Annual Review and Business Plan

April 2008 - March 2009

• Purpose and Function
• Annual Review 2007-2008
• Performance
• Budget 2007-2008
• Links to Other Plans
• Work Plan 2008-2009

Purpose and Function

Introduction

The Tameside Safeguarding Children Board (TSCB) is the key statutory mechanism for agreeing how the relevant organisations in Tameside will co-operate to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, and for ensuring the effectiveness of those arrangements

The work of the Tameside Safeguarding Children Board is part of the wider context of children's trust arrangements and strategic partnership arrangements that aim to improve the overall well being (i.e. the five Every Child Matters outcomes) of all children in Tameside.

Whilst the work of Tameside Safeguarding Children Board contributes to the wider goal of improving the well being of all children, it has a particular focus on aspects of the 'staying safe' outcome.

Objectives

The main objectives of Local Safeguarding Children Boards are set out in Section 14(1) of the Children Act 2004 and are as follows: -

1. To co-ordinate 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; and
2. To ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each such person or body for that purpose.

Terms of Reference and Membership

The detailed terms of reference for the Tameside Safeguarding Children Board are set out in the document "From Area Child Protection Committee to Local Safeguarding Board: Terms of Reference 2005/06" and in the document "Tameside Safeguarding Children Board Sub Committee Terms of Reference: December 2005".

Local Safeguarding Children Board Functions

Policies and procedures

Developing policies and procedures in relation to:

• Action to be taken where there are concerns about a child's safety or welfare and clarifying thresholds for engagement and intervention of all partner agencies
• Developing a shared multi-agency framework for recognition, response, assessment and intervention
• Training of persons who work with children or in services affecting the safety and welfare of children
• Recruitment, checking and supervision of persons who work with children
• Investigation of allegations concerning persons working with children
• Safety and welfare of children who are privately fostered
• Co-operation with neighbouring children's services authorities and their Board partners and sub regional arrangements

Other policies and procedures:

• Dealing with professional differences of view and disagreement
• Attendance at child protection conferences
• Involving children and family members in child protection conferences
• Decision making process at child protection conferences
• Handling complaints from families about child protection conferences
• Polices and procedures for responding to child deaths
• Procedures for responding to organised and complex abuse
• Children in specific Circumstances, e.g. Disabled Children, Children missing from home or care, Children who are privately fostered

Communication and awareness raising
Communication and awareness raising with the wider community in respect of safeguarding issues

Monitoring and evaluation
Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness individually and collectively of what is done.

Participating in planning and commissioning
Participation and oversight of wider planning and commissioning processes in order to ensure safeguarding issues are taken into account.

Child deaths
Collecting and analysing information about deaths to identify:

• Matters of concern including the need for case review
• General public health concerns
• Procedures to ensure and co-ordinate responses to an unexpected death.

Serious Case Reviews
Undertaking reviews and advising on lessons to be learned.

LSCB Annual Review April 2007- March 2008

Priority: Developing and establishing the TSCB

Tameside ACPC was active in promoting the development of the ACPC into the Tameside Safeguarding Children Board (TSCB). The Board was formally launched in September 2005 with the following in place:

• Membership which meets the statutory requirements
• Agreement about the budget and multi-agency funding
• Terms of reference for the Local Safeguarding Children Board
• Terms of reference for Sub Committees
• All Sub Committees have terms of reference and are operational
• 3 new posts have been created to support the work of the Local Safeguarding Children Board and those appointed began work in March/April 2006

Priority: Improved Policies, Procedures and Guidance for all Agencies working with Children and Young People (Priority Area 1 from Work Plan 07/08)

• A comprehensive Safeguarding Framework has been developed and implemented which includes procedures and guidance in respect of:
• Information Sharing
• Response, referral, enquiries and assessment
• Involving carers, parents and young people in safeguarding processes
• Child Protection Conferences, Core Groups and Planning
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Quality Assurance
• The Children's Needs Framework and Child and Family Meetings
• The Tameside Safeguarding Framework is a coherent companion to the Tameside Children's Needs Framework which has been produced by Tameside Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership

Procedures and guidance have also been developed and agreed in respect of:

• Policy for Responding to the death of a child
• Serious Case Review Policy
• A Safe Parenting handbook has been revised, published and distributed
• Guidance for Independent Providers in respect of "In House" Safeguarding procedures
• Procedures for developing and implementing the function and responsibilities of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
• Following the Launch of "The Straight Path" guidance for Mosques on safe care of the children attending Madrasah's, training has commenced in the Mosques. A pool of trainers were trained and delivered training sessions to 42 mosque members and volunteer teachers. All Tameside Mosques have participated and attention is now turning to small, private Madrasahs.
• The TSCB Conference in November 2007 focussed on the work of the board and the sub committees, attendees were also given the opportunity to focus on priorities for action during the coming year.
• The LSCB Development Day in March 2007 was facilitated by Dorothy Lewis and provided an opportunity for clarifying priorities for the forthcoming year. A development day for early 2008 is being planned.
• Work is ongoing with Allegations management Advisors (AMA's) located in Government Office North West (GONW) in respect of Safe Working Practice Guidance, the role and scope of the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) and referrals to the POCA (Protection of Children Act) List
• A model template for Child Protection policies has been developed to assist the voluntary sector and private providers with their safeguarding responsibilities.
• Work is ongoing in respect of developing the LSCB website
• The LSCB newsletter has been revised and is regularly published

Priority: Quality Assurance, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (Priority Area 4 Work Plan 07/08)

• The Serious Case Review Panel met to consider 2 cases
• One Serious Case Review has been undertaken and an independent Overview Report has been authored and presented to the TSCB.
• Actions plans have also been developed and are being regularly monitored in respect of the above SCR.
• Information and analysis in respect of key safeguarding issues are reported to the TSCB on a quarterly basis. This includes information in respect of Private Fostering arrangements in Tameside, Licensing and Gambling Act considerations in respect of "Protecting Children from Harm", allegations against individuals who work with children either in a professional or voluntary capacity, Child Protection Conference processes, service user involvement and a detailed profile of all children and young people in the 4 areas in Tameside who are subject to Child Protection Plans.
• An audit in respect of safeguarding standards has been completed and has been reported to the TSCB earlier this year.
• Work is currently ongoing in respect of achieving standard 5 of the National Service Framework Standard 5 in respect of safeguarding.
• Licensing applications have been scrutinised with respect to safeguarding children and young people from harm. Over the past 12 months 127 applications have been received. Two have had to be amended to ensure safeguarding issues have been addressed.
• Gambling Act Applications have also been examined to ensure the appropriateness of arrangements with regards safeguarding children and young people. This year13 applications have been received. None have been amended.
• The Performance monitoring Sub Committee of the TSCB also now functions as the "Stay Safe" outcome sub group for the CYPSP. Chairing and membership arrangements have been amended to reflect these changes.
• Procedures in respect of Responding to Child Death and Serious Case Reviews have been completed in conjunction with the Overview Panel and the Policies and Procedures Sub-committee
• A process for all child deaths, which includes an information and reporting process, has been established. Work has commenced with neighbouring authorities to develop a more meaningful data set for analysis.
• A basic dataset has been developed and data has been collected for all child deaths from April 2006
• Analysis of information to identify concerns has been established
• Quarterly reports of all child deaths are reported to the TSCB
• Draft procedure for Rapid Response to unexpected deaths has been written and consulted on
• Resource identified and post advertised by PCT for paediatric contribution to Rapid Response.
• Relationship established with key services: Coronial Service, TMBC engineers
• Information about role of OP for website drafted

Priority: Service User Participation and Communication and Awareness Raising (Priority Area 3 Work Plan)

• Advocacy for parents has been commissioned and implemented
• There has been an increase in the number of children whose views, wishes and feelings are considered at Child Protection Conferences and Core Groups
• Public information for Parents and Carers with respect to Child Protection Conferences has been published
• Public Information for children and young people involved in safeguarding and Child Protection Conference processes has been completed. Young people have been consulted on widely in respect of this. A participation toolkit has been developed which will assist children and young people to participate and be involved more effectively in safeguarding enquiries and Child Protection Conferences.
• Work is ongoing in respect of the TSCB website
• Proposals in respect of media awareness raising are ongoing (use of local press and Radio)

Priority: Improved Use of Management Information (Priority Area 4 Work Plan 07/08)

Improvements have been made to the availability and presentation of information. This work has been developed by the Performance Monitoring Sub Committee of the TSCB.

Priority: Training and Development (Priority Area 2 work plan 07/08)

• There has been an increase in numbers attending TSCB Core training this year and the number of courses on offer has also increased.
• The Safeguarding Children and Children's Needs Frameworks were launched this year and over 1300 participants attended from a wide range of agencies.
• Common Assessment Framework (CAF) training has continued and 303 practitioners have attended.
• 124 participants attended Level 1 training in Domestic Abuse Awareness, a new training module developed in 2006.
• There was a huge increase in workers attending Level 1 Awareness Raising Sessions in Child Protection, 239 participants attended compared to 165 in the previous year.
• Level 2 Foundation training is aimed at practitioners who work regularly with children and families. Working Together- Recognition and Response received 206 participants, Working Together in Child Protection Planning 43, Keeping In Touch-Refresher Course 113.Refresher Training was updated and saw an increase of 73 participants on the previous year.
• Level 3 training is aimed at those with particular responsibility for safeguarding and has included Impact of Adult Mental Health on Parenting (66), Impact of Domestic Abuse
• New courses have been developed this year including Safer Recruitment (171), Forced Marriage (61) Sexually Active U 18's (82)
• An Induction for new TSCB members has continued.
• E learning Child Protection module has been implemented for all agencies, so far 750 people have signed up to the programme. This is enabling us to reach some people who wouldn't normally attend training. It is proving useful in induction for new staff and as a refresher course
• Priorities for 08/09 include assessing the training needs of operational and strategic managers and developing level 3 training for those with particular responsibilities. This will include Safeguarding where there is Parental Substance Misuse, Safeguarding children On-Line and Protection of Vulnerable Babies. Improved evaluation of the effectiveness of training and development on practice and outcomes for children and families is also a priority.

Performance

Detailed information about Child Protection Conference activity is contained in the quarterly report to the Tameside Safeguarding Children Board. The 3 indicators, which are reported on, are Re-registrations (A3), Duration of time subject to a Child Protection Plan (C21) and Child protection Reviews on time (C20).

Reporting Period March 2008

• PAF A3 - Re-registrations to the Child Protection Register 19.1%
• PAF C20 - Child Protection Review Conferences on Time 92.3%
• PAF C21 - Duration of time subject to a Child Protection Plan 1.3%

Budget 2007 - 2008

Budget Requirements 2008 - 2011

The above proposal is an incremental 3-year plan, which brings up board contributions to the required amount by 2010/2011. Uplift for inflation (3%) is built in to the funding requirements over the 3-year period, which eventually produces the level of financial contribution required from each Board partner.

Strategic Priorities for the TSCB and Links to other Plans

The TSCB will contribute to the development of Services for Children & Young People and to meeting the five Every Child Matters outcomes; in particular the TSCB will play a major role in helping to meet the Stay Safe Outcome. Although the TSCB' s sphere of activity is broader than that of the ACPC, a key priority is still to ensure the safeguarding of children and young people who have suffered or who may be at risk of suffering significant harm as well as those Children in Need who require services in order to promote their health and development.

The Tameside Safeguarding Children Board will contribute to the eleven priorities for children and young people in Tameside, and will particularly focus on;

• Minimising the effect of drugs and alcohol misuse on parenting
• Minimising the effect of parental mental health issues on children and young people
• Reducing abuse and neglect for children and young people in Tameside
• A greater involvement of children, young people and their parents in safeguarding processes
• Minimising the effect of domestic abuse on children and families and reducing the incidence of domestic abuse via integrated multi agency interventions and plans of work.
• Increasing the skills and knowledge of Children's Services practitioners via a clear and comprehensive training plan.
• Reducing the incidence of child mortality and serious injury via the work of the Overview Panel and the Serious Case Review process.
• The development of a rapid and co-ordinated response to unexpected and sudden child deaths
• More holistic and integrated support to parents and carers in relation to safeguarding their children and promoting their health and development

The TSCB will continue to develop robust and strong communication arrangements with the Children and Young People's strategic Partnership over the next twelve months and will continue to develop links with the emerging commissioning framework for the Children & Young People's Strategic Partnership Trust. The TSCB will continue to maintain effective links with the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, the Safer Communities Partnership and the Domestic Abuse Forum

The TSCB will also continue to develop its relationship to the Children & Young People's Strategic Partnership Trust. The TSCB is a statutory body and as such, is not subordinate to the Children & Young People's Strategic Partnership. Mechanisms will continue to be developed which assist the integration of the TSCB into wider planning structures and to ensure the independence of its voice

Tameside Safeguarding Children Board Work Plan 2008/09