Safeguarding Children Partnership newsletter – December 2024

Edition 3

In December 2024, we said goodbye to Helen Davis, Place Nurse Director North Lincolnshire / North East Lincolnshire (NEL), and the Delegated Safeguarding Partner for the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), who has moved to pastures new. We thanked her for her tremendous contribution to the work of the Safeguarding Children Partnership (SCP). We welcomed Paula South, Director of Nursing NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, as the new ICB Delegated Safeguarding Partner.

We also said goodbye to Katelynn Wilkinson, as the SCP Business Specialist and thanked her for her hard work in supporting the work of the SCP and welcomed Laura Beckett as the new SCP Business Specialist.

Key areas for discussion and consideration:

Strategic Delivery Plan: The plan provided progress and assurance against the delivery of the four SCP priorities Early Help, Neglect, Child Sexual Abuse and Child Exploitation. In addition, the plan provided assurance on key functions including use of independent scrutiny, funding and data intelligence and performance.

NEL SCP Performance Dashboard: The Board considered the latest dashboard which supports the SCP to understand the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements. Additions to the available data since the June Board included Integrated Front Door, police Pitstop data and the Sexual Abuse Referral Centre

SCP Celebration and Launch Event 09/12/2024: The Board endorsed the agenda and plan for the event which celebrated the achievements of the SCP as outlined in the SCP Annual Report 2023/4 and to share the plan to deliver the Local Arrangements in 2024/25. The event also launched the revised Early Help Strategy and the Child Exploitation Strategy. (see page 3 for more details on the event).

Sub Group Progress: Sub group chairs reported into the board, key highlights included:

• The Safeguarding Performance Practice and Assurance Group (SPPAG) received assurance reports from partner agencies evidencing how they have contributed to safeguarding and the four SCP priorities
• The Safeguarding Practice Learning and Development Group (SPLAD) has overseen the revision of the Missing from Home and Care Protocol and the working with children who display Harmful Sexual Behaviour
• The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Group (CSPR) developed two Rapid Review action plans, which are being now embedded and overseen by the SPLAD in terms of progress and impact
• The Safeguarding Practice Thematic Strategic Group has developed strategic delivery plans for both neglect and child sexual abuse. The neglect screening tool has been published and neglect champions across partner agencies identified. A Child Sexual Abuse Toolkit was developed and published will support practice in identification and assessment of Child Sexual Abuse
• The Child Exploitation Strategic Group have overseen the development and launch of the Child Exploitation Strategy, a local profile is being developed which will inform the work of the group
• The Early Help Strategic Group has developed revised the Early Help strategy and priorities and developed a strategic delivery plan with identified leads against actions.
  

Scrutiny and Assurance

Learning and Practice:

The learning from SCP thematic event, case specific line of sight, and previous practice reviews have been shared with partner agencies and 7-minute briefing learning summaries have been published and are available here.

Safeguarding Education and Training:

From September to November 2024, 20 courses were held and 294 people engaged in training, including but not exhaustive, introduction to safeguarding, intermediate safeguarding, neglect, domestic abuse and child exploitation.

Impact of Safeguarding Training

I have learned about the many different challenges and barriers children may face in life with real scenarios and how to deal with these and to have an open mind and always be able to make a stand for what you believe to be abuse’ (Introduction to Safeguarding Children)

The training highlighted how to address neglect in practice, how to ‘make the abstract concrete’ for children and families so I can use this when supporting practitioners, think about the terminology we’re using and the expectations we have as professionals and how that is realistic or not for who we are working with.’ (Neglect training)

Elective Home Education: The Board received an overview of local policy and practice, data, management of risk and further development in respect of children electively home educated.

Multi Agency Child Exploitation (MACE): There has been further partnership action in relation to preventing and responding to exploitation in NEL, which has included the strengthening of the process for assessing and analysing vulnerability, including the replacement of the Operational Vulnerability Meeting (OVM) with Pre-MACE to focus discussions relating to those individual children assessed as requiring consideration for MACE. Current arrangements will be further strengthened through the delivery of the SCP Child Exploitation Strategy and Delivery plan

Children With Disabilities and Complex Health needs Living in External Residential Settings: There has been a further update on the Governments’ requirement for Safeguarding Partners to consider the effectiveness of local arrangements in relation to children with disabilities and complex health needs in external residential settings. The Board were assured around the work undertaken to ensure that children externally placed in dual registered child homes and special schools are receiving safe care and education.

Reduction of Children Subject to Child Protection Plans: There has been a further reduction of children subject to a Child Protection Plan, as a result of needs being met at an earlier point and through partnership intervention.

Celebration Launch Event

The NEL SCP Celebration and Launch Event took place on 09/12/24. It was a fantastic event attended by around 150 representatives from partner agencies and showcased the progress made in the delivery of the Local Arrangements, which is demonstrated through the SCP Annual Report 2023/24. The event also celebrated the whole partnership and focussed on ‘what next’ through the SCP Local Arrangements plan 2024/25).

There was a really informative presentation by a quest speaker, Anna Glinski, from the Centre for Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, with insight on research and the national perspective. There was also a key focus on local learning from practice and progress and impact of work undertaken in respect of a previous Safeguarding Practice Review.

The event formally launched two crucial partnership strategies: our refreshed Early Help Strategy and the new Children Exploitation Strategy. Both reflect our collective ambition and the strength of partnership working in North East Lincolnshire and are truly collaborative documents with voice at the centre.

What Next?

• Practitioners should take the opportunity to read the key strategies and documents provided in the links and share across their agencies to help inform practice and partnership working
• A standalone dedicated SCP website is being developed and will be launched in April 2025, further info to follow
• Further face to face and virtual neglect training will be delivered in January 2025 by Jane Wiffin. Child sexual abuse training is being delivered in February 2025 and Risk Analysis Framework Training.
• A Safeguarding Children Partnership networking, getting to know you event will be held in April 2025, which will build on existing partnership working, further info to follow