Welsh Assembly Government Statement On Safeguarding Vulnerable Children In Wales

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 19 Nov 2008 - 1:00 PST

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Welsh Assembly Government statement on Safeguarding vulnerable children - 18 November 2008

WRITTEN STATEMENT BY THE WELSH ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT
Title: Safeguarding Vulnerable Children in Wales
By: Gwenda Thomas, Deputy Minister for Social Services

The tragic events which lead to the death of baby P in Haringey have been at the forefront of our minds in the last few days. On behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government I wish to record our sadness at the events which lead to his death and to set out what we are doing in Wales to safeguard our most vulnerable children.

Safeguarding vulnerable children is a key priority for the Welsh Assembly Government and for local agencies. There are duties in law placed upon organisations and specific individuals. Following the death of Victoria Climbié, a revised framework for tackling child abuse through legislation, guidance and new structures was established. These fundamental reforms are in place, and it is timely to reflect and review local processes and procedures to ensure that they are sufficiently robust.

With this in mind, the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) already has a significant programme of safeguarding work in place this year. This includes work for completion in this financial year with each Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) on serious case reviews. This is focussing on the effectiveness of the arrangements for learning lessons and whether procedures and practice are changing and improving as a result of serious case reviews. It will identify what the barriers are to achieving change. It will also inform work to review the efficacy of the serious case review process, in particular the time taken to complete these, which is often very lengthy, and not conducive to achieving timely change and improvement.

The CSSIW in conjunction with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales is completing a review of the co-ordination of adult services and children's services where there are adults with mental health and/or substance misuse problems and who also have children, and the arrangements for the provision of services to children within these families, to ensure the children's welfare is being safeguarded and promoted. This is an area on which we have recently consulted on proposals to introduce support for vulnerable children and families through a new approach to Integrated Family Support Services. We intend to use powers granted to the Welsh Assembly Government under the Legislative Competence Order on vulnerable children and child poverty to strengthen support to families where children are likely to be at risk, and to help identify where there is serious risk so that early action can be taken.

The CSSIW has also commissioned work this year to develop a self audit tool for LSCBs to assess their own effectiveness in safeguarding children. The self audit tool has been piloted and is being refined before being issued for use in all LSCBs in spring 2009, together with a programme of support to implement it. CSSIW is also leading work with WAO, Estyn, HIW, HMI Police and HMI Probation to undertake a review of the effectiveness of LSCBs in safeguarding children in 2009/10.

Taken together, these constitute an already planned package of action aimed at strengthening safeguards for children in Wales; a package that will be further enhanced by the implementation of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act in the coming years. However, in view of the work announced in England to examine child protection procedures and practices amongst local agencies in Haringey and to ask Lord Laming to review progress being made across the country with the implementation of structures and arrangements introduced by the Children Act 2004, we have decided to take further immediate action.

Following the publication of the Victoria Climbié Inquiry report, the Welsh Assembly Government required all local authorities to carry out audits of their arrangements for safeguarding children and to produce action plans for strengthening them as necessary. The Social Services Inspectorate Wales undertook an evaluation of the audit in 2004 in every authority, and a further audit of children in need, including looked after children, took place in 2005.

Welsh Assembly Government officials will write this week to Directors of Social Services, Directors of Education, Lead Directors of Children and Young People's Partnerships, Chairs of Local Safeguarding Children Boards and lead officers for children and young people's services of NHS bodies, to ask them to confirm that robust arrangements are in place locally to ensure that the welfare of vulnerable children is properly safeguarded. They will be asked to report through the Director of Social Services in respect of social services responsibilities and the Chair of the Local safeguarding Children Board in respect of inter agency responsibilities. The letters will be copied to senior officers in each of the agencies identified as statutory members of LSCBs, to ensure that they are fully engaged in this process, commensurate with their statutory responsibilities as set out in Section 28 of the Children Act 2004 to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Assurances will be sought that agencies are clear about the legal duties that exist individually and within organisational structures and local arrangements to support the effectiveness of agencies working together to safeguard and protect vulnerable children. The Welsh Assembly Government will also seek reassurance that action on the following areas of work in particular has been addressed, and that recommendations have been implemented:

Finally, they will be asked to satisfy themselves that the Local Safeguarding Children Board in their area is adequately supported to carry out its work, and that people who work with the most vulnerable children receive the training and support they need to do their often difficult and stressful jobs effectively.

The letter from Welsh Assembly Government officials will require a response by the beginning of February and this will be considered alongside the report on Haringey and Lord Laming's report, when that becomes available.

Source
Rory Powell
Senior Communications Officer - Uwch Swyddog Cyfathrebu
Health and Social Services - Iechyd a Gwasanaeth Cymdeithasol
Welsh Assembly Government - Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru
http://www.wales.gov.uk