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Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s first annual...

Commenting on the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s first annual report, Jenny Coles, ADCS Vice President, said:

“We welcome this report and its emphasis on supporting local authorities and their safeguarding partners in keeping children safe, and the recognition that local authority budgetary and workload pressures can hinder this aim.

“The death or serious harm of any child, though thankfully rare, is a tragedy. The report is clear that every day dedicated professionals are successfully safeguarding children and supporting the wide ranging and complex needs of their families. That said, it’s crucial we learn lessons when things do go wrong by developing our responses to meet the needs of children and their families.

“Child protection is complex, even where a child is known to children’s services abuse and neglect can be hidden by unscrupulous individuals. I would encourage all local authorities and their safeguarding partners, policy makers and others to read this report and note the key messages and learning it draws together. For example, the Panel identified concerns relating to weak risk assessment and poor decision making and information sharing in 40% of all rapid reviews completed by local areas. We hope the practice issues and key themes identified by the Panel will result in improved safeguards and, ultimately, outcomes for all children in all local areas.

“There are clear messages here for government too particularly around schools being a protective factor for children and young people and concerns about the effectiveness of some responses to domestic abuse, which should be considered in the Domestic Abuse Bill.”

ENDS



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