EDITION 1
Our new look
The new Safeguarding Children’s Partnership Board (SCPB) which includes the three Safeguarding Partners, Ann-Marie Matson, Director of Children’s Services, North East Lincolnshire Council (Chair of the
SCPB); Helen Davis, Place Nurse Director, NL/NEL Health and Care Partnership; and Paul French,
Temporary Chief Superintendent, Humberside Police; along with Cllr Margaret Cracknell, Portfolio Holder;
and representatives from safeguarding partner organisations – Integrated Care Board (ICB), Police
and Children’s Services (CS).
The new governance structure came into place in April 2024, following a transition from the previous
arrangements. It was designed to deliver the expectations from Working Together to Safeguard
Children 2023 in respect of multi agency safeguarding arrangements
Safeguarding Children Partnership Board
Key areas of focus for the first of the ‘new look’ SCPB were:
NEL SCPB Performance Dashboard – The dashboard replaced the previous core data set and provides quarterly analysis of key safeguarding indicators, aligned to statutory requirements and the three SCP priorities (neglect, child sexual abuse and early help). The supports the SCP to understand the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements.
Section 11 Audit 2022/23 – The audit evidenced that all agencies met the key practice standards, and the Mental Capacity Act was identified as an area of development.
Child Death Overview Panel Annual Report 2022/2023 – The report provided a comprehensive review of local child deaths, lessons learnt and actions to reduce any identified modifiable factors.
Governance – Progress was reported in around the developments relating to the new/refreshed sub groups and there will be routine reporting into future boards to demonstrate progress and opportunities for high support and high challenge
Sub Group Progress
- New terms of reference were developed for SCPB subgroups in line with the governance structure
- Chairs have been identified from CS, ICB, Police and group members from across the partnership
- The first meetings of the Safeguarding Learning and Development Group and the Safeguarding Performance Practice and Assurance Group took place in May 2024
- The first meeting of the Safeguarding Practice Thematic Group will take place on 01/08/2024. The Early Help Strategic Group has continued to meet. The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Group meets as required to undertake rapid reviews. The first meeting of the Child Exploitation Strategic Group will take place in July
Scrutiny and Assurance
The SCP Scrutiny and Assurance Framework and workplan is currently being reviewed. A small pool of Independent Scrutiny Officers have been recruited, and they are representative of the three safeguarding partner organisations, and will undertake assurance activity aligned to the workplan and key areas of SCP focus.
Learning from practice
A rapid review was undertaken following a serious incident notification from Children’s Services to the three Safeguarding Partners in respect of a case that met the serious harm criteria related to neglect. A 7 minute briefing of the learning will be developed and shared in the near future.
View 7 minute briefings
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 policy changes
We have revised and refreshed the SCP policies in line with the expectations of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023, which will be published on SaferNEL on 5 August 2024.
View the Procedures.
Safeguarding Children Partnership training
Jane Wiffin, a leading national expert in child neglect, undertook a review of NEL line of sight/practice reviews in respect of neglect. We then commissioned Jane to deliver 38 sessions of child neglect training which has been positively received by partner agencies.
Get booked on to refresh and enhance your knowledge on Child Neglect! You can book on this course via the SaferNEL website training page.
Safeguarding Training/Education Activity
16 courses on a number of thematic areas were delivered during this quarter, with 224 attendees at the face-to-face training. In addition, 268 practitioners completed e-learning training, totalling 492 people across the partnership completing a version of safeguarding training.
Practitioners told us the training will have the following impact on their practice,
“Now confident enough to have a conversation and ask certain questions now (Level 2 Child Exploitation)”
“Gained a greater understanding of local risks (Domestic Abuse Awareness)”
“This allows me to follow the procedures within my job role when there are safeguarding issues or concerns (Level 2 Safeguarding)”
The NEL SCP Threshold Document, Neglect and Child Sexual Abuse Strategy Launch Event
On the 5 June 2024, we launched the Helping, Supporting and Protecting Children and Families Threshold Document, Child Sexual Abuse and Neglect strategies. The event was consistent with the SCP current priorities of neglect, early help and child sexual abuse, and aligned with our local vision “Our Children, Our Future”.
It was a fantastic event, at which 163 people attended from across the partnership. Key leads shared information around local case studies which demonstrated where children’s needs are being met at the lowest level of the threshold as a result of collaborative partnership working.
The neglect toolkit and practice briefings, and the child sexual abuse practice briefings were also launched at this event.
Positive feedback received:
“We will reinforce the messages from today’s event, implement the strategies in practice ”
“I will Inform staff of changes and think about how we can improve how we interact with agencies/families.”
The evaluation from the event will be used to inform ongoing development and SCP activities.
What next?
- All practitioners to read and familiarise themselves with the threshold document and neglect and child sexual abuse strategies
- Practitioners to ensure that they take the opportunity to book onto Neglect training, early help workshops and future CSA training
- The SCP will develop and deliver multi agency workshops to support practitioners to fully understand the expectations and their roll in embedding the documents
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