Issue - meetings

Ensuring that the Council’s Safeguarding responsibilities are fulfilled and delivered is the responsibility of all officers and Councillors.  The BCP Council Corporate Safeguarding Strategy sets out how the Council will deliver its safeguarding duties; the accountabilities of individual officers and Councillors; the training and development standards across the Council and how the Council will monitor the delivery of the framework.

RESOLVED that having had due regard to the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees as detailed in Appendix 2, the Corporate Safeguarding Strategy as attached at Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Leader of the Council

REASON

This is a key strategy. As BCP Council has both a statutory and moral duty to make appropriate arrangements to safeguard the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk of harm.

The Leader presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'F' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet were requested to consider the adoption of the Corporate Safeguarding Strategy having regard to the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

Cabinet were advised that BCP Council had both a statutory and moral duty to make appropriate arrangements to safeguard the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk of harm.

Further to this Cabinet Members were advised that whilst the Council could ask for all Councillors to have a DBS check that it couldn’t enforce that enhanced checks were mandatory. In addition Members were advised that Safeguarding training would be arranged for all Members.

The Chairman of the Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee addressed Cabinet stressing the importance of such a strategy particularly as Councillors are often invited into people’s homes some of whom are vulnerable.

Thanks were expressed to the Overview and Scrutiny Committees for their consideration and comments on the strategy. And further to this Cabinet Members stressed the importance of the DBS checks.

RESOLVED that having had due regard to the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees as detailed in Appendix 2, the Corporate Safeguarding Strategy as attached at Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Leader of the Council