Contact:
  • Leo Dickens  -  Children's Integrated Safeguarding Training Manager
  • Address:

    Children’s Service, PO Box 25, Riverside, Keynsham, Bristol.BS31 1DN

  • E-mail:
    Leonora_Dickens@BATHNES.gov.uk
  • Telephone:
    01225 396871
  • Fax:
    N/A
  • Minicom:
    N/A
  • Page Updated:
    09/07/2008
  • Author:
    Ted Head
A to Z Index

Bath and North East Somerset  Local Safeguarding Children Board 

Inter-agency Safeguarding Children Training Programme 2008 – 2009 

Local Safeguarding Children Board

The LSCB consists of statutory and voluntary agencies which provide a range of services to children within the area of Bath and North East Somerset. Each Authority has its own LSCB and the membership may vary according to local resources and service provision.

Current member agencies in BANES are:

  • Bath and North East Somerset Children’s Service                      
  • Bath and North East Somerset Primary Care Trust         
  • Avon and Somerset Police
  • Avon Probation Service                                          
  • Barnardos                             
  • Connexions West of England
  • Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS)
  • Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
  • Royal United Hospital NHS Trust

Lord Laming’s Inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie, his recommendations for all agencies working within child protection and the Government guidance  ‘Every Child Matters – Change for Children’, have brought about significant and far reaching changes to the way agencies and individuals work with children at risk of significant harm and their families.

Safeguarding children is the responsibility of all, not just those agencies and individuals who work within the child protection field or with vulnerable children as a part of their work. All individuals and agencies, organisations, clubs and associations are expected to have a role in safeguarding children and promoting their welfare.

There are now 5 Outcomes for children, to be overseen by the Director of Children’s Services, within new ‘Children’s Trusts arrangements’ in each Local Authority.

The 5 Outcomes are –

  • Be Healthy
  • Stay Safe
  • Enjoy and Achieve
  • Make a Positive Contribution
  • Achieve Economic Well-being

The Local Safeguarding Children Board will seek to ensure that all the children in its area have the opportunity and support to achieve these Outcomes.

The remit of the LSCB is outlined in the Children Act 2004 and ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ 2006 published by the Department of Health, detailed below;

The scope of the LSCBs role includes safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in three broad areas of activity –

a)         activity that affects all children and aims to identify and prevent maltreatment,or impairment of health or development, and to ensure children are growing up   in circumstances consistent with safe and effective care;

b)         proactive work that aims to target particular groups;

c)         responsive work to protect children who suffer, or at risk of suffering significant harm.

Where particular children are the subject of interventions then that safeguarding work should aim to help them achieve all five outcomes, to have optimal life chances. It is within the remit of LSCBs to check the extent to which this has been achieved as part of their monitoring and evaluation work.

Functions of the LSCB include the following

a)         developing policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area of the authority, including policies and procedures in relation to:

  • The action to be taken where there are concerns about a child’s safety or welfare, including thresholds for intervention
  • Training of persons who work with children or in services affecting the safety and welfare of children
  • Recruitment and supervision of persons who work with children
  • Investigation of allegations concerning persons who work with children
  • Safety and welfare of children who are privately fostered
  • Communicating to persons and bodies in the area of the authority the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, raising their awareness of how best this can be done, and encouraging them to do so
  • Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of what is done by the local authority and Board partners individually and collectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and advise them on ways to improve
  • Participate in the local planning and commissioning of children’s services to ensure that they take safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children into account

 

The LSCB also has functions in relation to child deaths and serious case reviews