CABINET Agenda Item: 9
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CABINET Agenda Item: 9 Ward: ALL Portfolio: ALL Report Kieran Taaffe Author(s): Meeting Date: SUBJECT: The work of the Mendip Shape One Team Internal Use Only: Please complete sign off boxes below prior to submission to Democratic Services Seen by: Name Date Deputy Chief Tracy Aarons Executive Report Sign off Group Manager Claire Malcolmson Portfolio Holder Nigel Taylor Legal Finance The Shape Mendip One Team is now in its third year of operation and has been cited by its participating agency representatives as a unique resource within the Mendip area for the timely exchange of relevant information. Additionally, a One Team perspective has Summary: been applied to the work of several other groups, as described in the report below. This is a report on progress and the next steps. Members are asked to note the positive work of the Shape Mendip Recommendation: One Team Directly supporting the community by addressing the needs of specific vulnerable or troubled families, using a multi-agency approach and directly focussed responses (where one agency will take a lead role and others will act in support of that initiative). Indirect positive impact on the local community in Mendip by Direct and/or addressing any potentially harmful or anti-social behaviour issues indirect impact on associated with the concerns above. service delivery to our customers Indirect positive impact on the local community in Mendip by and communities: proactively sharing information regarding socially exploitative phenomena such as County Lines or child sexual exploitation. Indirect positive impact by making customers and communities aware that the One Team’s proactive multi-agency discussions are an established and effective contribution to the overall safety of the community. 1 Transformation “Continue to develop Shape Mendip as an exemplar of public service best practice, enhancing the district's reputation as a great place to live and work” Contribution to Corporate Inclusive Growth Priorities: “Use our position as a community leader to influence partners who can in turn deliver outcomes that improve the wellbeing of Mendip residents Work at county, regional and national level to build communities where people live well in good quality homes with a network of support.” A confidentiality agreement has been signed by One Team participants at every meeting since inception. Tier One and Two Information Sharing Agreements, developed by Avon and Legal Somerset Constabulary and Somerset County Council, have been Implications: circulated to all One Team participant agencies for their agreement. These documents have been developed in line with GDPR. The salary and on-costs of the Principal Officer post residing within the MDC staff establishment are covered by the three year grant which has been awarded by Safer Somerset Partnership to enable the post holder to develop One Team good practice in line with Financial other One Teams across the County. Implications: Mendip provide administrative support and the use of the Council Chamber or another meeting room for the monthly meeting. This is often reciprocated by other partner agencies such as Aster at no cost. Savings on resources should be made due to partnership working Impact on Service reducing the duplication of work and improving inter-agency Plans: communication. SEE Partnership Working below As above, public resources are saved by the sharing of information in a ‘round the table’, immediate setting. This information may Value for Money: otherwise have taken days or weeks to be made known to relevant representatives by using linear communication, or may have not reached the relevant parties at all. Equalities The work of the One Team covers no specific groups but covers Implications: the whole community. Risk Assessment Not Applicable and Adverse Impact on Corporate Actions: 2 Scrutiny None. Recommendation (if any) INTRODUCTION Mendip District Council has been facilitating the functioning of the Mendip Shape One Team since 2016. The One Team is a multi-agency forum composed of statutory agencies who can share information and work together on specific concerns around vulnerable families and individuals. In 2017 Safer Somerset Partnership funding was successfully applied for to create a post of Principal Officer for the One Team, who would undertake a coordination and development role. Post holder commenced in January 2018. This report gives members an update of the progress of the Mendip Shape One Team and very positive work achieved by the partners involved. BACKGROUND The purpose of all One Teams (also known as Together Teams) is to convene representatives of police, fire service, health, housing, voluntary sector and local government organisations so that information can be shared and acted upon, when there is a clear issue which might affect personal or public safety. The One Team model is established within various locations in Somerset (‘local’ One Teams) where the teams meet on a weekly or fortnightly basis. These teams cover a specific area e.g. the Halcon estate in Taunton, the Sydenham estate in Bridgwater etc. where there are high indices of social deprivation and a large concentration of troubled families. The Mendip One Team covers a much wider geographical area due to these same demographic groups being represented in smaller ‘pockets’ within each of the five urban areas and the surrounding rural areas. Mendip District Council facilitates the One Team meetings to cover: Persons of concern. Discussions on referrals where the subject is an individual or family who is known to several of the agencies. The subject(s) may be a person at risk, or less frequently, may be a risk to others. The latter may well cross over to the agenda of the Anti-Social Behaviour Steering Group. County Lines. The meeting is also appraised of very specific Child Sexual Exploitation / County Line information by Avon and Somerset Constabulary. This can inform the work of the agencies present and create a robust shared awareness of potential developments, arrests, convictions, locations of activity, even vehicle registrations which have given rise to concern. Local areas of concern (hotspots) which may include, for example, where a where minors may be congregating around an address where illegal activity is suspected, or where anti-social behaviour is known to occur. 3 Partnership Working within the Mendip Shape One Team One Team work has included effective liaison between partners which has been commended by members of the community and also the MDC Deputy Chief Executive. Three examples are given below: Person (A) was displaying alarming and threatening behaviour towards his neighbours. After an initial complaint to the Environmental Protection Team regarding the condition of his garden, the One Team coordinator was able to link up information from that team, and One Team participants: Police, the local GP surgery (via Health Connections) and the Mental Health Services. The combined information assisted the mental health services in their subsequent Mental Health Act assessment. A was then admitted to a psychiatric ward under MHA Section 2. The neighbours expressed their gratitude via the EP team for the support they received during this time. A remained on the ward as an informal patient. Further support (including financial) to resolve the garden issues was sought during that time, via links made at the One Team. The clearing of the garden objective was pursued not simply as an environmental issue, but as an initiative to help effect a reconciliation between A and his neighbours, and thus an improved community discharge. Following on from this successful partnership work, mental health services increased their representation at the One Team from their existing two teams (Community Mental Health and Adult Social Care) to three, with the Home Treatment Team now attending also. Person (B) was someone for whom multiple services had been required to intervene over a significantly long period. B lived in his own property which was a former shop front. Due to a deterioration in his mental health, the property also underwent significant deterioration to the point where the Private Sector Housing Team had to impose a Prohibition Order which prevented further residence in the property. Over a long period B had also set a number of fires within the property. This required the intervention of the police and fire services. B was finally detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act. His circumstances continued to be monitored by the One Team coordinator throughout his period of treatment, and considerable liaison work took place to address the continuing safety issues within the property, between the CMHT (Community Mental Health Team), the Ward Staff, housing providers and the Housing Options Team. During his period of treatment B began to accept that his property was no longer a viable domicile and arranged to have the property sold by auction. Considerable work was undertaken by various One Team members in partnership to keep a close eye on developments, to explore and recommend options, and to work together, all of which kept his situation under continual scrutiny / priority. Person (C). An issue was brought to the attention of the One Team by a councillor who had comments posted on his social media page by C, who was expressing suicidal feelings, due to an ongoing neighbour dispute. As C had stated suicidal thoughts, she was contacted directly by telephone to discuss what was going on for her, and to inquire as to her current state of mind. C advised she had moved on from experiencing suicidal feelings, with the help of friends, although the dispute continued. Concluding the call, C was nonetheless encouraged to disclose all suicidal feelings 4 to her GP. The One Team coordinator subsequently liaised with the Councillor, Police, MDC environmental team and others to build up a picture of the situation. With C’s permission a referral was made to the One Team.