This year has been a busy one for Brighton & Hove Local Safeguarding Children Board. In our final newsletter of 2017 we reflect on the work of the safeguarding partnership over the past 12 months and look ahead to the coming year.
In November we welcomed our next Independent Chair Chris Robson, who brings a breadth of safeguarding experience from working as a practitioner, manager and strategic lead in some of London’s most challenging boroughs. We were sad to say goodbye to Graham Bartlett, who chaired the LSCB for four years, but will maintain a close working relationship with him as he continues to lead the Safeguarding Adults Board. We also welcomed many new Board Members this year and recruited three new Lay Members, and are pleased that our Board meetings and subcommittees have continued to consistent and engaged representation.
The Board have met four times in 2017, with a further two extraordinary meetings to consider our Serious Case Reviews. You can read more about each meeting in our Board Briefings. Highlights from this year’s Board discussions include:
In 2017 the LSCB published two Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) and undertook a learning review looking into services an interventions offered to a family in the city where neglect was a feature. You can read more about this review here.
Next year will see the implementation of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel which will carry out reviews which may have national significance. For example, where a case raises or may raise issues requiring legislative change or changes to statutory guidance. Local arrangements will be put in place to continue to review cases which highlights or could highlight improvements needed to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in Brighton & Hove.
Child A SCROn 21 June 2017 Brighton & Hove LSCB published a SCR on Child A, a 17 year old looked after child whose body was found on a railway track at the start of last year.Child A had been exposed to physical and emotional abuse and neglect in the context of chronic domestic violence in his early childhood, and had been subject to a Care Order since 2004. A had been placed in a number of foster homes, none of which were able to manage his behaviours, before being placed in therapeutic units from the age of 8.As he approached 18 plans were made to transfer A to a foster home, in preparation for independence, and the review identified that these plans had created tension between the unit and Brighton & Hove City Council as the Corporate Parent.This SCR is a thorough exploration of the services provided to A and his family over five and half years, and has identified effective systems and good professional practice, as well as examples of systemic weaknesses and areas for development. You can read more in our Learning Together from Case Reviews Briefing. |
Sibling W&X Serious Case ReviewOn 27 July 2017 Brighton & Hove LSCB published a SCR to evaluate multi-agency responses to vulnerable young people at risk of exploitation through radicalisation. It followed the deaths of two brothers, ‘W’ & ‘X,’ in Syria in 2014. They had received services from local agencies in Brighton & Hove before leaving the UK. This Serious Case Review identified 13 findings about the safeguarding system in Brighton & Hove, grouped into four priority areas: Working with trauma; working with high risk adolescents; working with children vulnerable to radicalisaion; working with minority ethnic groups. Please read our Briefing for Front-line Staff which will give you an overview of these issues and pose a series of questions to help you consider the implications for your practice. If you work with children & families in Brighton & Hove, there may also be additional specific actions & recommendations for your agency and your role. Please ask your manager, or contact your representative on the LSCB. |
In 2017 the LSCB undertook two in depth multi agency audits. A range of agencies participated in these audit days, and you can read more about these below.
Next year our multi-agency audit activity will focus on how well the safeguarding partnership responds to child sexual abuse in the family, as well as undertaking our first joint piece of quality assurance work with the Safeguarding Adult Board with a combined audit on parents with learning disabilities.
Neglect Multi-Agency AuditThe Board considered the recent multi-agency audit on 9 cases where neglect was identified. The sample included children over three age ranges; 0-5; 6-11 and 12-18, and open to different levels of intervention from Early Help to Child in Need and Child Protection, including children with disabilities. Examples of what is working well:
Examples of what needs to improve:
The recommendations from this audit have fed into the development of the Neglect Strategy, and the actions will be overseen by our Monitoring & Engagement Subcommittee. You can read more about this audit in our Professionals Briefing |
Children with Disabilities Multi-Agency AuditResearch has found that disabled children are three to four times more likely to be abused and neglected than non-disabled children (Jones et al 2012; Sullivan & Knutson 2000). The LSCB completed a multi-agency audit in October 2017 to examine whether a robust and timely service is provided to disabled children who are in need of protection and whether we are making a difference. Examples of what is working well:
Examples of what needs to improve:
The recommendations from this audit will lead to an action plan to be overseen by our Monitoring & Engagement Subcommittee. |
It has been a busy year for our training team, and we would not have achieved the amount we have without the overwhelming support of our Training Pool, to whom we say a BIG thank you. We have had 825 agency staff from safeguarding partners within Brighton & Hove attending LSCB training during 2017. Some of your comments have included:
This year saw a closer collaboration between the local authorities across Sussex, culminating in a very successful Pan Sussex LSCB Conference on Neglect at Brighton Racecourse as part of the Safeguarding Sussex Week last month. This event was attended by over a hundred staff from all safeguarding partners working across the county, and showed that all the local authorities are tackling the issues relating to Neglect in a constructive way.
Our full training programme for 2018-19 will be released in the new year, but some of these sessions can already be booked through the Brighton & Hove Learning Gateway. We are updating our courses to make sure they cover emerging threats such as Child Criminal Exploitation, and radicalisation, and are introducing a new day long session on Safeguarding Adolescents to look indepth at the particular risks and vulnerabilities for this cohort of children. Our three core safeguarding courses: Developing a Core Understanding, Assessment Referral & Investigation, and Child Protection Conferences and Core Groups, will be running throughout the year, and please see our webpages for upcoming training and events.
We will also be hosting a conference in association with West Sussex LSCB on Perplexing Cases in March 2018. The day will look at the whole spectrum of medically perplexing cases, including Fabricated or Induced Illness, and seek to build staff confidence to discuss concerns, identify processes and consider the medical, legal and safeguarding perspectives when working with these complex cases.
And finally Dave Hunt, our Learning & Development Officer has also been nominated for the NSPCC/BAPSCAN “Child Protection Trainer of the Year” and will be attending a conference in January 2018, which will include the award ceremony. We’ll all be keeping our fingers crossed for him to win, and are delighted that his hard work has been recognised.
Sussex Safety and Safeguarding Conference21 & 22 February 2018, Amex Stadium The conference has a variety of sessions and is designed to enable delegates to attend either, or both days and choose the subjects that are most relevant to them. With expert speakers from around the UK, the sessions will include patient stories, examples of best practice, learning from adverse incidents and ‘human factors’ to encompass a wide range of topics within the themes of Safety and Safeguarding. The conference is free to attend and lunch will be provided – however, any delegate who accepts a place and does not attend without cancellation at least 48 hours in advance, will be liable for a £50 per day non-attendance fee. We anticipate high demand and recommend early booking using the links below
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As we approach the end of another year, our Learning & Development Officer Dave Hunt reflects on the festive season:
There is a quote that says –
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery,
Today is the “present” and a gift, to be used.
As professionals there will be that particular case that has you confused and frustrated, although you have tried to utilise all the options you can think of, it still remains a dilemma.
You will not be alone, we have all been there!
Therefore in December, why not use your colleagues, they are that gift, you have access to, on a day by day basis. Bring the case to a group supervision session, or team meeting. Then discuss what you tried historically (yesterday), utilise their knowledge and understanding to see if they can “think out of the box”, and see if you can try something different tomorrow.
You have access to a wide array of material, via your own agency or organisation, and others. You are also able to utilise the information held on the LSCB website.
In particular see if any of our practice point scenarios share similarities to your case, and maybe use that as the framework for your discussions.
Remember that Safeguarding is Everyone’s Responsibility.
Next year will see some significant changes and the government are currently undertaking a consultation on revisions to Working Together to Safeguard Children – the statutory guidance which sets out what is expected of organisations, individually and jointly, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. These revisions are being made largely to reflect the legislative changes introduced through the Children and Social Work Act 2017.
The main changes are:
You can read more about the consultation here and please make sure that your views are heard by completing the online consultation by 31 December 2017.
Has needs met within universal provision. May need limited intervention within the setting to avoid needs arising.
Has additional needs identified within the setting that can be met within identified resources through a single agency response and partnership working.
Has multiple needs requiring a multi-agency coordinated response.
Has a high level of unmet & complex needs, or is in need of protection.