UPDATE NO 308 29 June 2018

Modern Slavery Conference

Lynsay Birkett, National Safeguarding Coordinator, What Works Team, Modern Slavery Police Transformation Unit writes,

Please see our poster for the Modern Slavery Partnership Conference that we have organised focused towards those who already attend modern slavery partnership meetings or are in the process of developing.  

We currently have nearly 200 attendees so far and I’m concerned that our colleagues from Local Authorities are still few on the list.  I have advertised via community safety partnerships and safeguarding mechanisms but I was wondering if you could assist at all?

We will be publishing the agenda shortly, but to give you an overview, the Home office, Police Forces, PCCs, Local Authorities, Salvation Army and subcontractors, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s office and Academia will be speaking.

The event is a free event and is an excellent opportunity to network and understand what progress other regions have achieved / how to safeguard victims and investigate modern slavery.

Who should attend?

Senior leaders, managers, PCCs or those with responsibility, decision making
or influencing change in your organisation.

How to register:

Please email your details – name, position, organisation to
Events-ModernSlavery@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk by 2 July 2018.

Spaces are limited so early registration is recommended.

New DCS Restricted Area

The new restricted area for DCS-eyes only is now up and running. 

Isabelle (details below) will be in touch with DCSs today to issue instructions and passwords

This area will be used for sharing confidential documents of interest. 

Please contact Isabelle (details below) if you wish to post new material

Website Contacts

As well as instituting the DCS restricted reports page, we have revamped the contacts lists and information for 

Directors of Children’s Services; AD Safeguarding; AD Education; Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards; Quality Assurance/Audit Managers; Principal Social Workers; Adoption Leads; Early Help Leads; and SEND Leads.

Please can you check that we have imported accurate information into the new system. If there are problems, please contact Isabelle (details below). A new feature is that each regional contact list can now be downloaded as a CSV file. 

Consultation on 2018-19 DCS Peer Challenge Arrangements

The SESLIP team has considered a first draft of the “trial run” regional improvement plan. Many thanks to to those who completed to short survey. There is still time for colleagues to send in late returns. Details of how to access the survey will be emailed to these Directors.

We will circulate a draft of the regional plan in advance of the of the meeting on Friday 13 July. In the meantime Anna Wright (details below) will be in touch to  begin the process of matching “asks” and “offers”.

This work will be based on three separate views of regional priorities: a survey of published Ofsted reports; the regional benchmarking data; and the “offer” and “ask” identified by each DCS. It will include existing improvement offers from SESLIP, LGA and Partners in Practice.

The draft plan will be based on three separate views of regional priorities: a survey of published Ofsted reports; the regional benchmarking data; and the “offer” and “ask” identified by each DCS. It will include existing improvement offers from SESLIP, LGA and Partners in Practice. 

We are using a “non-stigmatising” approach, which assumes that all authorities have, in part, excellent practice that can help others; and that all authorities have some improvement needs. We will share these contributions along with our data analysis and literature review with DCSs before the 13 July meeting.

If you have any questions please contact Anna Wright or Richard Tyndall (details below)

SE DCS Peer Challenge 2018

Planning is underway for 2 Director’s Peer Challenges in 2018. The confirmed participants and dates are in bold on the accompanying chart. 

For more details please go to the SE ADCS Peer Challenge page. Colleagues requiring a more detailed briefing should contact Anna Wright (details below).

The visiting teams are now all confirmed. Thanks to colleagues from Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, Kent, Bracknell Forest and Southampton for volunteering to join the teams. 

SEND – LGA Regional Workshop

GOOD SEND PRACTICE IN LOCAL AREAS – REGIONAL WORKSHOPS (FREE) FOR COUNCILS

LGA would like to invite council members and officers to a regional workshop to discuss good SEND practice in local areas.

The workshops will cover key strategic themes, including:

1. strategic partnership working and co-production with parents / carers and young people;
2. partnership working and joint commissioning across education, health and care;
3. identifying and assessing young people’s needs;
4. building inclusive capacity in mainstream schools and settings, and providing targeted support for inclusion;
5. developing, planning and commissioning responsive, effective local specialist provision; and
6. preparation for adulthood.

Full details here

Who should attend?

The workshops are for elected members and officers with responsibility for SEND. Lead Members for children’s services, Directors of Children’s Services, Assistant Directors and Heads of Service and with responsibility for SEND, access and inclusion are warmly invited to attend. While the workshops are primarily aimed at councils, other local partner organisations would also be welcome to attend. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis so please apply as soon as possible. More than one colleague from each local area is welcome to attend.

London (for London and the South-East region) – Tuesday 10 July. For other dates and venues click here