Agenda item

The Committee received the report on progress against the recommendations from the Scrutiny Inquiry that assessed progress in protecting children from sexual exploitation in Neath Port Talbot, as detailed within the circulated report.

The Chairperson highlighted that Members of the Children, Young People and Education Scrutiny Committee that had been involved in the Inquiry had considered information provided by different Council Services and relevant partners in relation to this matter. Members made several recommendations to the relevant organisations and Council Departments, which were formally endorsed by the Committee on 2 September 2015 and it was agreed that progress against the recommendations would be reported back to the Committee in six months. The report included an update against all the recommendations and it was noted that progress had been made against all the recommendations and some had been completed.

It was commented that Members had found the Inquiry very informative and it had been a useful exercise. Members were satisfied that significant progress had been made against the recommendations. As the recommendations had been to a range of Council departments and organisations it was not practicable for representatives to attend the meeting and any questions would be sent to the relevant officers for a full reply.

Members queried whether the Awareness Raising Sessions could be made mandatory for one school governor per school. They were informed that it was not a mandatory requirement from Welsh Government and would not be enforceable. Education officers had provided a more detailed answer to this question outlining information on safeguarding training for governors, which would be circulated to the Committee. Members asked if there was a checklist of which school governing boards have had a governor trained and it was confirmed that there was. It was asked if governing bodies would be targeted if they had not undertaken training. It was agreed that officers would include this information in the circulated response.

Following scrutiny, it was agreed that the report be noted.