Agenda and draft minutes

The evacuation procedure was noted.

There were no interests declared.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 18 December 2025.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the Community Safety Select Committee meeting which was held on 18 December 2025 for approval and signature.  Attention was drawn to the following item:

·       Scrutiny Review of Children affected by Domestic Abuse: Members were reminded that responses from Cleveland Police to queries raised at the December 2025 meeting were relayed via email on 19 January 2026.

AGREED that the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 18 December 2025 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider information in relation to this scrutiny topic from:

·       Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees Safeguarding Children Partnership (HSSCP)

·       Thirteen Housing Group

·       Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) Housing Services

The sixth evidence-gathering session for the Committee’s review of Children affected by Domestic Abuse considered submissions from the Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees Safeguarding Children Partnership, Thirteen Housing Group, and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) Housing Services.

HARTLEPOOL AND STOCKTON-ON-TEES SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN PARTNERSHIP (HSSCP)

Mindful of the need to understand overarching ‘system’ co-ordination and accountability around this scrutiny topic, HSSCP was asked to provide a response to several lines of enquiry.  Presented by the HSSCP Chair and HSSCP Business Manager (it was noted that the HSSCP Independent Scrutineer was unable to be in attendance), a prepared briefing paper outlined the following:

·       Introduction – An Overview of HSSCP: Established in April 2019, the HSSCP was a multi-agency arrangement made up of statutory and non-statutory partners from across Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees which had responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.  The four lead safeguarding partners (LSPs) – Hartlepool Borough Council, SBC, the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (NENC ICB), and Cleveland Police (Chief Officer) – had an equal and joint responsibility for their local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements / partnership.  They set the strategic direction, vision and culture of the partnership, including agreeing and reviewing shared priorities and the resource required to deliver services effectively.

To achieve the HSSCP vision (‘Every child in Hartlepool and Stockton feels safe, secure and protected from harm; enabling them to reach their full potential’), a range of consultation and engagement was undertaken to unpick areas which required focus as part of a rolling programme.  The HSSCP Independent Scrutineer also carried out annual deep-dive review work in line with Department of Education requirements.

·       What data regarding the prevalence of children’s (particularly those in their early years) exposure to domestic abuse across the Borough over the last five years does HSSCP hold?: HSSCP did not hold any data specifically in relation to the prevalence of children’s exposure to domestic abuse.  HSSCP received data on this from the Local Authority.

For the period of 2020-2024, HSSCPs Performance Management Framework (PMF) included two key performance indicators (KPIs) in respect of domestic abuse – the rate of domestic abuse incidents with a child present in the year?to?date, and the percentage of domestic abuse incidents with a child present within 12 months of a similar incident out of all domestic abuse incidents in the year?to-date.  SBC collected and reported these KPIs on behalf of and to HSSCP on a quarterly basis.

In 2025, a new PMF was agreed which included five KPIs in respect of domestic abuse – Local Authority assessment factors (domestic abuse), children subject to repeat plans where domestic abuse was a factor, children subject to a Child Protection Plan longer than 12 months where domestic abuse was a factor, number of children referred to domestic abuse support services, and number of children supported by domestic abuse support services.  Responsibility for collection and reporting of this data transferred over to Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council in 2025.

The domestic abuse data reported  ...  view the full minutes text for item CSS/46/25

CHAIR’S UPDATE

The Chair had no further updates.

WORK PROGRAMME 2025-2026

Consideration was given to the Committee’s current work programme.  The next meeting was due to take place on 26 February 2026 and, given that the evidence-gathering phase for the current Children affected by Domestic Abuse review had now concluded, it was proposed and then agreed to convert this to an informal session where a summary of the evidence received would be considered and draft recommendations formulated.

AGREED that the Chair’s Update and Community Safety Select Committee Work Programme 2025-2026 be noted.