News

  DfE publishes a document setting out the responses to the Consultation

26 February 2018
Department for Education has published a document setting out their response to the submissions for the consultation on changes to the statutory guidance document ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ and the child death review guidance.  
 
Subject to Parliamentary clearance of the underpinning regulations, a revised version of Working Together to Safeguard Children and the child death review guidance will be published in late May.  In the meantime the DfE will be reviewing the drafting.

AILC Submission to the Consultation on Working Together Changes - December 2017

AILC submitted its formal response to the consultation on the WT changes at the end of December.  AILC is hoping to have further constructive discussions on changes and amendments to the guidance and regulation, in line with the suggestions made across the sector on how these can be strengthen and improved. This document and the links to the submissions from LGA, BASW, ADCS & the Consultation response to the inclusion of Contextual Safeguarding in revised guidance from IC are all available on the Private Members page relating to the Children & Social Work Act progress. (Which is under Resources/CSW Act 2017 Members Only. You need to be logged in to the see the link.)

AILC Phase 2 Survey Report - Nov 17

Following the Children & Social Work Act 2017 LSCB Views on New Safeguarding Arrangements

This is the second of a series of surveys in relation to changes in safeguarding arrangements, as outlined in the recent Children & Social Work Act. It is undertaken by the Association of Independent Local Safeguarding Children Board Chairs (AILC) to ensure a regular flow of current information is captured, analysed and shared amongst LSCBs and partners at local, regional and national levels.

To go to the Survey, which is on our Members Page, click here.

Children and Social Work Act 2017

For Children and Social Work Act 2017 related information - guidance, timetable, reports and updates - please click on Resources, then click on the various CSW Act tabs relating to this subject. 

AILC Members Survey Report - June 2017

Another report by AILC published in June outlines LSCB Chair’s views following the Children & Social Work Act receiving Assent. The survey findings show that most LSCBs are currently staying the same, although some had already been working towards improvements – one such LSCB Chair says:
"We should be clear of the added benefit of any change before making it. The driver should be effectiveness”.

Planned outcomes of the survey here, are to share information and analysis across the country, and contribute to the wider context of change and transition.

Further surveys will be undertaken across the period during which government implement the changes resulting from the new Act- expected to be up until April 2019.

Tackling child sexual exploitation: Progress Report - published 16th Feb, 2017.

 The government published its Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation: Progress Report and announced a £40m package of measures to protect children and young people from sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking, and to crack down on offenders.
 
It includes:
·         £7.5m for a new Centre of Expertise which aims to be the authoritative source of research and best practice on tackling child sexual abuse and exploitation, led by Barnardo’s
·         £20m for the National Crime Agency to tackle online child sexual exploitation
·         An additional £7m for organisations helping victims of sexual abuse, including children
·         £2.3m for the second phase of the successful Disrespect NoBody campaign, which raises young people’s awareness of healthy relationships
·         £2.2m from the Child Trafficking Protection Fund will help protect vulnerable children in the UK and overseas who are at risk of trafficking
·         Independent Child Trafficking Advocates service launched in three early adopter sites across the country for which will provide specialist support to trafficked children.
 
The Progress Report details delivery of the programme of work set out in the 2015 Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation Report.

New Research brings fresh insight into Debate

The relationship between poverty and deprivation, and levels of abuse and neglect, is a continuing and important area for research and political debate.  So is the capacity of agencies to respond to demand and need, depending on the resources available, and the levels of affluence in any given area.  Crudely - are affluent areas able to provide better responses to child protection and welfare, and do their inspection gradings reflect this?  The Ofsted Chief Inspector, the National Audit Office and Government have maintained that there is no correlation between deprivation, resources and performance grading - and we would agree that local leadership, clarity of purpose and strong partnerships all make a real difference - but new research findings bring fresh insight to this debate.  You may find the linked article from Community Care and research reports discussed useful when asking whether Ofsted ratings reflect deprivation and spending levels locally.  The summary Report on Identifying and Understanding Inequalities in Child Welfare Interventions: Comparative Studies in Four UK Countries - April 2015 - March 2017 is here.

What Difference is the Marac Process Making to the Lives of Children & Young People?

This template developed by SafeLives aims to help LSCBs link effectively with the Multi agency risk assessment conference (Marac) process and collate appropriate evidence to know how they are improving specific outcomes for children and young people who have been identified. This is aimed to assist LSCBs to coordinate the work of all partners in safeguarding children locally and monitor and challenge the effectiveness of Marac where necessary and appropriate to do so.

Child Death Review Database Development Project

CDR Project set out to investigate whether and how it would be possible to develop a ‘national’ database for England and Scotland to collect information from the child death reviews which are carried out in England by Child Death Overview Panels (CDOPs) and from the child death review process which is currently being developed in Scotland. The ultimate goal is to reduce child deaths in England and Scotland; this short-term development project is the first step on the way to developing a national information resource needed to support this goal.  Report out now - see here.

Safeguarding In Sport

Following the concerns reported in the national press, AILC has written to the FA and to CPSU to offer to work together. In addition, below is a list of Sport organisations (websites and contact numbers) that may be useful to promote on your own LSCB websites.

The NSPCC has launched a dedicated football hotline for victims of abuse, supported by the FA. The free helpline will be available 24 hours a day on 0800 023 2642.

NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit  

Webinar – Understanding grooming of children and young people in Sport

Safeguarding in Athletics

Safeguarding In Cricket

Safeguarding in Football

Safeguarding in Gymnastics

Safeguarding in Netball

Safeguarding in Rugby

Safeguarding in Swimming

Safeguarding in Tennis

Congratulations to LSCBs recently rated Good and Outstanding

Merton and North Lincolnshire LSCBs are the latest to become Outstanding amongst 6 across the country.
Congratulations to Derby LSCB from AILC - the third LSCB to be judged as Outstanding.  Some of the key points heralded by Ofsted regarding Derby LSCB are as follows:

• A culture of respectful challenge modelled by the board’s highly capable chair
• All key partner agencies play an active role
• New board members receive induction that makes clear expectations and responsibilities
• A full range of active sub-groups
• Benefits from long-standing engagement of 2 capable lay members
• Annual Report is high-quality

AILC's Analysis of Ofsted reports on LSCBs show nearly half are Good or Outstanding. LSCBs judged Outstanding or Good in 2017 Ofsted reports are:

Hackney - Outstanding
City of London - Outstanding
Derby - Outstanding
York - Outstanding
North Lincs - Outstanding
Merton - Outstanding
Central Bedfordshire - Good
Islington - Good
Bracknell Forest - Good
Newcastle - Good
Bath & NE Somerset - Good
North Tyneside - Good
Southwark - Good
East Riding - Good
Bedford - Good
East Riding - Good
Sutton - Good
Rutland - Good
Leicestershire - Good

And of course, irrespective of the judgement (including requiring improvement and Inadequate), many of the reports from Ofsted highlight strong positive examples of effective safeguarding partnerships.  

If you are a member, or your LSCB supports AILC with the Partnership Agreement, you can find examples of policies from the above LSCBs within the Private Members content pages under  'Resources', and click on 'Effective Safeguarding Partnerships'. Alternatively, click here if logged in:  Effective Safeguarding Partnerships

The Children and Social Work Act has now received Assent

 Update - May 2017

On April 27th, just before the election was called, the Children and Social Work Act received the Royal Assent.   You can find a copy of the new Act here.  As well as provision for new local safeguarding arrangements, replacing SCRs and reforming CDOP, the Act contains important proposals on social work regulation, care leavers, the statutory inclusion of PHSE in schools and other clauses.
 
Here is the implementation timescale as we currently understand it:

Draft orders and regulations will be prepared for the minister after the election, and the revised guidance for 'Working Together' (plus anything else if it does not all come as one document) is being prepared in the summer and will be out for 12 week consultation in the autumn. This was expected to be September but is now probably going to be a little later due to the election. The expectation is that local plans will be drawn up and agreed for implementation by no later than April 2019, but that some areas may propose and have agreed new arrangements ahead of this. Further updates will be provided regularly by AILC.
 
The latest version of AILC's Briefing on Local Safeguarding Children Arrangements can be found on the Private Member's Government Review Page as well as a presentation on Future Safeguarding Arrangements, completed by AILC's Chair,  David Ashcroft.

Children Inquiry on Children's Social Care, Inspection and Accountability

There was a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Children on 24 October 2016 for the Children Inquiry on Children’s Social Care, Inspection and Accountability to which AILC attended to contribute to the “No Good Options” APPGC report.  The minutes from the meeting can be found here.

Home Office Launches Disrespect NoBody Campaign

 The Home Office has launched Disrespect NoBody, a campaign to help young people understand what a healthy relationship is and re-think their views of controlling behaviour, violence, abuse, sexual abuse and consent.
 

AILC Submission to Parliament

AILC submitted its comments on the Children & Social Work Bill on the 4th January 2017. 

To see a copy of the Submission, please click below.