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We are currently developing the RSS feeds so that the links provided take you to the relevant News article, Event, Job or Planning Application. http://www.flintshire.gov.uk As a result of the tragic death of Baby P in Haringey, Flintshire County Council, in common with all other local authorities in the UK will want to be satisfied that their arrangements for safeguarding children at risk of abuse are as robust as they can be. At the current time, there are 74 children on Flintshire’s child protection register, each with a child protection plan. Decisions about registering and de-registering children on the Child Protection Register are made by a multi-agency conference or review meeting, chaired by the Safeguarding Manager. For a number of years now a detailed report on child protection activity is provided twice a year to the Social & Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee, and by coincidence, a report was considered by that Committee today (Wednesday, 26th November). In Flintshire, immediately following the news coverage and publication of the Serious Case Review report by Haringey, discussions took place by senior managers and an audit of all child protection plans for children on the child protection register was commenced. The Welsh Assembly Government has now sent out more detailed arrangements for a Wales-wide audit of child protection work and our audit will be expanded to cover this. Over the next 2-3 weeks, we will have looked at every child protection plan for Flintshire children to ensure that we are using early lessons coming out of the Haringey review. In terms of multi-agency working, in common with all other areas in Wales and England, Flintshire has a Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), comprising representatives from the local authority (Social Services, Education, Legal Services and Housing); the Police; the NHS; and Probation. The LSCB meets regularly; and its role is to ensure that safeguarding children in its widest sense is promoted by all the statutory agencies, and to oversee policies, procedures and training of staff to make sure that robust multi-agency child protection work is in place. The All Wales Child Protection Procedures provide the basis for all joint investigations of alleged child abuse. Susan Lewis, Director of Community Services, said: “In the wake of a tragedy, it is easy to forget the many children who are effectively safeguarded by our social workers and other staff on a daily basis, and the excellent work that is done and often goes unrecognised. “There are lessons to be learnt from the death of Baby P, for local authorities and for the other agencies involved. It is up to all of us to maintain a constant climate of vigilance in this very difficult, challenging and often stressful area of work, to support our staff and managers, and to take on board any new learning that may help us to protect children better. By taking the actions we have outlined, our intention is to make all of our child protection plans for Flintshire children as safe as they can be.” Representatives from the Mold Food and Drink Festival have received an award from Flintshire Business Week. The Festival won the Tourism Award during the Council-run week. The award was jointly sponsored by the Tourism Partnership North Wales and Flintshire County Council Tourism Department. The Food Festival market is highly competitive, however only in its second year, The Mold Food and Drink Festival attracted over 12,000 attendees which, according to the Welsh Assembly Government places Mold in the top six of 40 festivals in Wales. The effort and commitment of a small core team has made the Mold Food and Drink Festival the largest stand alone event in Flintshire. Each year sees an increase in the number of local producers in attendance – the 2008 event hosted 51 local producers in comparison to 39 in 2006. With in excess of 12,000 attendees it is estimated that this generates between £250,000 and £300,000 of spend in the local economy. The award was presented by Councillor Mel Higham, Flintshire County Council’s executive member for Regeneration and Tourism. Notes to Editors Caption: Councillor Higham, Greg Shanker, Bryn Awel Hotel, Kate Catherall, Business Development, Flintshire County Council with members of the Mold Food and Drink Festival team. A survey carried out by Trading Standards Officers in North Wales in 2008 highlighted that the majority of Estate Agents are complying with new Home Information Pack Regulations that were introduced on the 1st of August 2007. 53 Estate Agents were visited as part of the exercise across North Wales. Officers requested to see the Home Information Packs for a selection of properties being advertised for sale at each Estate Agent visited. 52 out of the 53 agents were able to show on request a valid Home Information Pack for each property. Home Information Packs are intended to improve the home buying and selling experience for consumers by providing better information at the right time in order to improve the speed and certainty of transactions, reduce wasted costs and also help decrease carbon emissions from homes. The previous buying and selling process provided consumers with little or no information about the energy efficiency of the home they were considering buying and so the Home Information Packs are considered an important step forward as part of wider reforms to cut carbon emissions from homes, as well as supporting wider action to tackle climate change. As of 1 of October it has also become a requirement that all estate agents in the UK who engage in residential estate agency work belong to an approved redress scheme dealing with complaints about the buying and selling of residential property (including complaints about Home Information Packs). The OFT has approved the Ombudsman for Estate Agents and the Surveyors Ombudsman Service to run estate agents redress schemes under the Estate Agents Act 1979. Buyers and sellers should check that their respective agents are members of one of the recognised redress schemes. Richard Powell, Chair of the North Wales Fair Trading Panel that carried out the survey said: “The provision of information is a very important part of the house buying process so it is very encouraging to see such a high level of compliance with this piece of legislation across North Wales. Estate Agents clearly see the need to ensure that clients are given all the information required and are making every effort to ensure these packs are available to help consumers with the house buying process.” Any consumers who are concerned about aspects of the Home Information Packs can contact their local Trading Standards Service by phoning Consumer Direct on 08454 040506. Notes for Editors For further information contact Richard Powell on 01352 703181. The North Wales Fair Trading Panel consists of Trading Standards Officers from each of the six North Wales authorities who meet on a quarterly basis to discuss shared problem areas, promote joint working and to share best practice. Flintshire County Council has been awarded for the quality of the support and development provided for its elected Members. The Council is committed to Member development and training and recognises the expectations placed on councillors. The award of the Charter from the Welsh Local Government Association is the result of work by both Council officers and Members. Flintshire County Council was particularly recognised for: - Having a strong member development working group which has developed and is delivering an effective strategy for member development; and - having an excellent induction programme; and - involving members in creating their own role descriptions. Chief Executive of Flintshire County Council, Colin Everett said: “We are proud to receive this award which illustrates how members and officers have worked together to best meet councillors’ needs.” Councillors Neville Phillips and Glenys Diskin, Chair and Vice Chair of the Members' Development Working Group, said: "Flintshire is proud to receive national recognition for its Member support and development arrangements through the award of the WLGA Charter. “Flintshire’s more extensive support and facilities to elected Members, made under the Charter, have been of benefit to both experienced Members and newly elected Members alike." The award was presented at a conference in Llandrindod recently by Councillor John Davies from Pembrokeshire, the WLGA Leader. Notes to Editors Caption: Councillors Haydn Bateman and Christine Jones, Chief Executive Colin Everett and Councillors Glenys Diskin and Raymond Hughes. • The Member Development Charter was launched by the WLGA in October 2005 to improve support and development given by authorities to members and to recognise and share good practice. The Charter is equally accessible to every authority regardless of size, resources or Political Control. There are also now have Charters for Fire and Rescue and National Park authorities. • The six authorities in Wales with Member Charter Status are: Caerphilly County Borough Council, Rhondda-Cynon-Taf County Borough Council, Vale of Glamorgan Council, Wrexham County Borough Council, Flintshire County Council and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Authority. • The Member Charter review process was carried out by an independent review panel which consisted of a WLGA Moderator, WLGA Advisor, Elected Members from Wales, Member Support Officer from Wales and an Elected Member from England. A celebration event to mark the culmination of the pilot block of the Art in Nature project will be held at 1pm on Wednesday, 3 December at Greenfield Valley Heritage Park. Throughout the autumn term, eight groups/schools have been working with experienced professional artists, Angela Sidwell and Andrea Davies, to create environmental art work based on Greenfield Valley and its history. The work will be displayed as a temporary sculpture trail and has been created by adults and children of all ages and abilities from community groups and schools across Flintshire. The groups were: Mountain Music & Arts, Mostyn & District Arts & Crafts Club, Saltney Youth Centre, Ysgol Trelogan, Westwood CP School, Holywell High School, Shotton Infants and Ysgol Gwenffrwd. The event will be introduced by the Vice Chairman of Flintshire County Council, Councillor Colin Legg. There will also be an opportunity to opportunity to meet the groups/schools that participated and a guided walk to see their work in place on the sculpture trail. The exhibition of work will be on show to the public from 3 December to 15 December within the grounds of Greenfield Valley. Art in Nature is funded by The Arts Council of Wales and Flintshire County Council and is managed by the Arts, Culture and Events Section of Flintshire County Council. Notes to Editors You are invited to send a photographer to Greenfield Valley Heritage Park at 1pm on Wednesday, 3 December. For further information contact Gwenno Eleri Jones, Arts, Culture and Events Manager, Flintshire County Council on 01352 702471 or email gwenno.e.jones@flintshire.gov.uk