A “FUNDAMENTAL shift” is required to help safeguard children and young people in the borough, the leader of St Helens Council has said.

St Helens Safeguarding Children’s Board’s (SHSCB) annual report highlights numerous concerns including harmful sexual behaviours, criminal and child sexual exploitation and high levels of looked-after children.

On Wednesday, St Helens Council leader Derek Long told the People’s Board that national and local challenges within children’s care have clashed to create the 'perfect storm'.

He said: “We talk about the high numbers of looked-after children, the high numbers of suicide, the high levels of deprivation – all of which is in the context of within which we are operating in.”

Cllr Long told members of the People’s Board, which is made up of various partners, the council is 'not satisfied with current state of children’s services in the borough.

He said: “We have a view that outcomes are not commensurate with what we want, what we would aspire to.

“We know about the national context, we know about the local context, but improvements have to occur both in terms of outcomes and in terms of process.”

Cllr Long said he has stressed privately that the council must ensure it is working on improvements to children’s services.

“We take this immensely seriously,” Cllr Long said.

“And, on that basis, we’re looking for a fundamental shift in the way we, as the whole of St Helens, actually deliver in terms of looking after our children and protecting our children.”

SHSCB is also going through a transition due to new government legislation.

In their current form, local safeguarding children’s boards will be abolished and replaced by Multi-Agency Safeguarding Partnerships.

The intention is that this will provide a partnership structure that is more effective in gaining assurance that children and young people are safe in St Helens.

SHSCB chairman Steve Atkinson told the People’s Board that 'positive' work carried out over the past 12 months should lay the foundation for the future.

However, a number of key issues remain a concern.

“The numbers of looked-after children are still high, so we need to maintain a focus on that,” he said.

“The number of children who have had indirect experience with domestic violence is still high.

“There’s still an increase in criminal and child exploitation.

"That is a relatively recent phenomenon, not in itself, but recognised as such and the police are very much involved in working on that.”

SHSCB’s annual report says partners’ understanding of child sexual exploitation has “improved significantly” but acknowledges more work is needed.

“As with other parts of the country, greater attention has been paid to child sexual exploitation and a great deal of work has been undertaken locally to develop a more effective response,” the report says.

“The understanding of partners about the extent and nature of this issue has improved significantly; but there is further work to be undertaken in this area before we can be confident that we have a full picture.”

The report adds that further work needs to be done in terms of harmful sexual behaviours.

SHSCB adopted the Harmful Sexual Behaviour Action Plan in 2017-18, which was adopted following an audit into the issue.

The audit confirmed an 'underlying concern' that practitioners were operating at different levels of knowledge when dealing with harmful sexual behaviour.

It also revealed that very few partners had access to a tool for early diagnosis of these behaviours and that there were limited resources available.

A steering and implementation group has now been set up to put appropriate referral pathways in place and to source and implement appropriate tools and resources.

A separate a multi-agency child sexual exploitation rapid appraisal also found that, on occasion, there was a lack of urgency in responding to concerns.