Name / Representing / P/Ap / Other
Denise Lewis / Solihull LSCB / P / Sarah Dearn – LSCB (notes)
Joan Burke / Solihull SAB / P
Clive Bell / BSMHFT / P
Sarah Clarke / St. John the Baptist School / P
Kate Gauld / Lawnswood Childcare / P
Wendy Hillier / SMBC – Early Years / P
Bernice Lingard / SMBC – Workforce Development / P
Denise Milnes / SMBC – Public Health / P
Arvindar Sagoo / BSMHFT / P
Linda Williams-Disu / SMBC – Adult Social Care / P
P= Present AP= Apologies G=Guest
Item / Summary notes and decisions / Next steps and lead
Recap from last meeting / DL and JB provided a brief overview of the last meeting. The group were informed that notes from all previous meetings along with future meeting dates can be found on the learning faculty page of the LSCB website.
Update from SSAB / JB provided an update on the SSAB and its priorities. The current priorities of the SSAB are service user engagement, quality assurance, personalised safeguarding and prevention and early intervention. The most recent SAR has been published and is available on the SSAB website; this SAR has shown that there is a variation in the understanding of 1:1 supervision for mental health patients.
Both boards are currently looking into working with faith groups and promoting safeguarding within faith groups.DL and JB have developed a Train the Trainer programme and there are still some places available. The idea of this is to help train people to deliver single agency training safeguarding training. If the first course runs OK, then both boards may look to roll out again later in the year.
A conference is taking place on the 20th March at the Civic Suite on sexual abuse its impact on adults with care and support needs. The author of a SAR in Gloucester is coming to speak at this conference.
Update from LSCB / DL provided an update from the LSCB.
Briefing Seminars are taking place until the end of March to provide an update on policy and changes to practice;the resources discussed in the seminars are available in the ‘Practitioner’s Toolbox’ on the LSCB website. A SCR for Child A was published last October and the learning from this SCR mirrored that of SCR 1; this learning has been incorporated in the LSCB training modules. All LSCB training modules (2-9) are available for booking.
The LSCB are part of an NSPCC pilot for the Graded Care Profile 2 tool and training on this tool started in November 2016. The tool is used to assess parental capacity to prevent neglect and can only be used by trained practitioners.
DL will be running a workshop on ‘how adults’ services can learn from CSE’ at the SSAB conference on the 20th March.
DL, JB, and the domestic abuse coordinator, Caroline Murray, have been looking into training relating to working with perpetrators of domestic abuse.
DL is delivering Module 6B – Domestic Abuse training in conjunction with Women’s Aid from Feb 17.
The LSCB board priorities remain the same: early help, neglect, and CSE. There is currently a working group looking at Joint Targeted Area Inspections (JTAI) which currently has a focus on domestic abuse.
Solihull Parenting Strategy – Denise Milnes / DM from SMBC Public Health gave a presentation on the Solihull Parenting Strategy. She explained that SMBC Public Health commission the health visiting and school nurse service, as well as the teenage parenting strategy; this strategy enables parents of 19 years and under to access supportthroughout pregnancy up until their child is 2.
The Solihull Parenting Strategy is informed by research on Attachment Theory. The early years of a child’s life (0-2years) is a window of opportunity as by 2years a child’s brain is almost as developed as an adult’s brain. There is a second window of opportunity for a child’s brain development between 10 and 13 years. Research has shown that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are critical in child development; protective factors such as secure attachment to an adult caregiver can provide resilience to the negative consequences of ACEs. REACh – Routine Enquiry about ACEs have been used ins some areas to assist their early help and intervention offers on the premise that asking a person about adversity may help them to understand and process their experiences.
The vision of the Solihull Parenting Strategy is for every parent in Solihull to be effective, engaged and have access to support. The aim is to move toward a Leksand model; to provide ante-natal support, post-natal support and beyond. The aim is for peer support throughout parenthood to become the norm.
The dates of all parenting groups as well as access to online courses can be access through the Solihull Approach website (
It was asked whether there are groups or training classes which are specific to parents/prospective parents with learning disabilities. DM informed that there is a section on parents with learning disabilities in the Solihull parenting strategy and there are plans to pilot sessions for these parents with children across a spectrum of ages as a means of providing peer support. DM agreed to keep the group updates as these have not been finiasied at the moment.
Think Family – Group discussion / Attendees were given a case study to discuss in groups. They were asked; What information or training do you feel would assist work with this family?; and, Are there any single-agency or multi-agency training needs?
It was identified that Early Help would be appropriateto help this family; a number of members of this family could benefit from support; the engage service would be able to provide advice to signpostother professionals to engage different agencies.
The ‘Think Family’ approach was identified as important to consider when carrying out assessments. The process of completing IMRs has shown that practitioners do not always act on what they are worried about and there is a lack of think family principles. It was identified that the development of assessment skills is a training need for all agencies. Assessments are usually done in isolation and the primary focus of the agency often limits the understanding of the wider family dynamics; practitioners need training to help them ask questions that would not be natural from their background. Assessments should look into the roles of each family member and consider the impact of different issues on members of the family; practitioners need to build the confidence and skills to gather this information about the family. The group felt that Module 1 - Early Help does not equip practitioners with the skills to think about both adults and childrens needs and their impacts on the whole family.
Early Help panels in Birmingham were identified as useful forums to receive multi-agency advice. DL informs that there are plans for these to be implemented in Solihull, they are to be established in every collaborative, but its not clear to group members where they are taking place.
In terms of single-agency training, it was identified that Adult Social Care Services are not always aware of information relevant to parents; it was suggested this could possibly be communicated via the intranet. /
- DL and JB to discuss training on the Think Family approach and assessment skills.
The next meeting is taking place on the 17th May 2017.
Action log
Date of meeting / Action No / Title / Lead/ Action Owner25.1.17 / 1 / DL and JB to discuss training on the Think Family approach and assessment skills. / DL, JB.
1