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Roles and Responsibilities

 The role of the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board is to:

• Promote and facilitate initiatives to reduce harm to children.
• Establish, monitor and review interagency Safeguarding Children procedures.
• Collect and analyse information with regard to the demands on agencies and the nature of their responses. Assessing this information maximises positive outcomes for children, young people and their families 
• Promote and provide training and to assist in the development of practitioner's skills.
• Increase professional and public awareness of specific issues.
• Enquire into cases of abuse and neglect where a child has died or suffered serious harm and to review significant issues arising from such enquiries.
• Review arrangements for interagency liaison.

To assist the work of the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board there are 6 subgroups that are responsible for training, monitoring and evaluation, reviewing individual cases and the child protection procedures. There are 4 Locality Safeguarding Children Forums (LSCFs) responsible for promoting and maintaining effective interagency working at a local level.

The LSCFs are based in four geographical areas, these are:

• Selby
• Hambleton and Richmond
• Harrogate and Craven
• Scarborough Whitby and Ryedale

The role of the Locality Forums is to receive and implement policies and procedures from the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board; to promote and maintain effective inter-agency working and co-operation at a local level; to make recommendations to the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board concerning policy and practice based on local experience; to undertake developmental work as requested by the Safeguarding Children Board; to identify and carry out multi-disciplinary training in accordance with the Safeguarding Children Board Training Strategy.

Membership of the LSCF is composed of managers or representatives with a safeguarding lead nominated by each of the member agencies. Each LSCF will have a chair nominated by the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board from the wider Board membership, and will become a member of the Executive. Other local groups are co-opted as appropriate.

Serious Case Review Sub Group

The Sub Group manages the Case Review process and ensures that the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board learns lessons from Case Reviews. It meets every two months and it is made up from members of the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board.

 A Case Review is held when

•  a child dies and abuse or neglect are known or suspected to be a factor in the death.

The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board will always consider whether a Review should be conducted where a child

• sustains a potentially life-threatening injury or serious and permanent impairment of health and development,
•  or has been subjected to particularly serious sexual abuse; 
•  the case gives rise to concerns about inter-agency working to protect children.
• their parent has been murdered and a homicide review is initiated
• the child has been killed by a parent with a mental illness

"Case Reviews" are a requirement under the Department of Health Guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006".

The purpose of the Case Review is to:

Establish whether there are lessons to be learnt from the case about the way in which local professionals and agencies work together to safeguard children. To identify clearly what those lessons are, how they will be acted upon and what is expected to change as a result. Ultimately they are to improve inter-agency working and better safeguard  children.

Training Sub Group

This Sub Group ensures that the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board's Training Strategy is effective. The group supports the work of the Training and Development Co-ordinators. Membership includes representation from each of the locality forums to ensure that local needs are addressed and those who have a responsibility for training within each agency.

The purpose of multi agency training is to ensure

• that there is a shared understanding of the tasks, processes, principles, roles and responsibilities and local arrangements for safeguarding children and promoting their welfare.
• Improved communications between professionals including a common understanding of key terms, definitions and thresholds for action.
• Effective working relationships based on respect and an understanding of the role and contribution of different disciplines.
• Sound decision-making based on information sharing, thorough assessment, critical analysis and professional judgement.

Procedures Sub Group

The Sub Group has responsibility for the creation and maintenance of relevant, up-to-date Child Protection procedures and protocols for all North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board agencies. It is made up of members from the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board and Locality forums.

Monitoring and Evaluation Sub Group

The Sub Group is responsible for ensuring self evaluation through peer review of single agency work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, providing a framework for an inter-agency quality assurance system, auditing outcomes, ensuring organisations working or in contact with children, operate safe recruitment and personnel practice that takes into account the need to safeguard and promote children's welfare. Collating information relating to complaints and commendations, and collating information regarding allegations against staff.  To convene a Complaints Panel as required. 

Information and Communcation Sub Group

The subgroup meets every two months and is responsible for ensuring effective communication of safeguarding responsibilities to the public and professional community, and to raise awareness of the need to safeguard children and promote their welfare by ensuring that all people in North Yorkshire understand how the arrangements for safeguarding work and how they can contribute to these objectives.  Ensuring children and young people know who to contact when they have concerns about their own safety and welfare.  The public will have access to agendas, reports and minutes in accordance with freedom of information.  Copies to be made available through Safeguarding website, libraries and service delivery points.  To consult with children, young people, parents and carers, ensuring their views and opinions are taken into account when planning and delivering safeguarding and welfare services and that mechanisms are in place for feeding back information and answers to them.

Child Death Screening (From April 2008)

The subgroup will put in place procedures for ensuring there is a coordinated response by the authority, their Board partners and other relevant persons to an unexpected death.  They will collect and analyse information about each death with a view to identifying any matters of concern affecting the safety and welfare of children in the area of the authority, including any case giving rise to the need for a Serious Case Review.  They will identify any general public health or safety concern arising from deaths of such children.

Business Plan

The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board produces a 3 year Business Plan, which sets out the work programme. The work programme details measurable objectives, relevant management information on child protection activity in the course of the previous year, and progress against the objectives of the previous year.

The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board's Business Plan links to the North Yorkshire Children’s Service Plan and is endorsed by the North Yorkshire Children’s Strategic Board.

Click here for more information on the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board business plan.