Working With the VCS

The March 2020 Working With the VCS event, hosted by Whitley Bay Big Local, focused on the vital work of voluntary and community organisations in creating safe, cohesive and resilient communities in North Tyneside. Attendees included representatives from Job Centre Plus, North Tyneside Council, Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioners team, and of course the voluntary and community sector. 

We began with an activity to familiarise attendees with one another, moving on to the following presentations: 

Sue Burns, North Tyneside Safeguarding Children Partnership Business Manager 

Multi Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (view presentation here)

• Sue provided a useful overview of the role of the recently introduced Multi Agency Safeguarding Arrangements which are led by three named statutory safeguarding partners (local authority, clinical commissioning group and the police). Sue spoke about the duties placed on organisations, under Section 11, to have adequate measures in place that safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This duty includes the voluntary and community sector and Sue is keen to hear how the Local Authority might be able to offer additional support around training and advice. Robin Fry agreed to explore this with Sue. 

 Joanne Dean, North Tyneside Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) 

Read here for details of the role of the LADO in North Tyneside 

LADO roles and responsibilities

• Joanne provided an overview of her role as one of the LADOs for North Tyneside responsible for the oversight and management of allegations made against professionals in the children’s workforce, to include paid employees and volunteers. Joanne explained how this role works in practice and provided an insight into how allegations are dealt with.  

Robin Fry, VODA 

Safeguarding support available to the voluntary and community sector (view presentation here) 

• Robin shared details of local and national support available to voluntary and community organisations helping them to develop and review their Safeguarding practices as well as manage allegations about their own workforce. Robin said that this information will feature in the next issue of VODA News. 

Rebecca Brown, Project Delivery Lead, Northumbria Violence Reduction Unit 

The work of the Northumbria Violence Reduction Unit (view presentation here) 

• Rebecca provided an overview of the work of the Violence Reduction Unit across Northumbria. Rebecca spoke about the work that has already been achieved during the last six months and outlined plans to develop a more in-depth understanding of the key themes and areas of focus that may be driving the prevalence of violence across the area. This will result in a programme of work over the next 12 months that looks to support work in a variety of setting including schools.   

Lindsey Ojomo, Resilience, Security Services and Community Safety Manager, North Tyneside Council 

Janine Charlton, Community Safety Officer, North Tyneside Council 

Safer North Tyneside Partnership 

• Lindsey and Janine ran an interactive workshop providing an opportunity for attendees to explore ways in which their current work adds value to the key ‘Safer North Tyneside’ outcomes. This information will be shared with the Safer North Tyneside Partnership Board which is a  statutory body consisting of North Tyneside Council, Northumbria Police, North of Tyne Clinical Commissioning Group, Northumbria Probation Service, VODA, Tyne & Wear Fire & Rescue Service and Community Rehabilitation Company.