Decision details

The Health and Well-being Board will be asked to note and comment on the new multi-agency safeguarding arrangements in Barking and Dagenham, in accordance with the Children and Social Work Act of 2017 and mandated through the revised statutory guidance “Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018”.

The Children and Social Work Act 2017, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review and Relevant Agency (England) Regulations and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 Guidance legislated for the formal ending of Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards. This also included a series of expectations which included all local areas publishing new multi-agency safeguarding children arrangements led by local authorities, CCG’s and the Police. These arrangements were required to be shared with the Department for Education and published by 30 June, and formally in place by 30 September 2019.

Accordingly, the Board were presented with a report summarising the details of the published arrangements together with the partners plans for implementing the arrangements by the due date, as well as outlining the intentions to ensure the key elements of the new partnership arrangements are in place by October 2019 and fully embedded with supporting structures by April 2020.

The Board in noting the current position added that it was very important that the new safeguarding arrangements should link to the wider localities network referred to in the earlier report and not be seen as an add-on.

The current Independent Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children Board stated that whilst he supported the proposed arrangements, similar to his remarks in response to the previous report on the feedback from the OFSTED Inspection of Children Service, he emphasised to the Board that they should not lose sight of what really matters, namely the protection and well-being of our children and young people and that the Board should grasp this opportunity to change for the better.