Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

Reasons for the Decision:

The Working Group has made a number of recommendations that require approval by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services), the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Children’s Services and Safeguarding) and the Cabinet.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

No alternative options were considered. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services) established the Working Group to review the topic of Licensing/Child Sexual Exploitation and the Working Group has performed this task.

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance that presented formally the final report of the Licensing/Child Sexual Exploitation Working Group.

The Working Group, that was a joint Working Group with Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regulation, Compliance and Corporate Services), was established with the following Terms of Reference and Objectives:-

·         To review the Council’s legal and safeguarding position in relation to the issue of any licence following allegations of child sexual exploitation;

·         To consider whether all relevant pathways, methods of referral are sound with respect to escalation of CSE referrals;

·         To ensure that key sectors are informed, aware of how to raise concerns concerning CSE; and

·         To liaise with the Home Office and lobby for legislative change should the need arise.

Accordingly, the Working Group had met on numerous occasions to undertake such review and its Final Report, together with associated recommendations, was attached to the report.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet be recommended to:-

(1)       request Sefton’s Members of Parliament to lobby the Home Secretary to strengthen the existing Legislation regarding personal licences to Include:-

a)         A national data base of personal licences;

b)         A fit and proper persons test;

c)         In particular provision to allow a Council to defer determination of a personal licence where the Individual is currently involved in a Police Child Sexual Exploitation investigation where a licenced premises is central to those investigations;

(2)       request Sefton’s Members of Parliament to lobby the Secretary of State for Education to ensure that Care Providers who offer residential placements for 16 – 18 year old children and young people are inspected by a regulatory body;

(3)       in order to raise awareness of Child Sexual Exploitation issues with Sefton parents, request the Head of Schools and Families to promote the Child Sexual Exploitation e-learning tool with all schools and governing bodies and with a request that school e-newsletters contain a hyperlink to the e-learning tool;

(4)       rather than the Merseyside local authorities dealing with licensing/CSE issues in a piecemeal or individual way, the Liverpool City Region be contacted to seek the adoption of pan-Merseyside standardised policies particularly bearing in mind the cross boundary nature of taxi/private hire journeys; and

(5)       request that the Head of Regulation and Compliance and the Head of Children’s Social Care submit a joint monitoring report to the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Resources) and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Children’s Services and Safeguarding) to be held on 16 and 30 January 2018 respectively, setting out progress made against each of the recommendations set out in the report and that thereafter, monitoring reports be submitted to the Committees on a six monthly basis.

Report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance

Further to Minute No. 7 (4) of 21 June 2016 the Committee considered the report of the Head of Regulation and Compliance that presented formally the final report of the Licensing/Child Sexual Exploitation Working Group.

The Working Group (that was a joint Working Group with Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Children’s Services and Safeguarding)) was established with the following Terms of Reference and Objectives:-

·       To review the Council’s legal and safeguarding position in relation to the issue of any licence following allegations of child sexual exploitation

·       To consider whether all relevant pathways, methods of referral are sound with respect to escalation of CSE referrals

·       To ensure that key sectors are informed, aware of how to raise concerns concerning CSE

·       To liaise with the Home Office and lobby for legislative change should the need arise

Accordingly, the Working Group had met on numerous occasions to undertake such review and its Final Report, together with associated recommendations, was attached to the report.

Members of the Committee asked questions/made comments on the following issues:-

·       From a reputational point of view for the Council it was very important that the risks associated with child sexual exploitation were minimised 

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet be recommended to:-