Resources and training – London Safeguarding Children Board

London Safeguarding Children Procedures and Practice Guidance

The Procedures are available at: http://www.londoncp.co.uk

The London Safeguarding Children Procedures and Practice Guidance are updated on a six-monthly basis with the relevant changes to legislation, statutory guidance, and local guidance.

If you have any queries regarding the London Safeguarding Children Procedures and Practice Guidance please contact Nilam Taheem, Support Officer for the London Safeguarding Children Partnership.

The London Multi-Agency Safeguarding Data Sharing Agreement

The Data Sharing Agreement [DSA] was published in January 2021 which documents how the parties to this agreement will share personal data about children and families for safeguarding purposes. The document can be accessed via this link.

Mental Health and Parenting event – 9 December 2021

On Thursday 9 December, the London Safeguarding Children Partnership held a training event on Mental Health and Parenting to introduce awareness and understanding of mental illness and its relationship to parenting with a specific focus on perinatal period. The Learning Objectives of the event were as follows:

To offer an overview of general mental illness
To provide insight and awareness of the impact of perinatal mental illness, with an introduction into services provides
To understand the National picture with regard to perinatal Mental Illness
To explore risk and parenting capacity and the impact on children

Link to the presentation is available below:
Agenda
Perinatal MH training handout pack

Infant Mental Health event – 18 November 2021

On Thursday 18 November, the London Safeguarding Children Partnership held a training event on Infant Mental Health. The Learning Objectives of the event were as follows:

Gaining a basic knowledge of the current clinical approaches to assess parent infant relationship
Learning about the principles of attachment theory
Learning about the determinants of a sensitive parent-infant interaction.

Link to the presentation is available below:

Infant MH Miele 18.11. 2021 – presentation

Child Exploitation Training Event-15 October 2021

On Thursday 15 October, the London Safeguarding Children Partnership held a training event on Child Exploitation. The Learning Objectives of the event were as follows:

NRM: roles and responsibilities of First responders.
Considerations for Statutory defences (Section 45)
Case study of Operation Zephrus: a Multi agency CSE Operation in Redbridge between Police, Local authority and key NGOs.
Intelligence sharing opportunities and considerations for practitioners
Special measures and opportunities for pre-recorded evidence.
Schemes across London to encourage early intervention of children who may be at risk of Child Exploitation.

Agenda, presentations and links are available below:

Agenda
CAG – DC Juliet Bernard.
County Lines – PC Louise Court
Chicken Shop Grooming
Girls Under the Radar Danielle’s Story
Child Exploitation Protocol – Eloise Owen

London Protocol for the provision of local authority accommodation for children held in police custody

This Protocol aims to facilitate an improvement in outcomes for children held in police custody – a group of children who often end up in custody because of their vulnerability and who, whilst in custody, will be at a point of crisis. It seeks to facilitate this by supporting professionals involved in the transfer of children in custody to local authority accommodation to understand both their own roles and responsibilities and those of their colleagues and thereby to facilitate joint working. It also sets out how local areas should monitor the implementation of this Protocol and ensure that feedback develops and enhances local practice. The purpose of this protocol is to supplement the Home Office Concordat on Children in Custody. The Concordat forms the basis for this document and the London specific sections are highlighted.

London Protocol for CiC & Concordat website Final June 19 (word)

London Protocol for CiC plus Concordat website vsn 02.07.19 (pdf)

Identifying and Safeguarding Girls at Risk of Female Genital Mutilation [FGM] – A Joint Social Work and Child Abuse Investigation Team [CAIT] Workshop

On Friday 23^rd June the FGM Task and Finish Group of the London Safeguarding Children Board held a workshop for social work and CAIT FGM safeguarding champions. The National FGM Centre run by Barnardo’s and the Partnership Team at the Metropolitan Police Service lead on the organisation of the event, which aimed to achieve the following:

To develop FGM Safeguarding Champions in children’s social care
To identify the barriers to obtaining FGM Protection Orders in local authorities and ways to overcome them.
Brief participants on the multi-agency work going on in London to prevent and prosecute FGM
Brief participants on the National FGM Centre’s social work model and the guidance and risk assessment matrix they have developed
Look at other harmful practices – with a particular focus on spiritual abuse/Witchcraft and Breast Ironing
Identify actions that could be taken forward by the London Safeguarding Children Board to further safeguard girls from FGM

The presentations and information from the day are available below.

In addition, the link to the BBC Hardtalk debate on FGM [shown at the start of the workshop] is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV6UfEaZHBE

Return Home Interview Seminar – 7 October 2016

On Friday 7 October, the Child Sexual Exploitation Task & Finish Group which reports to the London Safeguarding Children Board held a Return Home Interview Seminar. The seminar looked at developing best practice more generally and attendees were asked to consider whether there were any issues the CSE Task and Finish Group could take forward to support practitioners in their work.

Presentations for the day are available below:

Missing data – Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alison Newcomb

Return Home Interview Intelligence – Detective Inspecor Mark Hine

Ofsted Learning from Insepctions – Brenda Mclaughlin

Return Home Interviews and Safety – Victoria Cousins

Conference 21.3.16 – Safeguarding Children from Extremism

On Monday 21^st March 2016, the Task and Finish Group which addresses the risks posed by extremism to children and young people held a half day conference at the QEII Centre in central London. The conference was attended by more than 140 professionals all of whom are involved in work to safeguard children from these risks. It showcased best practice and enabled the learning from this work to be shared across the capital. The speakers were all experts leading the way in this new safeguarding arena. Presentations from the day are available below:

Working at the Heart of Communities and with Local, Regional and National Bodies to Tackle Extremism – Kalsoom Bashir

Safeguarding Children from Extremism: Family Court & Legal Action – Ruth Kirby and Sahdiah Ikram

Early intervention and prevent work with children and young people – Liz Vickerie

Through our practice, we help children, young people and their families to have safer and better lives – Nasima Patel

Pan London Section 11 Audit Tools

The London Board facilitated work to introduce a degree of standardisation to the section 11 audit process in London. In 2012 this template tool, overview report and guidance notes were published following extensive consultation across London. Please note that these tools are presented as best practice, and their use is not mandatory for LSCBs.

Pan-London Section 11 Audit Tool May 2012

Independent report into the Effectiveness of MASH

The London multi agency safeguarding hub (MASH) programme began in 2011. A MASH co-locates a whole range of agencies, including police, local authority children’s social care, education, probation and health staff, to share information and spot emerging problems early, potentially saving lives.

This first independent report into the effectiveness of MASH was commissioned across five local authority areas by the London Safeguarding Children Partnership (London SCP) and London Councils. It found that the mean turnaround time for cases initially assessed as level 3 (high or complex needs) nearly halved in some areas, from 2.5 days to just over 1.25 days. The turnaround time for referrals initially assessed as level 2 (low to vulnerable) halved from more than four and a half days to less than two and half days. The report states, ‘One of the particularly beneficial impacts of the Mash on services to children was in the identification of children who would not have come to notice previously, but were now receiving a service.’

MASH Final Report

Pan-London guidance and best practice templates

During 2012 and 2013 a pan-London operational group, chaired by D-Supt Richard Henson, the Met Police Project Lead for MASH, and with representation from NHS London, London Probation, London Councils and the London Safeguarding Children Partnership, produced a number of guidance documents and templates for local multi-agency safeguarding hubs. These are available through the links below:

Competence Still Matters 2014- a multi agency safeguarding children training framework for London

A working group of the London Board’s training subgroup updated Competence Matters, the London Board’s multi-agency training framework, in line with the 2013 re-issue of Working Together to Safeguard Children. It is important to note that there have been further revisions of Working Together to safeguard Children since this document was produced, however, it still provides helpful guidance and hence continues to be available. Please follow the link below to download a copy.

Competence Still Matter 2014

The framework has been designed to assist all employers, voluntary organisations and LSCBs to meet the minimum requirements for the provision of safeguarding children training. It provides a framework for single and multi-agency training to enable professionals, volunteers, agencies, organisations and services to acquire the skills and knowledge to work effectively. It promotes consistency across the London boroughs for the delivery of such training whilst allowing for the degree of flexibility required to meet locally identified needs. Whilst the implementation of Competence Still Matters will not be mandatory, it represents a standard of good practice and will help LSCBs, Children’s Trusts and partner organisations fulfil their responsibilities as outlined in chapter 3 of Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013).