Agenda item

Report of the Director of Children and Adults Services

The Director of Children and Adults Services submitted a report (previously circulated) to update Members of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee on the progress and performance of the Designated Officer, April 2019 to March 2020 and to highlight the required actions for April 2020 to March 2021.

The submitted report outlined the Designated Officer’s function, in line with national guidance and highlighted that all organisations working with children in Darlington are required to have policies and procedures in place on what their organisation should do when an allegation is made against an employee/volunteer who has contact with children. These policies and procedures are in line with Darlington Safeguarding Partnership multi-agency procedures. 

Members discussed in particular the increase in the number of referrals in this reporting period explained by the high number of allegations from a school for children with Special Educational Needs which accounted for 19 per cent of the total number of allegations, mostly relating to the use of restraint and the Action Plan that had been put in place with the Safeguarding Officer to address this issue and what contact had been made with other authorities who have children attending the setting.