandemic (March to August 2020), the BSU sought assurances that all home educating families were contacted. The following identifies work undertaken by EHE team:

• Contact with families was made three times offering signposting to support if required
• All families were sent information on Leeds local services and websites of educational content
• Where a family was not contactable by phone or email, then the team undertook doorstep home visits and delivered information by hand
• The EHE team has continued to undertake safeguarding visits during 2019/20.

The majority of children educated at home receive good support from their family and other networks however there are a growing number of children who are taken off school roll without having appropriate educational and welfare support.

An independent citywide review was undertaken in response to the death of a young man who had lived all his life in Leeds and was educated at home for the majority of his secondary school education. The city aims to ensure the action plan improves the experience of EHE for children, young people and families in the city and an opportunity for honest reflection around the balance of rights and responsibilities around home education and safeguarding, which we intend to advocate nationally for children who do not have the eyes and ears of a school environment. 

Children Missing Education (CME)

All children, regardless of their circumstances, are entitled to a full-time education which is suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have, however there are many reasons why children and young people do not routinely access school provision and go missing from education.

In Leeds, cases are designated either:

‘Missing from Education’ (where the whereabouts of the child at the point of referral is unknown). These children could either be in another part of the UK or have left the UK
or
‘Out of Education’ (children known to be in the city but who are without a school place). These are almost entirely children new to Leeds or the UK, or the very small cohort of children who have previously lived in Leeds and have returned.

The CME team received a total of:

• 2552 referrals in the academic year 2019/20
• 1339 (52.5%) were referred as missing from education (Whereabouts Unknown - WUK) at the point of referral
• 1213 (47.5%) as Out of Education (Whereabouts Known - WK).

This is the first year that there has been a significant fall in numbers of referrals since 2007 when CME came into being, with a total of 434 fewer cases, a 14.5% fall, compared to the previous year.

The numbers of Missing Child (WUK) referrals was 82 (5.7%) less than the previous year whilst the Out of Education (WK) referrals fell by 350 (22.5%).

This represents a significant shift in the split between Missing Child (WUK) referrals from 47.6% in 2018/19 to 52.5% and Out of Education (WK) referrals from 52.4% in 2018/19 to 47.5%. A shift of 5% from WK referrals to WUK referrals.

The link between school exclusion, reduced timetables and alternative educational settings and an increased risk of exploitation is an issue that has been identified within the Partnership. The LSCP will require further assurance that the needs of these young people are being met and this will be achieved through the LSCP sub-groups.

The link between children not in education, employment or training and other vulnerabilities is well known and further assurance is required that these children have a particular focus in Leeds.

Schools continue to play a significant role in supporting children and families within clusters. Over 90% of schools contribute to supporting communities through these arrangements. There are however, a very small number of schools that have decided that they will support their pupils through other arrangements. The LSCP should seek assurance from the few schools not in clusters as to how they are providing early help support to children and families who need it.

As a result of a citywide independent review whereby EHE was a feature, moving forward there is an opportunity for honest reflection around the balance of rights and responsibilities around home education and safeguarding, which we intend to advocate nationally for children who do not have the eyes and ears of a school environment. 

Housing

The LSCP have important links into the Local Authority Housing Team who provide information on children and families vulnerable due to their accommodation needs. Information provided by them identifies that there hasn’t been a major increase in numbers of families placed into temporary accommodation within Leeds, and overall placement numbers are low. However there have been some cases where the lockdown arrangements of the Coronavirus Pandemic have made it more difficult to access private rental and repair work for council properties has taken longer. The slowing down of evictions has also played a part in keeping the numbers manageable during this period, with no major increase.

Of the families that are in temporary accommodation during 2019-20 there is social work involvement in four cases. The themes generally seen with family approaches is that it is often families with multiple support needs and that housing officers may have been involved late in the process. It is anticipated that work around early intervention and statutory intervention when required will help to minimise emergency accommodation placements through detailed planning and support.

Within housing there are longstanding established pathways and relationships around no recourse to public funds (NRPF) families and are an integral part of the monthly NRPF panel to assist with housing opportunities for longer term NRPF families to avoid placement into Bed & Breakfast accommodation. In addition, Leeds Housing Options link in closely with the private sector to provide assistance with looking at safe inspected properties.

In 2019/20 26 young people (21 years old and under) have been accommodated in the hotels out of over 700 total individuals placed during that time period. No 16/17 year olds have been placed into adult provision during this period.

The newly commissioned ‘Young Persons Accommodation and Support provision’ came on line in 2019/20. During the initial period of Lockdown this service was assisted with creating throughput to increase availability by helping to rehouse “legacy” cases through the Emergency Lettings Panel. There continues to be a focus on prevention activities and negotiating the safe return of homeless young people to family or planned moves to supported accommodation providers.

Leeds Housing Options continue to have a member of staff based within Children’s Services and are currently working on duty to refer pathways to ensure they are informed about cases early. Furthermore, Housing Services continue to meet with Children’s Social Care Services, key partners and the commissioned service on a weekly basis to prioritise cases effectively for accommodation and support.

It is welcome that housing have reviewed and commissioned a young person’s accommodation and support provision. Further assurance will be required to ensure that this provision continues to meet the needs of young people in Leeds especially those with additional vulnerabilities.

Third Sector

The contribution of the Third Sector remains an important and significant role in safeguarding children across the city. Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL) continues to provide support to the LSCP and the Third Sector over the course of the year through the Young Lives Leeds Forum. This has included continuing to be represented on the Safeguarding Board via a nominated strategic advocate who represents the Third Sector on behalf of Young Lives Leeds (YLL).

The LSCP Chair has recognised that not all Third Sector agencies are members of VAL and has ensured that the LSCP included other agencies in 2019 to engage further afield which also ensured inclusivity, as many of these agencies provide specialist support to the most vulnerable and BAME communities. As a key part of this approach the LSCP convene quarterly meetings of the Third Sector Safeguarding Group (TSSG) bringing together practitioners from across the Third Sector who work with children, young people and families. The Independent Chair has personally chaired a meeting as this feedback is critical to understanding and hearing voices from diverse communities It provides the LSCP valuable information on seeking improvement related to safeguarding issues, policy and practice. Furthermore, this engagement creates a space for peer-to-peer learning and a mechanism for key messages to reach the Third Sector workforce.

Over the period, TSSG has influenced policy by:

• Providing practice-informed feedback on the Neglect Strategy
• Providing evidence on their practice related to key themes of the Domestic Abuse Strategy and making suggestions for ways to include the voices of people affected by domestic violence in decision making
• Providing access to young people and families view to inform the work of the LSCP.

The TSSG has enabled peer learning and practice development by:

• Hosting a Safeguarding Week event, attended by 65 third sector practitioners, that road tested the LSCP’s Neglect Toolkit in advance of its release. The event enabled practitioners to develop their skills in using the toolkit and highlight areas in which the toolkit could be more practice friendly
• Delivering an online event that enabled practitioners to share their experience of the impact of lockdown on services, its impact on clients and to discuss good practice that they could apply
• Contributions to the LSCP Learning and Development offer.

West Yorkshire Police Leeds District

There are over 200 police officers and staff in Leeds District working in dedicated investigative safeguarding roles across a number of different teams. This also includes criminal investigations in relation to crimes against children and young people, as well as regularly utilising other opportunities to keep children and / or adults safe such as the use of Domestic Violence Protection Notices / Orders or Stalking Protection Orders, introduced in 2019.

Leeds has six geographical Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPTs) which are visible and accessible to local communities, providing the familiar face of the service. The teams work closely with communities in defined geographical areas and in partnership to tackle the issues most important to local people. These are supplemented by officers working in partnership in areas such as strategic engagement, anti-social behaviour and hate crime, amongst others.

The Leeds Police Public Protection Team have a key role managing persistent offenders and registered sex offenders. This monitoring and support works in close partnership with probation and other partners, is crucial to the overall work to keeping young people safe.

Leeds has more police officers dedicated to working in schools than any other district in West Yorkshire. These 30 officers work closely with three youth justice officers, a youth crime reduction officer, a Liaison and Diversion officer and the officers working in the Early Help Hubs. There is also close co-ordination with over 200 Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s), each of whom are a named individual contact for a primary school.

Much of the police / partnership activity is conducted via the Multi-agency Child Exploitation (MACE) arrangements within Leeds. The MACE Framework describes Leeds arrangements when responding to the challenge of children vulnerable to exploitation, including: child sexual exploitation, children who go missing and other forms of abuse such as child criminal exploitation, modern slavery and trafficking.

Leeds police also have a number of officers and staff working closely with partners at the Front Door, including within the Front Door Safeguarding Hub (FDSH) and with Children and Families Duty and Advice. This includes managing and reducing risk through the daily domestic abuse MARAC meetings. Police officers also support the Leeds Early Help response with nine police officers attached to the Early Help Hubs.

Neighbourhood Officers are also actively involved in the ‘locality’ process for lower risk domestic abuse cases, and the police continue to facilitate the appropriate sharing of information under ‘Claire’s Law’ .

Data was requested and has been provided by West Yorkshire Police on domestic abuse incidents, in line with one of the 2019/20 LSCP priorities. This priority focuses on children living in households where they experience or witness domestic abuse.

Domestic violence incidents

The number of domestic abuse / violence incidents reported to the police in Leeds saw a 2.4% decrease from 22,176 to 21,531 between 2018/19 and 2019/20. Domestic abuse is frequently unreported because of fear and some victims are afraid they will lose custody of their children. The LSCP acknowledge greater need to ensure work is undertaken to increase reporting and any under-reporting requires partners to proactively raise awareness of domestic abuse reporting, especially during COVID-19 where family pressures can become heightened.

The percentage of incidents related to children being present identified a slight increase, from 26.3% in 2018/19 to 26.8% in 2019/20. In cases of domestic abuse / violence where a child is present a contact is made with the Front Door Safeguarding Hub.

Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) has devastating consequences for victims and their families.  Prolonged or regular exposure to DVA can have a serious impact on a child's development and emotional wellbeing, despite the best efforts of the non-abusing parent to protect the child.  The impact of DVA on children is likely to be exacerbated when combined with any form of parental substance misuse and/or mental ill health. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) for 2018/19 showed that an estimated 2.4 million adults aged 16 to 74 years experienced domestic abuse in the last year.

The introduction of the Domestic Violence Bill 2020 recognises that domestic abuse can impact on a child who sees or hears or experiences the effects of the abuse and it treats such children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right where they are related to either the abuser or the abused children who see, hear or experience domestic abuse as victims in their own right. It also places a duty on Local Authorities in England to provide support to victims of domestic abuse and their children in refuges and other safe accommodation.

Domestic Violence and Abuse has been recognised as a priority in Leeds for a number of years and a number of services and interventions have been put in place to support adult victims and their children.  With the introduction of the Domestic Violence Bill and the recognition that children who see, hear or experience DVA are victims in their own right it is important for the partnership to understand:

• What services and interventions are available in Leeds for children and young people who see, hear and experience DVA;
• How effective services and interventions are in supporting and protecting these children including preventative work done with children and young people
• Whether there are any gaps in service provision
• What best practice looks like.

The My Health My School Survey (MHMS) is a pupil perception questionnaire that is given to children attending schools in Leeds.

The questionnaire covers a range of different areas and topics which help give an insight into the lives of children and young people growing up in Leeds.  Within the survey there are 2 specific questions about domestic abuse:

• How much useful information and learning have you had to help you understand domestic violence and abusive relationships?
• To make sure you are safe and healthy would you know where to go to get help or advice for domestic violence and abuse relationships.

These questions give valuable insight into children’s understanding of DVA and whether they know where to get help if they needed it.  The summary that follows is based on data taken from the 2018/19 survey (responses for 2019/20 not used as the number completed dropped significantly due to the Coronavirus Pandemic).

A total of 4488 children aged 13-18 years answered the questions on domestic abuse in 2018/19.  Chart 1 provides a breakdown of the children by school year group.

The gender breakdown of these children shows 2292 (51%) were female, 2045 (46%) were male, 47 (1%) described their gender in some other way, 47 (1%) preferred not to say and 57 (1%) were Trans.  The ethnicity of the children shows 781 (17%) were Asian, 340 (8%) were Black, 310 (7%) were Mixed, 89 (2%) were other ethnic groups and 98 (2%) didn’t know, preferred not say or did not state what their ethnicity was.

Young people were asked, how much useful information and learning have you had to help you understand domestic violence and abusive relationships?

2898 (65%) said they had enough information, 1070 (24%) said they needed better information and 520 (11%) said they didn't know.
Feedback from children shows that 2898 (65%) felt that they had enough useful information and learning to help them understand domestic violence and abusive relationships.  There were however 1070 (24%) of children that said that they need better information and learning and 520 (11%) said that they did not know.  This means that there are a significant number of children that are not getting the information and learning that they need to be able to recognise DVA if it is happening in their family home or in their own relationship.

A closer look at the children and young people that said they needed better information or they didn’t know demonstrates that this related to: 

• 37% of year 9 children (1124);
• 37% of year 11 children (324);
• 20% of year 12 children (65); 
• 24% of year 13 children.

Moving forward - Domestic abuse will continue to be a priority for the city and the BSU is currently leading on an evaluation of services across partnerships.

Serious sexual offences on children

Data has also been provided on serious sexual offences and sexual assaults on children. The following section of the report examines this information.

A 14% decrease was seen in the number of serious sexual offences recorded by the police in Leeds from 715 in 2018/19 to 615 in 2019/20. This is following a 33% increase from 537 in 2016/17 to 715 in 2018/19 and despite the decrease during 2019/20 the number of offences remains high. This increase placed a significant demand on the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, local authority children’s services departments, the criminal and family courts and specialist voluntary sector services for victims and survivors.

As of the 1st of October 2020, there were a total of 1007 Registered Sex Offenders (RSO’s) living within the community in Leeds

Offenders are managed in line with risk, with West Yorkshire Police utilising nationally accredited risk assessment tools (Risk Matrix 2000 which considers static or historical risk factors and the Active Risk Management system (ARMS) which considers the dynamic risk factors).  This leads to offenders being classed as either very high, high, medium or low risk and bespoke risk management plans are developed commensurate with that risk. These plans include restrictive and constructive interventions to reduce or manage the risk of harm and the likelihood of reoffending.

Total number of recorded serious sexual offences on children in 2019 was 615 which is a reduction from 715 in 2018 and 647 in 2017.

The decrease in the number of recorded sexual offences against children is positive but should be viewed with caution as it is acknowledged there are victims that may not report their abuse to the police. 

In addition the Police acknowledged complications in recording sexual offences, as it is acknowledged that very few sexual offences that take place go on to be reported, meaning this figure is likely to be an under-representation.

Nationally the increase in the number of recorded sexual offences against children has also slowed down with only a 2% increase of recorded sexual offences during January 2018/19 from the previous year. There had been a 63% increase in recorded sexual offences on children between 2016 and 2019. Contributing factors to this increase were seen as; a change in how police record sexual offences in 2014 as well as high profile media coverage of child sexual offences and police response to reports of non-recent child sexual offences giving victims more confidence to report.

According to The Office of National Statistics, Crime in England and Wales, the slight increased, ‘may suggest that the influence of improvements in recording practices for this particular offence is diminishing, although the figure should not be interpreted as a reliable indication of recent trends’ .

During the period of 2019-20:

• 615 sexual offences recorded against children
• 74 of the 615 resulted in an outcome of a charge or caution
• This results as a charge or caution outcome rate of 12%
• The outcome rate for 2018/19 was 10.6% with a slight increase during 2019/2020, however, evidential difficulties and victims either withdrawing or refusing to take matters further, contribute to low conviction rates

The NSPCC state there were 73,518 recorded offences including rape, online grooming and sexual assault against children in the UK in 2019/20, up 57% in the 5 years since 2014/2015. The crisis of child sexual abuse is a real issue and behind such figures are cases that remain under-reported having a devastating impact on the lives of children. The need to work across partnerships is key to tackling and preventing abuse, to ensure children are supported to recover when they bravely speak out.

Although there has been a decrease in recorded sexual offences against children in Leeds the number of children becoming subject to a Child Protection Plan in relation to sexual abuse increased from 17 during 2018/19 to 33 during 2019/20.

It is widely known that sexual abuse in childhood can have long term negative implications for children. Sexual abuse has been identified as an ‘Adverse Childhood Experience’ which are associated with poor adult outcomes .  Therefore, it is essential that children who are victims of sexual offences are offered ongoing therapeutic support after the offence. At present child protection medicals for sexual abuse are taking place through Mountain Health Care (a Sexual Abuse Referral Centre). Children are then referred from there to a variety of agencies for follow up care. The referral pathways for children will vary based on individual cases and may involve referrals to their GP, social work services, local paediatrician, sexual health or victim support. However there does not appear to be a therapeutic pathway which remains a gap in service provision and need for improvement. It is not clear from these statistics whether the abuse was from a family member or non-family member.

Assaults on Children

There were 3278 recorded assaults on children in 2019/20. This is a decrease of 2% from 2019/18. This is following a 21% increase over the last 3 years from 2763 in 2016/17 to 3340 in 2018/19. It should be recognised WY Police  that In 2014 HMIC published the findings of the Crime Data Integrity (CDI 2014) inspection, Crime Recording: Making the Victim Count. The inspection looked into the accuracy of crime recording in England and Wales police forces. It found that nationally the police were under-recording crimes reported to them by 19 percent therefore the increase in numbers for Leeds since 2014 could reasonably be attributed to better recording of crimes.

During 2019/20, there was a decrease in the number of recorded offences of cruelty / neglect of children from 181 in 2018/19 to 147 in 2019/20. The offence of cruelty / neglect of children was updated in 2015 to include emotional abuse as well as physical neglect. However, it is acknowledged that there are still a number of problems with the definition of the offence, meaning it can be difficult for police to prosecute and bring a conviction. Emotional abuse and neglect remain the most common reason for a child to be subject to a CPP in Leeds and, as outlined previously, the number of children becoming subject to plans under these categories increased during 2019/20.

A large proportion of the recorded assaults on children in 2019/20 related to s39 assaults without injury (52%). This was the only type of offence that increased from 2018/19 (by 2%).
It is important to understand the context of these offences and whether these offences are in relation to emotional or physical abuse.

In light of the national picture which demonstrates an increase in incidents of children experiencing violent incidents aged between10 to 15 years, as a partnership this is an area that requires further exploration. The BSU identify this as requiring working in partnership with Safer Schools Officers. This could involve work related to how safe pupils feel they are in and around school settings, given that the survey highlights some children feeling unsafe when travelling to school.

Nationally, In the year ending March 2019, three-quarters of violent incidents experienced by children aged 10 to 15 years occurred in or around school and over three-quarters (77%) were perpetrated by a fellow pupil.

The MHMS Survey 2019 demonstrates the following:

• 14% of pupils in years 7, 9 and 11 felt unsafe or very unsafe at school when not in lessons
• 26% of pupils in years 7, 9 and 11 feel unsafe or very unsafe in their school toilets
• 15% of pupils in years 7, 9 and 11 felt unsafe or very unsafe travelling to and from school

3278 assaults have been recorded related to children during 2019/20, 231 offences had an outcome 1-8. This is an outcome rate of 7% which is a 0.4% increase from 2018/19.

Further assurance will be sought by the BSU with partners to ensure children and young people who are abused have access to therapeutic services, not just at the time of the abuse but also if they require it later in their life.

The National Probation Service

Although the National Probation Service (NPS) do not work directly with children, the NPS manage the risk of harm to children posed by Service Users. This can involve enforcing requirements on community based sentences or licenses which restrict / monitor / manage a service users behaviour, or ensure the delivery of interventions to manage risk/holistic rehabilitation e.g. the use of risk reduction group programmes, one to one Offender Manager led risk reduction strategies or sign posting to appropriate services (including drugs / alcohol relapse prevention, housing, employment/training/education services and physical / emotional wellbeing support services etc.).

In addition, NPS work closely with other organisations to dynamically manage this risk, as well as being engaged in cases where service users do not pose the main risk, but Children’s Social Care are working with that family for other reasons.

Secure Settings

The LSCP Secure Settings Sub Group monitors the safeguarding arrangements in three secure settings in Leeds:

• Adel Beck Secure Children’s Home
• Wetherby Young offenders Institute
• Elland Road Police Custody Suite.

The Sub Group acts as the link between the secure settings and the wider LSCP in providing assurance that the children and young people resident, and in addition to the three settings above has representation from:

• Youth Justice
• The South and West Yorkshire Resettlement Service
• Children and Families Service
• LCH who provide health services for Wetherby YOI and Adel Beck.

HMP Wetherby Young Offenders Institute (WYOI)

Wetherby YOI caters for male juveniles 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 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 as part of the Yorkshire and Humberside Prison region and has a capacity of 326 young people, including 48 in the Keppel Unit.

Wetherby YOI is inspected annually by Her Majesty’s Inspection of Prisons (HMIP), however the inspection in March 2020 was halted due to the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Therefore, the last full inspection occurred in March 2019 which was reported on in the previous LSCP report. 

From April 2019 – Aug 20 there has been a significant reduction in violence at HMYOI Wetherby. COVID-19 has had an undoubted effect on the reduction of violence, with young people associating in smaller groups and through a safety survey young people have reported ‘feeling safer’.

The violence reduction interviews have provided the establishment with an understanding of why these instances of violence take place and allow the institution to incorporate wrap around services and intervention plans to prevent the likelihood of such instances happening again. Custody Support Plans (CuSP) and Conflict Resolution officers are used to establish and work with the young people towards a Positive or Negative Peace.

There has also been a reduction in self-harm in the latter part of the reporting year. Wetherby YOI report that this wasn’t initially anticipated due to the anxieties around COVID-19, however from March 2020 there have been effective unit welfare checks which are recorded hourly (it should be noted that these do not supersede the ACCT documents). These checks have had a positive effect on young people as they are having more 1 to 1 interaction related to any concerns. This has been supported through the approach to maintaining family ties, with boys able to access extra phone credit given by the establishment to enhance contact time during the COVID-19 pandemic. The unique monitoring system within Wetherby YOI enables them to identify if a young person has not contacted family in a 7-day period, allowing interventions and support to be given where family are not the main source of contact and support.

Wetherby YOI have developed unique ways of capturing the child’s voice, which have continued despite the restrictions on movements as a result of the pandemic. This includes a Voice of the Child form, youth council and young people representatives. This has been a collaborative approach led by the Child Protection Team, social workers and residential staff.

Adel Beck Secure Children’s Home

Adel Beck is a secure children’s home (SCH)  operated by Leeds City Council and is approved by the Department for Education. It was inspected by Ofsted in January 2020 where it was judged as Good with Outstanding 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.

Violent incidents within Adel Beck have risen slightly across the year both in relation to peer on peer and those involving young people and staff. A notable spike in October 2019 correlates with the school holiday period, and in part may be due to the quality of the enrichment activities delivered in this period (and other holiday periods), which were considered by some young people as repetitive. The revision of these activities have seen a significant improvement in behaviours during holiday periods. This trend, including the spike in October 2019 is reflected in the use of restraint within the establishment. Similarly there has been an increase in the use of single separation, and again a sharp increase can be seen in October 2019 mirroring the peak described above.

In contrast there was a downward trend with regards to self-harm in Adel Beck, with the lowest numbers occurring across July to October 2019.

West Yorkshire Police - Elland Road Custody Suite

Leeds is one of five districts served by West Yorkshire Police, and is the largest with regards to population. 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 majority of young people in contact with the Police Custody Suite in 2018-19 were aged 15 years or above at the time of their arrest. They were predominantly male and the majority identified as either White North European or White-South European). This is reflective of young people who went into custody for the first time within Leeds over the five-year period 2014-2019.

West Yorkshire Police policy and the College of Policing APP requires officers and police staff to submit a report whenever force is used. The definition of the use of force is wide ranging and includes Tactical Communications, (Including officer presence and communication skills to resolve conflict at an incident) and compliant handcuffing. There has been considerable effort by WYP during 2020 to improve compliance and data quality around use of force submissions.

Use of force as described above by West Yorkshire Police in relation to young people is monitored through the Secure Settings Subgroup.

Secure Settings and the Local Authority Designated Officer Process

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) works within the LCC Children and Families service and gives advice and guidance to employers, organisations and other individuals who have concerns about the behaviour of an adult who works with children and young people. The LADO should be notified to all cases in which it is alleged that a person who works with children has:

• behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child
• possibly committed a criminal offence against children, or related to a child
• behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicated they may pose a risk of harm to children.

Allegations of historical abuse should be responded in the same way as contemporary concerns. In such cases, it is important to find out whether the person against whom the allegation is made is still working with children and if so, to inform the person’s current employer or voluntary organisation or refer their family for assessment. Any concern that meets the criteria above should be referred within one working day of the concern coming to an agencies attention.

The relationship between the LADO service and Wetherby YOI and Adel Beck continues to develop well, and any notifications are routinely passed through as appropriate. In addition, the ability to contact the LADO service and consider if an incident is notifiable is utilised by Wetherby YOI. Wetherby YOI stated that they have continued to enhance their transparency in all referrals received by making regular contact with the LADO team for advice and guidance where necessary.

Adel Beck have few contacts with the LADO which are potentially a reflection of the establishments understanding of applying the notification criteria,

Both establishments now routinely engage in the LADO development meetings which look at trends and patterns in relation to contacts and notifications to the LADO service, as well as provide a forum for discussion of cases / situations. In addition Wetherby YOI and the LADO service undertake routine auditing of cases which haven’t been passed through to the LADO, but have been notified to the Social Work Team, to ensure appropriate and timely notifications.

There have been no notifications or contacts to the LADO from the Police Custody Suite and as such, this is something which should be considered further in partnership with West Yorkshire Police. There is a need to provide assurance that there is full understanding of the criteria and processes, with no incidents occurring which required notification rather than incidents not being notified. The BSU are assured this is an area that will be progressed. 

The notification process of serious incidents between the two establishments (Wetherby YOI and Adel Beck) and the LSCP is working well, and this practice should in our view be considered when considering the Police Custody Suite. Overall notifications have increased from 2019-20, which may be a reflection of the formal introduction and embedding of the process with Adel Beck (notifications for Wetherby YOI were up by 3 for 2019-20 compared to 2018-19). Young person on young person assaults remain the primary reason for notifications, however notifications also increased as a result of self-harm.

Local Area Designated Officer (LADO)

The primary role of the LADO is to facilitate the Allegations Management process whereby there are concerns regarding a professional’s behaviour which is either inappropriate or places child or young person at / or at risk of harm.

An initial referral screening process establishes whether there is evidence of harm from a professional which would warrant the referral becoming a notification or whether the referral is recorded as a contact which does not require ongoing LADO involvement. The team ensures that the right cases are being referred to the service and that partner agencies are properly equipped and confident to undertake their role in evaluating any concerns that come to their attention and using the managing allegations process appropriately.

The allegations management process remains well embedded within the interagency safeguarding procedures and is further supported by the LADO team delivering specific awareness raising sessions with key agencies including; human resources, Child Protection Conference Chairs, Springwell Academy, Wetherby YOI, Adel Beck Secure Unit and smaller religious organisations. 

The following summarises the work of the LADO Service in 2019-20:

• 566 contacts to the LADO team in 2019/20
• A significant increase of 81% compared to 2018-2019 313 Contacts
• 261 notifications to LADO team in 2019/20, a decrease (13%) compared to 2018-2019 299 notifications, reflecting the screening process in place which results in less contacts becoming notifications
• 14 cases (at the time of writing this report) with the status of “pending” which means that there is ongoing work to establish if these are contacts or notification.

We understand there to be several possible reasons for this significant increase in contacts:

• The LADOs are screening a greater proportion of cases as contacts rather than taking them in for oversight (notifications) which is reflected in the reduction of notifications
• An increased awareness from partner agencies (due to a number of reasons; high profile media cases, increased training, LADO development group) of the need to contact the LADO for consultation when there are concerns that a professional has worked in a way that has harmed a child.

A breakdown of all notifications received is provided below:

• 102 out of 261 (39%) from Education, in comparison to 33% in previous years notifications from Education. This includes notifications from academies, independent schools and maintained schools within the Local Authority, supply teachers, further education and the education provision within the secure settings
• 26 out of 261 notifications (10%) related to Leeds Foster Carers, compared to 17% in 2018-2019 and 12% in 2017-2018
• 7 out of 261 (3%) notifications were from Independent Fostering agencies compared to 4% in 2018 and 2019.

It is noted that the notifications related to Independent Foster carers are dealt with by the LADO where the foster carers live and so these notifications are not necessarily regarding allegations in relation to children looked after by Leeds Local Authority.

There continues to be regular notifications from the Secure Estate (Regional Secure Children’s Centre and HM YOI Wetherby) and children’s residential services, particularly, but not exclusively, around physical intervention; 22 out of 261 (8%) compared to 5% in 2018-2019.

The LADO team meet quarterly with the safeguarding team at Wetherby and audit safeguarding concerns that are referred internally but are not referred to LADO due to not meeting the criteria. 

This process has led to increased confidence that the correct referrals are being passed onto the LADO team. The number of notifications reflects the complexity and vulnerability of the young people in a secure estate and the requirement of staff in the secure estate to manage difficult situations.

Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IISCA)

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IISCA) identified Leeds as a local authority area it wished to engage in the ongoing inquiry into historical child sexual abuse under the strand Child Protection in Religious Organisations and Settings investigation.

The LSCP BSU, on behalf of Leeds Local Authority and the LSCP Executive co-ordinated a response, providing a witness statement from the LSCP Chair. Subsequently the LSCP Chair was also called to give evidence at the inquiry in May 2020.

Information was provided in relation to:

• Training and associated learning and development opportunities
• Support for the faith sector in relation to safeguarding policies, procedures and expected standards
• Reported allegations in relation to leaders / workers / volunteers within faith settings
• Ongoing partnership work with faith settings in relation to safeguarding.

The Chair was also asked to comment on areas whereby improvements could be made to support faith organisations with regards to safeguarding responses. The following suggestions were offered:

• Minimum standards for safeguarding arrangements for all organisations, including faith
• Registration of all organisations that work with young people on a regular basis and evidence that minimum safeguarding arrangements are in place
• Support to parents / carers and children and young people with regards to what they should expect from an organisation in relation to safeguarding, and what questions to ask to assure themselves these are in place
• A multi-faith handbook to support faith organisations when setting up a group / church.

Through the inquiry the following areas for improvement were identified:

• Due to the way the training booking system is designed the LSCP is not able to provide the exact number of participants from faith organisations, however, this is recognised to be an area for improvement and development and plans are being developed to facilitate the capture and recording of this information going forward
• It is recognised that notification figures in relation to allegations against leaders / workers / volunteers within faith settings may not be representative of the overall issue due to under-reporting and our aim is to increase reporting
• The Partnership should consider how the  pilot project can be built upon in order to support faith settings in ensuring an appropriate approach and response to safeguarding
• In addition the Partnership should consider how the suggestions for improvement could be effectively considered and, if appropriate, implemented within Leeds.

Further information regarding the information provided to the IICSA is in Appendix 4.

Children and Families who require Support

Front Door Arrangements

The 'Front Door' is the term used to describe the arrangements whereby partners are co-located and work in partnership to safeguard children and young people.

The 'Front Door Safeguarding Hub' is the term used to describe the DV and Daily MARAC element of the work of the Front Door.

The Functions of the Front Door can be found within the One Minute Guide.

Leeds recognise that continual assessment supported by practitioner conversations is the best way of identifying and responding to the needs of children and young people, and that a check list approach of assessment is mechanistic and identifies weaknesses, not taking into consideration the complexity of individual situations and can overlook strengths. This was tested and supported via the 2018 Ofsted inspection. Multi-agency meetings are held regularly to review cases referred to the front door to ensure that assessments and decision making is consistent and appropriate for the child and family.

During 2019/20 there were 26,204 contacts made to Duty and Advice, this was an increase of 6% compared to 2018/19 when 24,631 contacts were made.

Over the three year period there has been a 21.6% increase in contacts. The chart below demonstrates which agency referrals. ‘Other’ will be made up from Third Sector organisations, neighbours, family members etc. Referrals, nationally have also identified increases. It should be noted that this data does not cover the period of COVID-19.

	Police	Health	Education	Other	Total
2017/18	8169	37.9%	2395	11.1%	3330	15.4%	7640	35.4%	21,534
2018/19	9509	38.6%	2905	11.7%	3503	14.2%	8714	35.3%	24,631
2019/20	9943	37.9%	3130	11.9%	3749	14.3%	9382	35.8%	26,204

Police contacts are primarily police notifications of a domestic violence incident where a recommendation is that Early Help support is arranged via the cluster targeted service lead. 

It could be argued that education should be making more referrals due to their ability to access children on a regular basis.  However, through the support of LCC Education Support Team, the Education Sector are very clear how and when to make a referral to children service and it our view that there is a need to ensure this continuous awareness within schools. Overall, it appears there is a good understanding by partners of when to address children’s needs through the early help approach and when to seek the support of Children’s Social Work Service.

A full overview of early help contacts to the front door can be found in Appendix 1.

Early Help Systems

The refreshed Early Help Strategy in Leeds builds on the previous success of ensuring children and families have access to services through the Right Conversation, Right Person, Right Time approach, ensuring that all children, young people and their families in Leeds receive the help they need as soon as they need it from people they have already engaged with.

A key to achieving this ambition is a citywide, multi-agency commitment to providing effective, proportionate and high quality early help and supporting families to have their needs met in their local communities.

In Leeds the Early Help Approach has been informed by what children, young people and families report about what they find helpful when they need help additional to that which is universally available. Capturing the voice of children and families through assessments and relationships informs what services are needed and how they should be delivered.

Most recently, the benefits of the Early Help approach was demonstrated during the initial COVID-19 lockdown (March – June 2020) when agencies from the partnership took part in hundreds of home visits to support some of the most vulnerable young people in Leeds, which included cluster staff, Family workers, third sector organisations and Safer Schools Officers during the period that schools were closed to the majority pupils (key workers still had the opportunity to send their children to school). There were a number of examples of individual police officers or PCSOs taking a leading role in local efforts to provide food and other support to local families. Local policing teams also co-ordinated dozens of young volunteers in setting up and running one of the most active food distribution schemes.

Restorative Early Support (RES) teams bring together social work and family support staff locally, with the aim of trying a more flexible, multi-disciplinary approach to working with families to help them solve their problems within their own communities. RES teams are additional to and not instead of cluster and early help resources. The teams have been established in those clusters with the highest levels of social work and family support needs, e.g. high numbers of referrals to social work services. There are seven RES teams aligned to the following clusters: 2gether; Seacroft and Manston; Inner East; JESS; BCM; Bramley and Inner North West; and Armley and Farnley.

One of the most significant developments since April 2019 has been the introduction of three Early Help Hubs that combines Local Authority, Police, Health and Voluntary Sector organisations to co-ordinate early help services. This service also provides specialist roles in relation to domestic violence, drug and alcohol use and emotional and mental health support.

Capturing all the early help work carried out by agencies is difficult as early help is both a collaborative approach as well as a single provision; it can be provided through a single agency or a multi-agency response to the needs and concern of the child and family.

There are over 350 agencies providing early help support in Leeds, however, there are only approximately five agencies with access to Mosaic  as a case management system (although the system allows for the recording of work undertaken by agencies who do not have access to Mosaic). This is currently being addressed within Leeds Children and Families services under the Early Help Board and will ensure that more early help activity can be captured.

Between April 2019 and March 2020 there were 9716 early help contacts made by agencies in Leeds. A breakdown of these contacts demonstrates:

• 1899 (19.5%) Police
• 2499 (25.7%) Health
• 1324 (13.6%) Education
• 2580 (26.5%) Local Authority services
• 1414 (16%) were made by other agencies across Leeds.

A full breakdown of contacts and outcomes can be found in Appendix 2.

Police contacts are primarily notifications of a domestic violence / abuse incident where a recommendation is that early help support is arranged via the cluster Targeted Service Lead (TSL).

The BSU would like to seek further assurance that families who experience DVA who do not need social care intervention are supported through the early help approach and the work manages and reduces risk. The devastating impact of domestic abuse and violence on families can span generations and it remains important to ensure prevention work is a priority to prevent future lives being impacted by such abuse.

Contacts were also received by Family Action, a commissioned family intervention service that began working on cases from May 2019. Up until March 2020 the service registered 283 early help contacts, the most significant being for abuse or neglect (71.8%) and emotional wellbeing / mental health (34.6%). A full breakdown of contacts can be referenced at Appendix 2.

Alongside direct early help contacts via the Front Door, early help contacts were also made by partner agencies through Restorative Early Support Teams and Mindmate.

Mindmate requests for services mainly came from:

• Health services 72%, of these GPs referred 80.5%. 
• Individuals made up 694 (22.2%), these were primarily made up of family member / relative / carer contacts (94.6%) and 5.3% being self-contacts.
• The outcome of Mindmate contacts demonstrates that the majority go onto CAMHS (34.4%) followed by clusters (22.9%).

The most common age of young people whereby early help activity is being registered were aged 5-10 years, with the lowest number for those aged 16 years plus. The majority (57.2%) were male.

A closer examination of the age and gender data demonstrates that males aged 5-10 had the highest number of plans and activity being registered. 270 (44.3%) of the males that had plans or activity being registered were aged 5-10 years.

A further breakdown of the age and gender data is referenced at Appendix 2.

Children with child in need plans

Under Section 17 Children Act 1989, a child will be considered ‘in need’ if:

• they are unlikely to achieve or maintain or to have the opportunity to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development without provision of services from the local authority
• their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision of services from the local authority
• they have a disability.

The number of children that are classed as CIN has decreased over the last three years from 3956 to 2487 which is a 37.1% decrease (using a snapshot of the end of the year – March figure). The biggest change seen in this group of children and young people is the percentage of the cohort aged 16+, this has increased from 20.4% in 2017/18 to 31.4% in 2019/20.

Within 2019/20 the majority of children in need were aged 16 years plus (31.4%), with 27.1% being aged 10-15 years, whilst the lowest number were aged one year or below (4.3%). A full breakdown of age related data is referenced at Appendix 2.

Children with child protection plans

The number of contacts to Duty and Advice have increased significantly by 21.6% over the last three years. However, there was a 6% increase in the number of contacts resulting in a referral to CSWS during 2019/20. Feedback from Leeds Children Social Work Services stated that it is often more appropriate that children are referred for early help rather than Children’s Social Work however it should be noted that where there are concerns of a child at risk of, or experiencing significant harm, social care will work with the child and family.

Despite this increase, the number of Child and Family Assessments completed in 2019/20 remained fairly similar to the last 2 years:

• 8300 during 2019/20
• 8285 in 2018/19
• 8667 during 2017/18.

Numbers of Child and Family Assessments completed on time has remained consistent for the past three years:

• 75% completed within statutory timescales during 2019/20
• 78% in 2018/19
• 75% during 2017/18
• The number of S47 enquiries completed increased by 25% during 2019/20
• 1766 S47 assessments took place an increase from 1422 in 2018/19
• 901 Initial Child protection Conferences (ICPC’s) undertaken during 2019/20 equating to a 40% increase compared to 2018/19 when 645 were held, and 732 in 2017/18.

Although the number of ICPCs increased, it is positive that the amount completed within 15 days of the S47 being completed remained the same as during 2018/19 (76%). The percentage had only been slightly higher in 2017/18 at 77%.

Families are also offered the chance to take part in a Family Group Conference (FGC), where safe to do so, to identify their own solutions with close support from a range of practitioners.

• 1282 FGC enquiries of which 42% of offers were specifically aimed at addressing Safeguarding concerns.
• 838 pieces of FGC work were undertaken:
  • 21% specifically to address Safeguarding concerns
  • 13% specifically to reduce Domestic Violence
  • 25% specifically to prevent a child becoming CLA
•  234 FGCs were held and plans successfully achieved.
  • 19% were families with children on CP plans
  • 20% were pre-birth FGCs to safeguard new born babies
  • 7% were to reduce Domestic Violence (not in CP process)
  • 29% were to prevent accommodation

• A further 30 pieces of work resolved without a full FGC meeting due to family and workers agreeing the situation has sufficiently improved / risks had been addressed 

Outcome of FGC activity 2018 – 2019 identified that:

• Of the plans made alongside a CP plan, 47% of plans were successful in de-escalating the CP plan within 12 months
• Of the plans made to avoid escalation to CP plans, 44% of plans were successful in ensuring CP plans had not been needed within 12 months
• Of the plans made to avoid a child being accommodated, 77% were successful in child not being CLA 12 months later.

The number of children subject to a CPP has remained fairly consistent over the past three years. In 2019/20 the average number of children subject to a plan each month was 519, compared to 470 in 2018/19 and 523 children on a CPP.

The primary reasons for children being on a CPP have been quite stable over the previous 3 years with 84 children on a plan for physical abuse, 327 for emotional abuse, 34 for sexual abuse and 145 for neglect.

There has been a decrease in the number of children who have been subject to a plan for more than two years. At the end of 2019/20 there were five children that had been subject to a plan for more than two years, compared to 14 at the end of 2018/19.

The number of children and young people subject to a CPP for a second or subsequent time within 24 months of the last plan increased during 2019/20. In the first 6 months of the year the average number of children subject to a subsequent plan was 54 whereas during the second half of the year the average was 83. 

• 55% of children who are subject to a CPP in Leeds are due to concerns around emotional abuse
• At the end of 2019/20, neglect was the second highest category (24.5%)
• A number of children subject to a plan for sexual abuse is relatively low in comparison to other categories an increase was seen in the number subject to a plan from 8 in 2018/19 to 34 in 2019/20.

The ages of children subject to a CPP demonstrate that the majority (35.8%) of the children were in the age group 10-15 years old. The percentage of children in this group has increased from 32.3% in 2017/18.  3.9% of children subject to a plan in 2019/20 were aged 16+. The data demonstrates that young people in this age group were more likely to have a CIN plan, as previously stated 31.4% of children classed as CIN at the end of 2019/20 were aged 16+.

There has, however, been a slight increase in the percentage of cases where children and young people who have been on a CPP in the past 24 months have been re-referred to CSWS. This has increased from 8.8% in April 2019 to 12% in March 2020. 

The percentage of children from BAME backgrounds subject to a Child Protection Plan has increased over the past few years:

• Average percentage of BAME children subject to a plan each month in 2019/20 was 32.5%, this is compared to 28.4% in 2018/19, 26.9% in 2017/18 and 24.2% in 2016/17
• March 2020 35.8% of children came from a BAME background
• This is an over-representation, as within Leeds people from BAME backgrounds make up only 18.9% of the population.

A further breakdown of data in relation to CPPs is referenced in Appendix 2.

Reviews of Child Protection Plans

During 2019/20, 686 reviews of CPPs took place and 97% of these took place on time. This is a slight increase from the last two years when 94% of reviews took place on time, which is positive in light of the increase of CPPs.

Children and Young People’s Involvement in Conference Processes

Leeds safeguarding partners are committed to supporting children and young people, where it is possible and appropriate, to attend and / or participate in Child Protection Conferences, and review meetings. Aside from statutory obligations, children and young people hold the key to understanding the risks they experience as well as having an understanding of their families’ strengths and options for moving forward. It can also be powerful for parents to hear their children’s perspectives on the situation.

Leeds recognises that a range of different options are needed to support children and young people to contribute to these meetings, rather than a ‘one size fits all’ model. Children and young people aged five to eighteen are given the opportunity to be supported by an advocate through the Leeds Children’s Rights Service, commissioned from Barnardo’s.

Children Looked After

Children looked after and care leavers are recognised nationally as one of the most vulnerable groups in society today, with the gap across a range of outcomes for children looked after and their non-looked after peers continuing to be significant. The local authority and partners have a unique relationship with this group due to its corporate parenting responsibility.

All three areas of the city have dedicated children looked after teams for two different age groups, age 12 and under, and 13 plus. These teams focus on the specific needs of children looked after 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 are undertaken through Independent Regulation 44 visits. Reports on the outcomes of these visits are provided to both the local authority and the LSCB and provide assurance that young people are provided the best possible care.

The number of children who have become looked after has been increasing nationally for the past few years and increased 4% during 2018/19. Within Leeds, the percentage of children within the age group 10-15 years old has increased the most. This reflects national data which demonstrates the average age of children in care increasing over the past five years.

Children Looked After (CLA):

• 406 children became looked after in 2019/20, an increase of 8% compared to 377 in 2018/19
• 4% increase compared to 2017/18 when 391 children became looked after
• 94% of Child Looked After reviews took place within statutory timescales
• An average of 93.8% of children participated in their review during 2019/20
• Increase in the number of children who have experienced three or more placements within a 12 month period.

The CCG has a contractual arrangement in place with LCH for the provision of a CLA Designated Nurse for a number of years. The post holder works closely with the Children’s Commissioning and Safeguarding Teams within the CCG and attends both the CCG CLA commissioning meeting and the CCG Safeguarding Committee to provide assurance and updates regarding the CLA service.

The number of health needs assessments being completed within statutory timescales remained around 95% during 2019/20. This figure remained 94% during 2018/19 and 2017/18, and therefore has not been affected by the increased number of children looked after.

The Lifelong Links Family Group Conferencing team aims to build positive, lasting support networks for children in the care system. The primary objective of this innovation is to reconnect Children Looked After with their family and networks of important people and bring them together, through a Family Group Conference, resulting in: stronger relationships in care and when they leave care; greater placement stability; a stronger sense of identity; improved mental health and emotional wellbeing; reduced likelihood of going missing; reduced harmful and risky behaviours including substance misuse, self-harm and criminal activity; and improved long term outcomes including an increase in training and employment and reduced likelihood of their own child being removed.

Since starting in October 2019 with funding secured from the Strengthening Families Initiative, the Lifelong Links team have worked with 12 young people. As well as creating opportunities for them to have contact with their wider families, the team have searched for, and found, family members of young people when they have simply wanted more information about their background and identity. Leeds has contributed to a national evaluation of Lifelong Links services, produced by Family Rights Group and the Rees Centre, from October 2019 until the end of March 2020, and discussions are being held around how to best continue to monitor impact on young people’s lives following the end of this evaluation. Interim findings are positive, and the full report is due to be published autumn 2020.

In addition, the ‘Futures Service’, working with young parents who have had their first child removed with the aim of reducing ‘repeat removals’ of babies into care, has had a successful second year. To date the Futures Service has completed intervention (12-20 months) with six young people all of whom have achieved positive outcomes related to the service aims. The service, as of December 2019 (annual report), was achieving a 78% positive engagement rate and is looking to extending its reach earlier in the care proceedings journey.

The Care Leavers’ Council

The Care Leavers’ Council are a group of 17 – 25 year old care leavers who meet regularly to help to improve the services and support offered to care leavers in the city. They also become involved in delivering training to professionals, attending meeting and events and working with senior managers. The Care Leavers’ Council is facilitated and supported by the Voice, Influence and Change team.

The Care Leavers’ Council have a strong relationship with the Corporate Parenting Board. The Corporate Parenting Board are the Elected members and they have a crucial role to play in ensuring that Leeds is child friendly for some of our most vulnerable children, those who are looked after by the local authority, or those who have left local authority care. These children can be at risk of poorer outcomes than their peers; the Council, as their corporate parent, has a responsibility to ensure that they have the same aspirations and interest in the progress of children looked after as any parent would have for their own child.

The Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC)

The FDAC helps families where there are concerns about the welfare of children as a result of parental substance misuse, or parental substance misuse and domestic abuse. It brings together care proceedings for children with additional resources and support, through a court-based family intervention that aims to improve children’s outcomes by addressing the entrenched difficulties of their parents.

Leeds FDAC went operational in November 2015, and in total over the lifespan of the work, the team has worked with:

• 43 families
• 63 parents
• 68 children.

38 cases have closed, with 12 families in total having their children returned to the family home. The feedback from parents remains positive even for those where sadly their child(ren) are not returned.

Leeds made a successful bid for further Department for Education funding to expand the size and remit of the FDAC team which would allow for a significant increase in capacity and in-house assessment and services.

New and Innovative Approaches to Supporting Families

Last year’s LSCP Annual Report highlighted some tension between statutory services and universal services when managing difficult cases. Since then, CSWS have led on innovative developments in this area. Relationships between cluster leadership and CSWS leadership, on a locality basis, continues to strengthen resulting in stronger links between statutory and universal / targeted services, increasing confidence in managing risk in clusters through support with Social Work teams and effective escalation and de-escalation of cases.

Leeds’ Innovation and Partners in Practice Programme, has been awarded funding for a further year by the DfE, this programme is significant to continuous improvement in Understanding Excellence. This is within early help through the Restorative Early Support Teams (RESTs) based within the clusters with the highest needs, building on the effective work of children’s services in local clusters bringing extra capacity and a common practice model (the Leeds Practice Model), to ensure closer working between children’s services practitioners, schools and partner agencies.

Additionally, the roll out of Rethink Formulation, a single formulation model, has taken place to unify and develop practice across services in Leeds, with an aim to continue strengthening the quality of practice within families.

Alongside the above Leeds continues to focus on changes in practice, informed by research and case audits with the vision to embed a learning culture. This involves embedding the Leeds Practice Model across the city, focusing on Rethink Formulation to understand and analyse information about children and young people, the Leeds Practice Principles and the use of outcomes-focused supervision. This model encourages practitioners to build effective relationships with families, offering high support and high challenge to build their resilience enabling them to connect with the right support at the right time. 

Most recently all senior managers within Leeds Children and Families services have participated in action learning sets around the Leeds Practice Model and this is underpinning some essential supervision development work. The work of the team has been overwhelmingly positively received and is in high demand across all areas.     

The Leeds Family Group Conferences (FGCs) (mediated formal meetings between family members which allow the wider family group a greater input in finding their own solutions to problems) continues to strengthen within the city, including during the Coronavirus Pandemic when bringing family members together was challenging. This has supported families in leading the planning and support for themselves in a restorative approach based on the full involvement of children, young people and their families.