Caerphilly Council's commitment to safeguarding
The report highlights improvements made over the past year, including strengthened management structures across children's and adult services and enhanced decision-making within the Information, Advice and Assistance (IAA) team.
Councillor Elaine Forehead, cabinet member for social care, said: "Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, and this year's report shows our council is making substantial progress to strengthen safeguarding at every level.
"The new systems and training frameworks now in place put us in a strong position to maintain high standards and respond swiftly to any concerns."
A key development this year was the introduction of the council's new Learning Management System, Thinqi, which improves tracking and reporting of safeguarding training compliance.
All staff and elected members are now required to complete two online training modules: one covering basic safeguarding awareness and another focused on recognising and responding to domestic abuse.
The training is fully aligned with the National Safeguarding Training Framework (NSTF).
The council has addressed all internal audit recommendations from 2023/24 and used self-assessments by Designated Safeguarding Persons (DSPs) to guide targeted improvements, including better training oversight and increased attention to site security.
Caerphilly continues to take a regional leadership role in safeguarding, hosting the Gwent Police West Safeguarding Hub and supporting multi-agency initiatives such as Operation Encompass and the National Referral Mechanism.
Following a June 2024 inspection, Estyn praised the council's safeguarding culture within education, describing the support as "outstanding."
Looking ahead, the council plans to deliver additional training to social services staff, ensure full completion of mandatory safeguarding e-learning modules, develop a safeguarding awareness poster for public areas, and align safeguarding procedures with GDPR and social media policies.
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