The Future of Child Protection
The Children Act 2004 provides the legislative framework for the Every Child Matters Change for Children Programme. The Children Act 2004 came into effect on 15th November, 2004.
Local Safeguarding Children Boards will strengthen local interagency arrangements for safeguarding and promoting children's welfare. The Children Act 2004 places a duty on individual agencies to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their area.
The National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services NSF sets out a ten year programme to stimulate long term and sustained improvement in children's health and wellbeing through setting standards for the care of children, young people and maternity services.
This is not a document which is the responsibility of health alone, the implementation will be by Local Authorities and other partners as well as health.
NSF 5, Safeguarding Children will be an integral part of the implementation of the Local Safeguarding Children Board along with the guidance which is expected in December 2005.
Local Safeguarding Children Boards
The following bodies will be included in Local Safeguarding Children Boards as Board partners:
- NHS bodies including Strategic Health Authorities, Primary Care Trusts, NHS Trusts and NHS Foundation Trusts;
- Police;
- Local probation boards;
- Connexions Service;
- Prisons in the area which normally detain children (this includes Young Offenders Institutions);
- Secure training centres;
- The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS);
- District councils where they exist;
Youth Offending Teams are also expected to participate as full members of the Board.
These agencies will have a significant contribution to make to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and the work of the Board because they:
- provide services to children in partnership with their partners, or contractors, or
- will be covered by the duty to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children when exercising their statutory functions.
Local Safeguarding Children Boards will build on existing best practice from Area Child Protection Committees to strengthen the local arrangements for safeguarding and promoting children's welfare.
There is an expectation that the boards will undertake work in four broad areas:
- strategic planning;
- monitoring their members' effectiveness in terms of their work to safeguard and promote children's welfare;
- setting policy and procedures on protecting individual children from harm and preventing abuse and neglect;
- establishing screening teams to investigate each unexpected child's death
The voluntary and community sector will have an important contribution to make to Local Safeguarding Children Boards' work. The Children Act 2004 allows for a local authority, in consultation with other Board partners, to invite voluntary and community, and other, agencies to participate in a Local Safeguarding Children Board.
The Act also sets out that the Secretary of State can make regulations describing which other bodies should be included, and the local authority must then take all reasonable steps to involve them.
Ann McMorris
Safeguarding Manager
