This is the VISION4 e-Newsletter.

You are on the 'Current News' section, which features both the Local News and National News (see below).

For the latest publications and resources please visit the 'Strategic Documents' page.

Tackling Family Poverty Consultation 2011

Family Poverty Strategy 2011 - 2014

There had been a consultation for the Family Poverty Strategy Draft and its supporting documents, including the research reports. (The closing date for comments was Friday 23rd September 2011)

Nationally the Child Poverty Act 2010 has provided a focus to bring together local organisations who are already working on this agenda. In Luton partners are agreed that this strategy should be based on tackling family poverty in order to recognise the complexity of this issue and the need for a holistic approach.

Chilldren's Society reports Four in 10 disabled children in the UK live in poverty

Four in 10 disabled children in the UK live "in poverty", according to the Children's Society.

In the population as a whole, about one-in-three children lives in poverty. The charity, Children's Society, is calling on the government to rethink planned changes to welfare benefits in the UK, saying more than 100,000 disabled children could lose up to £27 a week.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15206416

To Join the Child Poverty Community of Practice and keep up to date with the latest news and data relating to Child Poverty see http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/comm/landing-home.do?id=1362979

The Government responds to the Munro Review

The Department for Education has published the Government response to Eileen Munro’s review of child protection (13 July 2011). Government will take forward further detailed work with key partners. This will include building on the Department of Health’s work to date on the practical implications of NHS reform for safeguarding children.  Health, education, police, probation and the justice system are all to be inspected on how well they protect children.

Link: www.education.gov.uk/munroreview

For more news and information about the Government's response to the Munro Review, see the 'National News' section below.

 Briefing from NCVYS -  

Payment By Results and Social Investment

This briefing sets out details of Payment By Results (PBR) and Social Investment, a Government approach to funding services. At the end is a list of questions intended to stimulate thinking on the implications of the approach for the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSES).  

Payment By Results (PBR) is part of a wider shift towards outcomes-based commissioning. This is where a commissioning body agrees to fund a provider on the basis that they will achieve particular agreed outcomes, rather than deliver particular outputs. PBR refers to a system in which public service commissioners pay providers according to specified outcomes as opposed to paying for services at the start of a contract.

It is intended to create incentives to drive improved performance from providers and to ensure commissioners use resources more efficiently. The theory is that because providers will get funding for each extra service user they benefit, they will become more efficient at delivering the desired outcomes. This enables a more devolved and flexible approach with less interference from Government in asking providers to meet centralised targets. It should enable organisations to deliver the results in the way that they’ve chosen, with the ability to innovate, in the knowledge that they will be held accountable for the results.

To find out more and read the Briefing in full Click Here

Children Matter East

Final Summer Newsletter (May 2011)

Please click on the link below to access the newsletter

This CME News features:

• Children Matter East: Update on recent developments
• Children England: National Infrastructure Programme
• Safe Network: Roll out of the Standards, Modular Training and Champions
  programme
• Other updates: Final Munro review; Impact of funding cuts; Support Youth
  Unemployment; Children on the edge of care and urge for a full merger of Health
  and Social Care.

Important Information for the Voluntary Community Sector

Are you aware that all public sector contracts by law have to be placed onto a new database called Contracts Finder?

Contracts Finder is a single platform providing access to public sector procurement related information and documentation. The government Buyer will post details about their procurement and contracting activities thereby meeting all of the Prime Minister’s Transparency in Procurement and Contracting commitments from January 2011. Suppliers will be able to search for opportunities, and, the public will be able to see what government organisations are spending, on what and with whom.

You can access Contracts Finder via www.businesslink.gov.uk/ContractsFinder

Referrals to the IAT

Please find below an important message from the LSCB regarding referrals to the Initial Assessement Team:

"Dear LSCB colleagues,

Following a discussion at the last LSCB Quality Assurance sub group meeting, I have been asked to remind all professionals that wherever possible, families must be advised in advance that a referral to the Initial Assessment Team is being made. Where a family has not been advised, the reason must be clearly explained on the referral form.

The only reasons a family should not be advised of a professionals concern and subsequent  referral, are if it would put the child at further risk of harm, or if it would prejudice the detection, prevention and prosecution of a serious crime, this will include a crime which causes or is likely to cause significant harm to a child or serious harm to an adult.

Please ensure this message is discussed and widely disseminated within your agencies.

Kind Regards,

Catherine Barrett (Business Manager) www.lutonlscb.org

Children's Trust Information     

The Department of Education have now updated the Q&A section to reflect the role of the voluntary/community sector as follows. Click here for more information.

http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/a/a%20new%20approach%20to%20childrens%20trusts%20%20%20qas.pdf

Alert by SOTW NHS: Recent Incidents of Infants Dying in Car Seats

Please see the document attached (in the link below) from colleagues in Tyne and Wear regarding the death of babies being left in their car seats for too long periods. The Bedfordshire and Luton CDOP panel has reviewed one such child death.

Click here to see the Child Death Alert document

Please share the advice contained within the ‘Action to be taken’ paragraph appropriately with parents/carers.

Improving Safeguarding Together - February 2011

The February edition of the ‘Improving Safeguarding Together’ newsletter (click on the link below to download)

Interesting and worrying report from the four UK Children's Commissioners

UK Children's Commissioners have called for an urgent reassessment of the impact of the Coalition Government's Spending Review on the needs of vulnerable children.

In a joint report launched on 21 November (International Day of the Child), the Commissioners outline serious concerns at the high levels of persistent poverty across the UK. They highlight the need for children to be given priority in national and local budgets so that vital children's services are protected.

The report also examines progress made in five areas - participation, children with disabilities, child poverty, children seeking asylum and juvenile justice - against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, an internationally binding minimum standard for all children and young people that was ratified by the UK Government twenty years ago.

http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/press_release/content_446

Child Sexual Exploitation

Barnados publishes 'Not A World Away' report into child sexual exploitation

Teenage Relationship Violence and Abuse Campaign

Recognise Abuse?

Relationship abuse can happen to anyone. It involves more than physical violence, it can be when someone puts you down, threatens you or forces you to do something you don't want to. Find out more about how to spot the signs, have your say on the issue and seek help here. http://thisisabuse.direct.gov.uk/

http://thisisabuse.direct.gov.uk/spot-the-signs

The Home Office has launched a campaign targeting teenage relationship violence and abuse. Resources include: a guide to signs of abuse, a list of services which help both perpetrators and victims and a discussion board.

Munro Review:The Government Response

The DfE publishes the response from the Government on the Munro Review of Child Protection

The Department for Education has published the government's response to the Munro Review of Child Protection. It includes agreement that Munro's 15 recommendations need to be considered in the round, and that government will oversee a reduction in the amount of regulation through revision of the statutory framework to place greater emphasis on direct work with children and families.

Source: Department for Education 13 July 2011

Further information:

• A child-centred system: government's response to the Munro review of child protection

• CASPAR briefing: summary of government response

The Government published on 14th July 2011 its response to Professor Eileen Munro’s recommendations to reform the child protection system, set out earlier this year.

The response outlines the Government’s intention, working with professionals, to build a system focused on the needs, views and experiences of vulnerable children. The Government will reduce central regulation and prescription and place greater trust and responsibility in skilled professionals and local leaders to bring about long-term reform.

The Children’s Minister Tim Loughton has outlined the changes in a letter to all schools, Directors of Children’s Services and early years’ providers. He has also written a joint letter with Anne Milton, Minister for Public Health, to all local health services, and with Lynne Featherstone, Minister for Equalities and Criminal Information, to police forces. Ministers see these professionals as central to leading the reforms.

The Government’s ambition is for a child protection system that truly values and acts on the feedback of children, young people and their families. Ministers agree with Professor Munro that the current system is overly focused on complying with procedures and targets as a measure of success. The new approach is based on developing professional expertise and providing a range of help and services to children and families that meet all their needs.

Children’s Minister Tim Loughton said:
"Today’s response is the first stage of a journey which will fundamentally change the child protection system – we’re not just tinkering at the edges and fixing short term problems. We are freeing hardworking social workers and other professionals from structures, procedures and rulebooks so they can do their best for vulnerable children and their families.
This is a new mindset and a new relationship between central Government and local services. I am determined that we build on the excellent work of Professor Munro and I trust the workforce to deliver the reforms without working to prescription.
We have worked openly and collaboratively with professionals and children’s leaders to create reforms that are sustainable in the long term. The Government is not in the business of telling local services how to implement the reforms - as has happened in the past - because this has been shown by Professor Munro to result in unintended consequences.
The changes will take time to fully implement. We have outlined some key milestones so that we keep up momentum and ensure that the process is advanced by next year. I am confident that working together we will give more of our children a safe and happy childhood."

Professor Munro will continue to advise the Government and will undertake an interim assessment of progress next year.

Professor Eileen Munro, Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics said:
"This is the start of a reform process to move the focus of help and protection firmly onto children and young people and away from compliance with excessive bureaucratic demands. It is time to give professionals more freedom and responsibility for improving their skills in helping children and young people. The presence and influence of professionals working with the Government is crucial in delivering the reforms in the longer term."

An Implementation Working Group, drawing on expertise from local authority children’s services, social workers, education, police and the health service, advised the Government on its response to Professor Munro’s report.

The response includes the following actions by the Government:
•    A radical reduction in the amount of central regulation and locally designed rules and procedures.
•    Slimmed down statutory guidance in the interim by December 2011 including removing timescales for assessments and removing the distinction between initial and core assessment.
•    A Chief Social Worker to provide a permanent professional presence for social work in Government, to cover children and adults, in place by the end of 2012.
•    The Department for Education to establish a joint programme of work with the Department of Health by September 2011 to make sure children’s safeguarding is a central consideration of the health reforms.
•    Undertake further work with the sector to consider the evidence and opportunities for using systems review methodology for Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) to help all local services properly learn the lessons from SCRs.

Actions for local services to implement include:
•    Local authorities to appoint a practising senior social worker as a Principal Child and Family Social Worker.
•    Local services to increase the range and number of preventative services and to provide families with an ‘early help offer’.
•    Local authorities to assess and redesign child and family social services, based on feedback from children and families.

The Government is clear that with greater freedoms come greater accountability. Therefore there are several actions in the plan to improve inspection.

These include:
•    All local services – health, education, police, probation and the justice system – to be inspected on how well they protect children.
•    The experiences of children and families to be at the heart of Ofsted’s inspection system, looking at how effective the help has been rather than whether certain processes have been met.

Ministers have agreed to extend ongoing trials to give social workers greater autonomy so they can better exercise their professional judgment. Current trials in Westminster, Knowsley, Cumbria and Hackney have seen social workers completing assessments within timescales that they think would meet children’s needs better.

The current trials will now run to December 2011, and be extended to five Community Budget areas - Hull, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth and Swindon. Evidence will be used to inform changes to the statutory guidance on assessment.

Corinne May-Chahal, interim chair of The College of Social Work, said:
"The Munro Review concentrated on the importance of focussing on the experience of children as they come into contact with the child protection system. Social workers have wanted to do this for many years but unnecessary bureaucracy, unhelpful timescales and poor ICT systems have made that difficult.
The review proposes developing a learning culture in child protection, rather than a blame culture, valuing the knowledge and capabilities of social workers and of their health and education partners. The government’s response demonstrates a new understanding of the realities of child protection and the need for improvement to be led by social workers and those that employ them.
The College of Social Work welcomes this and knows that change of this magnitude takes time. We are ready to support social workers and their employers to meet the challenges involved in taking the reforms forward."

Matt Dunkley, Director of Children’s Services in East Sussex, said:
"My personal reflection is to strongly welcome the collaborative and transparent way in which the Minister has worked with the sector to formulate the Government's response to Professor Munro's Review. There will be significant challenges in the transition to the locally determined and professionally-led approach to child protection it promises, but with the same collaboration, trust and transparency, I believe we have a good chance of making it a reality."

To download and read the Munro Review in full visit our 'Strategic Documents' page

Families in the Foundation Years

Department of Education resources updated

This Government is committed to giving every child a fair start in life and takes its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child very seriously. The following pages set out how the Government are changing the services available to parents to help this become a reality.

http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/earlylearningandchildcare/early/b0077836/introduction

Preventable Childhood Death

The Statistical Release presents data collected from Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) in England. The data collection was introduced from 1 April 2008 and is designed to collect information on the number of child deaths which have been reviewed by Child Death Overview Panels (CDOPs) on behalf of their LSCBs.

This third year of collection includes reviews completed between 01 April 2010 and 31 March 2011 and for the first time includes additional information about the characteristics of the children who died from all CDOPs (for example the age, gender and cause of death). This additional information was optional for last year's collection. This is also the first year which data have been collected on the number of deaths which CDOPs assessed as having modifiable factors. Previously CDOPs were asked to assess if a death was preventable.

Data collected from CDOP on the reviews completed between 01 April 2009 and 31 March 2010 can be found in Preventable Child Deaths in England: Year Ending 31 March 2010.

Key figures

• 4,061 child death reviews were completed by Child Death Overview Panels (CDOPs) in the year ending 31 March 2011.
• Of the child death reviews completed in the year ending 31 March 2011, 800 were identified as having modifiable factors (20% of all the child death reviews which were completed).
• CDOP are asked to categorise the likely cause of death. They also record the event which caused the death. Death categorised as being due to trauma and external factors had the highest proportion of deaths identified as having modifiable factors (68%). Deaths due to malignancy had the lowest proportion of deaths which were identified as having modifiable factors, only 4%. Deaths where the event which led to the death was drowning had the highest proportion of deaths identified as having modifiable factors (72%). 69% of deaths were the event which led to the death was a road traffic accident/collision were identified as having modifiable factors. This is based on the child death reviews completed in year ending 31 March 2011 where there was sufficient information available for the CDOP to determine if there were modifiable factors in the death.
• Modifiable factors are identified in a higher proportion of deaths of older children (38% of deaths in children aged 15-17 years) compared to younger children (16% of deaths in children ages under 1 year). This is based on the child death reviews completed in year ending 31 March 2011 where there was sufficient information available for the CDOP to determine if there were modifiable factors in the death.

CRB - New Guidance

The CRB have published two guides to help with the completion of CRB forms.

• ‘An applicant's guide to completing the CRB application form’  provides general rules for applicants, from how to record current and previous names and address history through to returning the completed form to the Countersignatory.
• The ‘Countersignatory’s guide to completing the CRB application form’ is designed for the organisations that countersign the application. This guide supports the applicant’s guidance and provides general rules about checking an applicant’s identity, the level of check to apply for and checking and signing the form.  

This guidance is designed to reduce common errors.

If you discover anything that is missing or not clear in the guidance please let NAVCA know so they can pass it on to Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

www.navca.org.uk

Peter Horner (Policy Officer)
NAVCA  |  The Tower  |  2 Furnival Square  |  Sheffield S1 4QL
Tel 0114 289 3961  |  Fax 0114 278 7004  |  peter.horner@navca.org.uk | 

The Safe Network

Safe Activities For Everyone

The Safe Network has secured funding from the Department for Education (DFE) for the next two years to continue its work.

The DFE recognises the need for tailored safeguarding support for the voluntary and community sector and has announced a further two years’ funding for the Safe Network.

Since the launch of the unit in June 2009 the Safe Network has built up a valued and respected presence as the safeguarding resource for the voluntary and community sector.

The partnership of Children England and the NSPCC will continue and will be joined by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) to strengthen our ability to support organisations in preventing avoidable accidents to children.

The Safe Network is producing new plans to reflect the rapid changes and pressures faced by community and voluntary sector organisations and their statutory partners. The Safe Network will continue to work with a range of stakeholders and delivery partners to ensure that we reach the widest possible audience and provide the resources they need.

To discover plans for the Safe Network for the next year and beyond, register and recieve the monthly e-newsletter plus keep an eye on the website for up to date information.

For the latest Safeguarding Standards downloads please see our 'Safeguarding' page

LAUNCH OF NSPCC HELPLINE MOBILE PHONE TEXTING SERVICE (88858)

On Monday 16 May, the NSPCC Helpline is launching a mobile phone texting service which will allow members of the public to contact the Helpline by texting 88858. They can use the text service to seek advice and assistance and also to report concerns that may need follow up action or investigation. The service will be run on a pilot basis in the first instance until the end of 2011. The public can send a text, anonymously if they wish, at no cost to themselves. On receipt of the text, the Helpline will send an immediate automated confirmation response and then a specific response to their enquiry from a Helpline practitioner within three hours.

Through the texting service, they are extending the range of options that people have for contacting the Helpline. As you know, these currently include: telephone (0808 800 5000), email (help@nspcc.org.uk) and reporting online (at www.nspcc.org.uk/helpline). All these services are available free to users and on a 24-hour basis. The NSPCC recognise that “texting” will not be a medium of communication that will suit everyone but believe that it will be appropriate for some people.

The NSPCC Helpline is grateful to many child protection agencies and professionals for their support. If you have any queries about the texting initiative, the wider Helpline services, or would like promotional materials, please do not hesitate to contact me:

John Cameron Head of the NSPCC Helpline Email: jcameron@nspcc.org.uk Tel: 020 7825 2801

Government clarifies ban on Every Child Matters

The Department for Education (DfE) has moved to allay fears that a ban on the use of the phrase Every Child Matters in the new government signals a shift in policy for children and young people.

Details of the changes in terminology are revealed in an internal DfE memo, split into two columns for words used before 11 May (when the coalition took office) and those with which they should be replaced.

Click here to find out more>>

Terms of Reference for the review of the Vetting & Barring and criminal records regime announced.

Following her announcement in June, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, has today, 22 October 2010, issued a statement to the House of Commons which confirms the terms of reference for a review of the Vetting & Barring and criminal records regimes to ensure that they are scaled back to common sense levels.

The Written Ministerial Statement reads:

22 OCTOBER 2010

VETTING AND BARRING SCHEME REMODELLING

"I announced on 15 June that further implementation of the Vetting and Barring Scheme would be halted pending a review of the scheme. Together with my Rt Hon Friends the Secretaries of State for Education and Health, I am today announcing the terms of reference for this review which we have collectively agreed.

The Review will be thorough and consider afresh the principles and objectives of the scheme and recommend what, if any, scheme is now needed. The Review will be developed by officials working jointly across our three departments and recommendations are expected early in the New Year. In parallel, a review of the criminal records regime will take place, led by the independent Government Advisor for Criminality Information Management, Mrs Sunita Mason. This will be undertaken in two phases and will report firstly on employment vetting systems which involve the Criminal Records Bureau, followed by a report on the broader regime. The terms of reference for this review are also below.

The protection of children and vulnerable adults must be paramount. But we must also ensure that arrangements are proportionate and support a trusting, caring society where well meaning people are encouraged rather than deterred."

THERESA MAY

Children & Young People: Useful links for Government Information

NICE's Public Health Programme Guidance on Strategies to Prevent Unintentional Injuries Among Under 15s has now been published. This has clear links with the safeguarding agenda.

There is a Quick Reference Guidance (QRG) to this guidance. The QRG also includes the recommendations made in two related pieces of NICE guidance on ‘Preventing unintentional injuries among under-15s in the home’ (www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph30) and ‘Preventing unintentional injuries among under-15s: road design and modification’ (www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph31). The full guidance and background papers, are available now on the NICE website: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph29 .

Information on policies, procedures and procurements, together with current contracts advertised by the Department are available at http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/policiesandprocedures/procurement/a0037/current-contracts-advertised-by-the-department

>> Go to Strategic Documents

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