The Chair introduced his report advising that this Committee, in co-operation with the other three Overview and Scrutiny Committees, was responsible for proposing and delivering an annual Scrutiny Work Programme. The Work Programme should align with the corporate priorities of the Council, in particular the delivery of the Wirral Plan pledges which were within the remit of the Committee.

The report provided the Committee with an opportunity to plan and regularly review its work across the Municipal Year. Attached at Appendix 1 to the report was a report on a Mental Health Workshop that Members had attended on 11 October 2018.  The Work Programme was attached as Appendix 2 to the report, based on issues which were of interest to members of the Children and Families Overview & Scrutiny Committee in the municipal year 2018/19.

The Chair reported that there was a multi-agency Safeguarding Arrangement Workshop scheduled for 28 January 2019.  Members had received information about it and they would explore the arrangements that could be put in place after the Safeguarding Children Board stood down.  The Chair considered it very important that as many Committee Members as possible were in attendance at this meeting to help ensure appropriate scrutiny in respect of the new arrangements.

The Chair also reported that after receiving one of the Ofsted monitoring letters it had been decided to focus the next few reality checks on the Council’s partners.  The next reality check had not yet been confirmed but hopefully Superintendent Ian Hassall would be in attendance to explore the Police’s safeguarding role.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the content of the report be noted; and

(2)  the proposed Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2018/19 be approved.