Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member – Councillor Beca Brown

To consider a report on the above.

1.    To accept the report and to note the observations.

2.    To recommend that the Education Department provides a simple guidance on referreing any concerns, for use by all who deal with the system, such as governors and parents.

Dylan Owen (Statutory Director of Social Services) and Llion Williams (Assistant Head: Well-being and Equality) were welcomed to the meeting. ⁠ ⁠

Submitted – the report of the Cabinet Member for Education in response to a request by the members to receive information on safeguarding arrangements in schools, and on the guidance and support provided in this field by the Education Department so as to give assurance to committee members of the appropriateness of the arrangements.

The Cabinet Member for Education set out the context and the Head of Education also delivered a few words at the beginning.

Members were then given an opportunity to ask questions and submit observations. 

It was noted that a DBS check did not prove that someone was a safe person, but rather stated that a person had not yet been found guilty of a crime. In response, it was noted that:-

·         They agreed with the observation, and as well as the DBS, this Council asked for two references before appointing to any post.

·         There were only 0.07% of staff without a DBS at the moment, and there were specific reasons for that, e.g. long-term illness, a person suspended from work or people on supply lists who no longer wished to work for Gwynedd.

·         Efforts were underway almost daily to meet the 100% target.

·         The Safeguarding Operational Group monitored how many people have had a DBS, and if the percentages were lower than expected, it asked what was the explanation and justification for that.

It was enquired how much monitoring took place to ensure that the designated safeguarding person in a school completed all the necessary training. In response, it was noted:-

·         That training was provided by the Authority in the form of small groups, so that people had the opportunity to ask questions that they might not ask in larger groups.

·         That the nature of the training was now more fun and interactive, and that the feedback from these annual sessions was very positive.

·         In terms of monitoring, governing bodies had a responsibility to have a person overseeing child protection on the body, and that person would be expected to meet with the designated safeguarding person to discuss the situation in the school in terms of safeguarding children.

·         That training was also provided for governors on their monitoring role and supporting the designated safeguarding person within the school.

·         That Gwynedd was one of the few authorities in Wales that undertook quality assurance checks, where the designated officer in the county goes to a school and carries out a detailed investigation which then feeds into an authority overview.  By doing so, they could see if there were things that were not being done properly, what they were and whether the training needed to be refined to improve the guidance given to designated persons.

·         That the Safeguarding Operational Group monitored the number of people who had received safeguarding training, etc., and reported regularly to the Safeguarding Strategic Panel.

It was noted that it was hoped that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9