Northumberland Safeguarding Children Board
An overview
Presentation to FACT conference 22.6.11
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Copyright 2009 Northumberland County Council
Today’s presentation
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Introduction to Local Safeguarding Children Boards
Northumberland Safeguarding Children Board
Relationship with FACT
Key issues
Q&A
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Starting points …….
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Significant steps……….
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1889 Children’s Charter – enabled British law to intervene in relations between
parents and their children, prior to this children were dealt with under the “Dangerous
Animals Act”
1908 Children’s Act – juvenile courts – foster parents registration – sexual abuse
subject to the courts rather than the church
1933 Children and Young Persons Act – consolidated child protection legislation
1948 Children Act – Children’s Committee and Children’s Officer in each LA –
Parliamentary Committee enquiry in to death of 13 yr old Dennis O’Neil
1970 Local Authority Social Services Act – unification of social work and social
care provision
1989 Children Act – gives children the right to protection & exploitation + right to
have enquiries made to safeguard their welfare
1999 Protection of Children Act – broadens requirement for protection of children
2003 – Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters” – 2004 Children Act – Local
Safeguarding Boards replace Area Child Protection Committees – establishment of
Children’s Trusts
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Learning from tragedy?
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1948 Report into death of Dennis O’Neil – led to 1948 Children Act (Children’s
Departments and Children’s Officers)
1974 Report into death of Maria Cowell – led to development of Area Child
Protection Committees to better coordinate child protection services
1991 – Working Together (1989 Children Act) implemented = ACPC duty to
consider investigation when abuse is/suspected to be related to child death or
serious injury (Ch8 Enquiries)
2003 Publication of Lord Laming’s report into death of Victoria Climbie
2003 Every Child Matters – formation of Local Safeguarding Children Boards +
Independent Children’s Commissioner
2009 Apprentices, Skills, Children and Learning Act (intro 2010) establishes LCSB
regs
2007 – 2011 Peter Connelly case – Laming report re Child Protection – Social Work
reform – Munro report
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Safeguarding – Child Protection
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So its all about
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So what does this mean for the Safeguarding
Children Board?
• The primary functions of LSCBs are set out in S14(1) of the Children
Act 2004:“To coordinate what is done by each person or body
represented on the Board for the purposes of safeguarding and
promoting the welfare of children in the area of the authority by
which it is established.
• To ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each such person or
body for those purposes.”
• safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children =
●protecting children from maltreatment;
●preventing impairment of children’s health or development;
●ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent
with the provision of safe and effective care
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Who is involved?
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Or looked at in another way
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To summarise; LCSB’s where they fit and why
they exist
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NSCB priorities 2011-2012
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Pilot new approach children/families just below the Child Protection threshold to
strengthen CAF strategy
Amend procedures and future objectives in light of Munro recommendations
Establish Board funding arrangements to match capacity with ambition
Continue to support Member involvement and develop overall scrutiny
arrangements
To establish lay membership on the Board
To improve arrangements for safeguarding of disabled children
To improve collaboration and cooperation between Board and Safeguarding Board
To promote safeguarding leadership capacity across agencies and agendas
To improve Boards arrangements for monitoring and learning from performance
across all agencies
Maintain and improve progress and performance in all areas
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Sub groups are working on (highlights)
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Child safety Sub committee – joint child safety strategy for Northumberland – better ways of
improving learning from Child Death Overview Panel
E-Safety and Young Runaways – further develop and implement Northumberland E –Safety
strategy
Procedures – respond to Munro/Working Together changes – Incorporate revised
procedures/guidance re disabled children – develop support and capacity for single agency review
of procedures
Quality of Practice – multi agency audit programe to be delivered – respond to SCR/IMR as
directed by the Board – collate and communicate good practice to front line staff – respond to
complaints as required
Think Family – Incorporate and integrate developments at Board, procedural and agency levels
ref “hidden harm”
Disabled Children – Identify needs, develop strategy, obtain Board support & implement
Child Death Overview Panel – scrutinise and review providing Northumberland context on basis
of data and analysis inform and make recommendations to Board
Serious Case Review – Develop Panel capacity – increase agency IMR capacity – undertake
practice impact audit
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Fitting things together – FACT & NSCB
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Fit
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Both Boards share a responsibility and accountability for keeping children and young
people safe
The roles are complimentary but distinct
FACT is responsible for the improvement of outcomes across all aspects of children
and young people’s lives, whilst the work of the NSCB contributes to this wider goal
by providing a safeguarding focus.
The NSCB plays a specific role to ensure the FACT pays due regard to promoting
and safeguarding the welfare of children.
It follows that an aspect of the NSCB’s role is to challenge and scrutinise individual
agencies of the Children’s Trust. The Children’s Trust Board will, in turn, scrutinise
the work and effectiveness of the NSCB.
Therefore important that there are distinct and separate identies, robust
arrangements and relationships to ensure effective levels of coordination,
communication and challenge.
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Where next?
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All is not yet clear
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Munro report makes wide ranging recommendations for all aspects of safeguarding –
final policy position not yet clear
Coalition Government agenda for public service reform and fiscal measures will also
be significant
Requirement for Children’s Trusts being repealed & emergence of Health and
Wellbeing Boards will create local choices
Munro states; LSCBs play an extremely valuable role and will remain uniquely
positioned within the local accountability architecture to monitor how professionals
and services are working together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Accountability structures will change so LSCB’s will need to share annual reports with
new key role such as Police and Crime Commissioners (subject to passage of
legislation)
Possible that LSCB’s will have an increased monitoring of “early help” services
(Ch1)which are intended to reduce incidence of maltreatment
Recommends continuation of LSCB multi agency training function
Supports designated roles and cautions re impact of changes to organisational
structures and contexts particulary in the health arenawww.northumberland.gov.uk
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NSCB – looking into the crystal ball from my perspective as
independent chair
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Healthy partnerships, high levels of commitment, significant achievements
Change at policy, governance, structural, financial and therefore front line, poses
challenges to maintain progress and may increase risk for children
NSCB has therefore in the next 12 months to pay particular attention to
communicating about and understanding the impact of these changes on partners
capacity to maintain present standards and commitment to improvement.
As FACT and H&WB’s develop + government decision re Munro recommendations
become clearer NSCB will need to review and respond to implications whilst
maintaining strong partnerships and its distinct role
The detail of the Munro report in terms of the models, values, ways of working
alongside the re stating of the safeguarding – protection continuum will require
considered and detailed examination for its impact on practice, training and
development and longer term planning
The focus on systems based learning and of relationship focused practice means a re
balancing of “essential rules, principles and professional expertise”
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The last word for now
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In moving to a system that promotes the exercise of professional judgment, local multi-agency
systems will need to be better at monitoring, learning and adapting their practice. This review
recommends regular review of cases becomes the norm and that the ‘systems approach’ used in
the health sector is adopted and applied, in particular, to Serious Case Reviews. This will enable
deeper learning to overcome obstacles to good practice. 18.p12
The recommendations in this review are geared towards creating a better balance between
essential rules, principles, and professional expertise. Helping children is a human process. When
the bureaucratic aspects of work become too dominant, the heart of the work is lost. The
recommendations are to be considered together, and the review cautions strongly against cherry
picking some of the reforms to implement. Reducing prescription without creating a learning
system will not secure the desired improvements in the system. On the other hand, delaying the
reduction of prescription until services show they can take responsibility prevents them from
demonstrating it. The review also cautions against taking a short-term approach to reform – the
depth of change recommended in this report means it will take time for the necessary knowledge
and skills to be developed and for experiences of new ways of working to accumulate to the point
where they can be fully effective. Taken together, these reforms will redress the balance between
prescription and the exercise of judgment so that those working in child protection are able to stay
child-centred.21p13
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Questions and Discussion
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