Minutes:
The Chair reminded members that they were invited to attend the meeting of the Adults, Wellbeing and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to be held on 9 May, for consideration of an item on Water Fluoridation.
The Chair informed the Committee that she attended Durham’s Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 9 April, together with Councillors Varty and Waldock, which included a tour of the service. She explained the hub was a central point for gathering, analysing and sharing information about children in County Durham who may be at risk of harm or who may need support services. The MASH links with other key agencies and, in the last year, decisions were made within 24 hours on 19,083 contacts and, of those, over 4,000 progressed to statutory Families First Teams.
Councillor Varty commented that the tour had been extremely informative and she was pleased to see so many different practitioners working together for a common goal, including social workers, police, health and administrative staff.
The Chair noted that whilst many incoming enquiries did not relate directly to the MASH work, the team worked hard to ensure contacts were correctly signposted. She concluded by thanking all the staff for their hard work and good spirits despite the ever increasing workload and she encouraged members to visit the hub, to see for themselves the good work being carried out.