1.01 Introduction

 

1.1.1 Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 places a duty on all agencies to make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

1.1.2 This duty is part of a comprehensive programme of change which began with the publication of Every Child Matters: Change for Children (September 2003) focusing on improving the following outcomes for children and young people:

• Be healthy
• Stay safe
• Enjoy and Achieve
• Make a positive contribution
• Achieve economic well being.

Inter-agency arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children are coordinated and monitored through the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board which links to the management arrangements of the North Yorkshire Children and Young People Strategic Partnership.

1.1.3 Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:

• Protecting children from maltreatment
• Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
• Enabling children to have optimum life chances and to enter adulthood successfully.