Issue - meetings

RESOLVED that the draft Derbyshire wide policy - Safeguarding Policy and Procedures, Protecting Children and Adults at Risk be adopted.

Executive considered a detailed report which sought Members’ approval to adopt the proposed Safeguarding Policy and Procedures, Protecting Children

and Adults at Risk.

The Council’s current Adult Safeguarding Policy and Children Safeguarding Policy were separate policies and were not due to expire until 2025.  If adopted, the proposed refreshed policy would act as a single policy document, and would replace the two existing safeguarding policies.    

There was a requirement for the district and borough councils in Derbyshire to

work in partnership with DCC, who were the statutory lead for safeguarding in Derbyshire as they had responsibility for adult care and children’s services. 

It had been agreed at a recent Derbyshire Safeguarding Leads Group that a safeguarding policy would be developed by all district and borough

councils across Derbyshire to ensure consistency of service.  Therefore, the refreshed policy presented to Members had been developed to complement DCC’s safeguarding policy and procedures, and had the approval of the Derbyshire Safeguarding Boards.

Members were asked to note that the refreshed Safeguarding Policy had been adapted in line with the Council’s reporting procedures, therefore, the current reporting procedures in place would not be amended.

The Council would raise awareness of the new policy, along with the associatedinformation sheets, by publishing on the Council’s website.

Safeguarding training would continue to be implementedfor all new and existing employees.  All safeguarding link officers would undertake training on their roles and responsibilities at regular intervals to give updates on any change in legislation. The draft policy was considered by the Climate Change and Communities Scrutiny Committee on 5^th December 2023.

Moved by Councillor Mary Dooley and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that the draft Derbyshire wide policy, Safeguarding Policy and Procedures, Protecting Children and Adults at Risk, be adopted.

Reasons for Recommendation

To adopt the Derbyshire wide safeguarding policy to enable a consistent partnership approach across the county.

Alternative Options and Reasons for Rejection 

An alternative option was not to adopt the Derbyshire wide policy and continue to have two policies in place, this was rejected due to the partnership approach to provide consistency across Derbyshire for safeguarding.

Another reason for rejection was that future staff time would be saved reviewing one  policy instead of two.

One policy for both adults and children would be more “user friendly” to employees         and residents of the district.