Info Sheets - Improvement & Review Commission 2005, 5-2005 Child Protection Policy

INFORMATION SHEET

Committee: Improvement & Review Commission

Issue No: 5/2005

Date Issued: 17 November 2005

Title: Child Protection Policy

Officer Contact: Jeremy Beake, Tel: DDI HW 421858, Email: Jeremy_beake@wycombe.gov.uk

CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

The draft Child Protection Policy was taken to the Improvement & Review Commission in September 2005.

Since then, more than 60 responses have been received from partners, staff and Members in the wider consultation. The final document (attached) is a response to that process. The major changes from the draft are:

Ÿ	Additions on the advice of Social Services

Ÿ	Review of the Photography elements

Ÿ	Clear reporting structure, training and guidance.

The agreement of a Child Protection Policy fulfils an important part of our work in making Youth (and Children) a Priority in the Wycombe District. This Policy applies to all situations within the Council’s operation, which could potentially involve children or young people, from young children running around in a reception area to home visits where children or young people are present. Good Practice guidelines will be provided for staff, to protect children and young people and to protect staff from allegations of abuse and to reassure parents.

The Policy (attached) goes to Cabinet and Council in December 2005 for formal adoption.

Child Protection Policy

Children and young people have the right to have fun and be safe in the services provided for them and the activities they choose to participate in.

All Children and young people have the right to live their lives to the fullest potential, to be protected, to have the opportunity to participate in and enjoy any activity and to be treated with dignity and respect.

A. CHILD PROTECTION STATEMENT

Wycombe District Council is committed to ensuring that all children and young people are protected and kept safe from harm whilst engaged in services organised and provided by the Council. Wycombe District Council will also safeguard the welfare of children and young people who use the Council's services or who attend activities within our venues, by protecting them from abuse.

Wycombe District Council recognises its responsibilities under the terms of the Children Act 2004, early Children’s Acts and other relevant legislation to make arrangements for ensuring that our functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of Children and young people. This policy has been developed in the context of the Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Board’s Code of Practice (Section One forms Appendix 1 of this policy).

This policy applies to all situations within the Council’s operation, which could potentially involve children or young people, from young children running around in a reception area to home visits where children or young people are present. Good Practice guidelines will be provided for staff, to protect Children and young people and to protect staff from allegations of abuse and to reassure parents.

The policy affects every Wycombe District Council staff member, elected member, volunteer and anyone working on behalf of and/or representing the Council.

B.	DEFINITIONS

Please read Appendix 1 for more details, however Wycombe District Council recognises that:

Ø	The terms children or young person is used to refer to anyone under the age of 18 years.

Ø	The term parent is used as a generic term to represent anyone with legal parental responsibility.

Ø	The terms staff, elected members and volunteers is used to refer to employees, district councillors, volunteers and anyone working on behalf of and/or representing the Council: this includes temporary, agency and contractors.

Ø	All children and young people irrespective of their age, class, religion, culture, disability, gender, ethnicity or sexual preference have the right to protection.

C.	THE AIMS OF THE POLICY

Wycombe District Council accepts the moral and legal responsibility to: implement procedures, to provide a duty of care for children and young people, safeguard their well being and protect them when they are engaged in services organised and provided by the Council or when they come into contact with Council staff, those on work experience, elected members and volunteers.

The Council aims to do this by:

·	Raising an awareness throughout the Council and beyond of the statutory “duty of care” relating to children and young people and actively encourage good practice amongst all staff, elected members and volunteers.

·	Creating a safe and healthy environment within all our services, avoiding situations where abuse or allegations of abuse may occur.

·	Respecting and promoting the rights, wishes and feelings of children and young people. Listening to children and young people, minimising dangers and working closely with other agencies.

Recruiting, training, supervising and supporting staff, elected members and volunteers who work with children and young people to adopt best practice to safeguard and protect children and young people from abuse, and themselves against false allegations. Staff and volunteers who work with children and young people will be subject to the appropriate level Criminal Records Bureau check.

·	Responding to any allegations appropriately and implementing the appropriate disciplinary and appeals procedures.

·	Requiring staff, elected members and volunteers to adopt and abide by the Council’s Child Protection Policy, Procedures and Good Practice Guidelines.

Action to achieve these aims:

1.	The general safety and well being of children and young people will be promoted within all Council services and a code of conduct developed so that good working practices are maintained.

2.	Training will be given to staff, elected members and volunteers across the Council on Child Protection Procedures and Good Practice and further training to enable them to recognise the potential signs and indicators of abuse and to improve good practice.

Procedures will be provided for staff, elected members and volunteers describing the actions they should take if they have concerns or encounter a case of alleged or suspected child abuse. So that they will be confident and able, to record and respond incidents following the procedures of the Buckinghamshire Information Sharing Protocol.

Assessment processes to ensure senior managers (Heads of Service /Corporate Managers) are aware of the extent to which people under their responsibility have contact with children and young people and an assessment of risk to the safety of children and young people in specific activities or situations

1. THE PROMOTION OF THE SAFETY OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Wycombe District Council recognises its staff could have the potential to abuse children or young people. Wycombe District Council will therefore ensure that unsuitable people are prevented from working with Children and young people.

1.1 Recruitment and Selection

The following procedures will be adhered to for the safety of Children and young people:-

All staff with access to Children and young people whether voluntary or paid must provide at least two references, which must be received and accepted as satisfactory to the Council before employment commences. One referee must be current, or if the applicant is not employed, the most recent employer.

·	References must cover the last three years of employment and if in education be provided by the course tutor. Referees must be previous employers, not friends and must not be related to the applicant.

·	All new staff with access to Children and young people are to be advised that the Council will require them to complete pre-employment CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks.

·	Confirmation of employment will be subject to the receipt of necessary clearance.

·	Existing staff who have changed jobs and in the opinion of the Line Manager / Personnel, new duties bring them into contact with young people must complete CRB checks.

·	CRB disclosures should be renewed every 3 years

Where applicable, all appointments that involve substantial contact with Children and young people, both paid and voluntary, will be subject to a probationary period and will not be confirmed unless the Line Manager is confident that the applicant can be safely entrusted with Children and young people.

It will be made clear to applicants that have a substantial contact with Children and young people that the position is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

1.2	Work Experience

Wycombe District Council offers work experience placements across the Council to many young people each year. Although primarily designed to help young people become familiar with the workplace, it is also beneficial to Wycombe District Council as it provides a direct link to an important part of the District we serve. Any person who has been banned from working with children has the duty to inform a manager of this fact before they can work in direct contact with a work experience person. Staff should not travel alone with a work experience student unless this has been approved by the school.

Wycombe District Council works through personnel to provide forwardly planned and structured work experience placements. When the Council offers a work experience placement to students, service managers have a responsibility for their health, safety and welfare. Under health and safety law, these students will be regarded as employees. Further guidance for managers will be developed to complement this policy.

1.3	Use of Contractors

Wycombe District Council and its staff, elected members and volunteers should take care that contractors doing work on behalf of the Council are monitored appropriately. Any contractor or sub-contractor, engaged by the Council in areas where workers are likely to come into contact with Children and young people, should have a similarly robust Child Protection Policy, or failing this, must comply with the terms of this policy.

Contractors will be monitored by the Officer responsible for the contract and record the degree of compliance with this policy.

2. INDUCTION AND TRAINING

Appropriate training will be given to enable staff, elected members and volunteers to recognise their responsibilities with regard to their own good practice and the reporting of suspected poor practice and concerns or allegations of abuse and to inform members of staff of expected conduct and situation to avoid in order to protect themselves from allegations.

This will include the following:

·	All staff will receive an introduction to this policy.

·	All staff with some possible contact with children and young people will receive follow up training on best practices

·	Staff who regularly come in contact with Children and Young People will attend appropriate Child Protection training on a regular basis

·	The designated person and Children and Young People Team will attend inter-agency training and update training on an annual basis

3. PROCEDURES

These procedures inform staff, elected members and volunteers of what actions they should take if they have concerns or encounter a case of alleged or suspected child abuse, i.e. response actions. The procedures apply to all Wycombe District Council staff, elected members and volunteers.

3.1	Responding To Concerns and Allegations: General Procedures

It is important that all staff, elected members and volunteers are aware that the first person that has concerns or encounters a case of alleged or suspected abuse is not responsible for deciding whether or not abuse has occurred. However, staff, elected members and volunteers do have a duty of care to the child or young person which means they must report any suspicions they may have.

In general there are 3 situations that staff, elected members and volunteers may need to respond to a concern or case of alleged or suspected abuse:

Ø	Responding to a child or young person disclosing abuse, i.e. they make an allegation of abuse

Ø	Responding to allegations or concerns about a member of staff, elected member or volunteer from your own observation or due to a complaint.

Ø	Responding to allegations or concerns about any other person, i.e. parent, carer, other service user

The diagram below illustrates the basic response actions that should be followed in each of the above response situations.

3.2	Basic response procedures and actions

3.3 Reporting Incidents

It is the duty of any Member or Council employee to report any concerns about a child being subject to abuse, receive a disclosure or are aware of Members, colleagues behaving in an inappropriate manor. All reports are confidential and will be handled in the same way and with respect to the person raising the concern regardless of the out come.

You should record in writing all the details that you are aware of and what was said using the child or young person’s own words, immediately. In your record you should include the following using the form in Appendix 2:

a)	The date and time

b)	The child or young persons name, address and date of birth

c)	The nature of the allegation

d)	Your observations – e.g. a description of the child or young persons behaviour and physical and emotional state and a description of any visible injuries.

e)	Exactly what the child or young person said and what you said. Record the child or young persons account of what has happened as close as possible.

f)	Sign and date what you have recorded.

Do not ask questions, other than the child or young persons name, address and age. Reassure the child or young person that they have done the right thing in telling you.

3.4	Confidentiality

Every effort should be made to ensure that confidentiality is maintained for all concerned. Information should be handled and disseminated on a need to know basis only, i.e. Designated Person, Social Services, or Police. It is extremely important that allegations or concerns are not discussed, as any breach of confidentiality could be damaging to the child or young person, their family and any child protection investigations that may follow.

Informing the parents of a child or young person you may have concerns should be done in consultation with Social Services. Parents will not be informed if they are the subject of the allegation. Any individual against whom an allegation has been made has the right to be notified about the cause for concern. This should be done in joint consultation with Social Services and the Police. It is important that the timing of this does not prejudice the investigation.

Recorded information should be stored in a secure place with limited access to Designated Persons, in line with data protection laws (e.g. that information is accurate, regularly updated, relevant and secure). If enquiries arise from the public or any branch of the media, it is vital that all staff, elected members and volunteers are briefed so that they do not make any comments regarding the situation. Staff, elected members and volunteers should make no comment and direct all enquiries to External Relations.

3.5	Photography

Staff, elected members and volunteers should be vigilant at all times regarding people using cameras or videos within Wycombe District Council services and at events or activities which involve children and young people. Consent must be sought from Parents when Cameras and other Image Recorders are used to picture Children and Young People. All services must follow the guidance set out in the Council’s Photography Policy and consent forms can be obtained from External Relations. Professional photographers or invitations to the press to cover Council services, events and activities should be done through External Relations.

Other guidelines are:

Ø	Do not allow unsupervised access to children or young people or one to one photographic sessions.

Ø	Do not allow photographic sessions outside of the activities or services, or at a child or young persons home.

Ø	The Child or Young Person will be happy at having their picture taken

Ø	Parents must be informed that photographs of their child or young person may be taken during Council services, activities or events, and parental consent forms need to be signed agreeing to this. This must include information about how and where these photographs will be used

Ø	The names of children or young people should not be used in photographs or video footage, unless with the express permission of the child or young person’s parent.

4. Protection through Service Provision

4.1 Managers must make an assessment of the following and update them on an annual basis:

·	The extent to which people under their responsibility have contact with children and young people

·	The risk to the safety of children and young people in specific activities or situations

·	The likelihood of lone workers encountering lone or young, vulnerable children or young people

Forms to help Managers will be on the intranet.

4.2 Community and Leisure Services (as well as other individual services such as Community Regeneration) provide and enable a wide range of facilities and services for children. By the nature of these activities, staff, volunteers and others contracted by departments are in various degrees of contact with children. The Heads of these Services should ensure that the requirements for staff training for those working with children are complete.

4.2 Housing Services play an important role in safeguarding children beyond the measures outlined in this policy when there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering or is at risk of suffering significant harm.

In accordance with their duty to assist under Section 27 of the Children Act 1989, the Housing Authority is expected to share, orally or in writing, relevant information about families that could be helpful to the Social Services carrying out assessments under Section 17 or Section 47 of the Children Act 1989. Staff are expected to attend Child Protection Conferences when requested to do so. Appropriate housing can make an important contribution to meeting the health and developmental needs of children.

Buckinghamshire Area Child Protection Committee’s Multi-Agency Child Protection Code of Practice 2004 states:

“The Housing Authority will assist by the provision of accommodation either directly, through their links with other housing providers, or by the provision of advice. Examples include situations where women and children become homeless or at risk of homelessness because of domestic violence. The HA has an important part to play in the management of the risk posed by dangerous offenders, including those who are assessed as presenting a risk, whether sexual or otherwise, to children. The re-housing of such people requires close liaison between the HA, police, Social Services and the probation service.”

5. The Role of the Designated Person

The designated person will be Service Manager responsible for Children and Young People (at present the Community Relations Manager) – Ext. 3858 or 01494 421858 and the role will be deputised by the Children Services and Youth Services Officers. They will have the duty to ensure that this policy is implemented.

Where information is reported that a person has reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering or is at risk of suffering significant harm, or otherwise believed to be a child in need the concerns will be referred to Buckinghamshire Social Services by the designated person following the Buckinghamshire Area Child Protection Committee’s Multi-Agency Code of Practice - Section 3.

This Code contains the following advice:

“While professionals should seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the family and, where possible, seek their agreement to make a referral, this should only be done where such discussion and agreement seeking will not place a child at increased risk of significant harm.”

Where the circumstances of the referral indicate the possible commission or attempted commission of a criminal offence, the matter will also be referred to the Thames Valley Police Family Protection Unit. This will enable the police and Social Services to consider jointly how to proceed in the best interests of the child.

In general,

·	Will keep the records of reports in a secure place,

·	Be responsible for making the referral to Social Services

Establish with the reporting person whether Parents’ permission should be sought. The code of practice states: Parents’ permission should normally be sought before discussing a referral about them with other agencies, unless permission seeking may itself place a child at risk of significant harm and a S.47 enquiry has started.

·	Personal information about referrers, including identifying details, will only be disclosed to third parties (including subject families and other agencies) with the consent of the referrer.

Sources of information / support

Designated Person: Jeremy Beake
3858, Stephanie Tebbutt 3886 or
Joanne Fowler

www.nspcc.org.uk/html/home/needadvice/
needadvice.htm

Phone 0808 800 5000

ChildLine - free helpline for children and young people in the UK. Children and young people can call to talk about any problem

www.childline.org.uk

Phone 0800 1111

Employee Support Programme
Available to all Council employees
0800 085 6457

Samaritans

www.samaritans.org

Phone 08457 909090

NSPCC – Information for children and adults

Domestic Violence

Phone c/o 08457 909090

Appendix 1: BACPC Code – A part of Section 1

1.5 The Concept of Significant Harm

1.5.1 Some children may be suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm, either as a result of a deliberate act, or of a failure on the part of a parent or carer to act or to provide proper care, or both. These children need to be made safe from harm, alongside meeting their other needs.

1.5.2 The Children Act 1989 introduced the concept of significant harm as the threshold that justifies compulsory intervention in family life in the best interests of children. The local authority is under a duty to make enquiries, or cause enquiries to be made, where it has reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or likely to suffer significant harm (S.47). A court may only make a care order (committing the child to the care of the local authority) or supervision order (putting the child under the supervision of a social worker, or a probation officer) in respect of a child if it is satisfied that:

a) The child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm; and

b) That the harm or likelihood of harm is attributable to a lack of adequate parental care or control (S.31).

1.5.3 There are no absolute criteria on which to rely when judging what constitutes significant harm. However, to understand and establish significant harm, it is necessary to consider:

Ÿ	The family context and the child’s development within the context of their family,

Ÿ	wider social and cultural environment;

Ÿ	Any special needs, such as a medical condition, communication difficulty or

Ÿ	disability that may affect the child’s development and care within the family;

Ÿ	The nature of harm, in terms of ill-treatment or failure to provide adequate care;

Ÿ	The impact on the child’s health and development; and,

Ÿ	The adequacy of parental care.

1.5.4 For those children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering significant harm, joint working is essential, to safeguard the children and – where necessary – to help bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against children. All agencies and professionals must:

Ÿ	Be alert to potential indicators of abuse or neglect;

Ÿ	Be alert to the risks which abusers, or potential abusers, may pose to children;

Ÿ	Share and help to analyse information so that an informed assessment can be

Ÿ	made of the child’s needs and circumstances;

Ÿ	Contribute to whatever actions are needed to safeguard the child and promote his

Ÿ	or her welfare;

Ÿ	Regularly review the outcomes for the child against specific shared objectives; and,

Ÿ	Work co-operatively with parents unless this is inconsistent with the need to ensure the child’s safety.

Buckinghamshire Area Child Protection Committee

Multi-Agency Code of Practice Page 6/7