On a hot Thursday last week, senior representatives from eight government inspectorates gathered in Westminster to launch the second safeguarding children report (Children Now, 13-19 July).
"I want to emphasise the symbolism of what you are seeing," said David Behan, chief inspector at the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
"We want to send an important message about how we are working together to support people at a local level who are working collaboratively in multi-agency teams. There is a shift from viewing child protection as the responsibility of one agency to the responsibility of us all."
Progress has been made
A lot of progress has been made since the first safeguarding report was published three years ago, shortly before Lord Laming's report into Victoria Climbie's death.
Then inspectors said children were being put at risk because agencies did not treat child protection seriously enough. Their latest report reveals that the priority given to safeguarding children across local government, health services and the justice system has increased since 2002, more effort is now devoted to listening to and consulting with children, and safeguarding is more embedded in the policies and procedures of most agencies.
But areas of "significant concern" remain, according to the report, which draws on the findings of a wide range of inspection activity by the inspectorates for social care, education, police, crown prosecution service, probation, prisons, health and court administration.
Crucially, the inspectors raise serious doubts about whether there is sufficient capacity and effective management in the system to deliver the Every Child Matters agenda in all council areas.
For example, largely because of resource pressures, some councils' social services apply inappropriately high thresholds in responding to child protection referrals and in taking action to protect children. And because some social services teams are unable to respond to families requiring support, other agencies do not refer children when concerns first emerge.
This problem is compounded because agencies other than social services are often unclear about how to recognise the signs of abuse or neglect, says the report.
"I am extremely concerned by the inspectors' findings that children continue to be at risk because their needs are not being recognised," responds Professor Al Aynsley-Green, the children's commissioner for England.
"When children are referred and in need of support, they may not receive a service because of a lack of capacity, which leads social services departments to set too high a threshold."
He adds that the report "raises important issues that need to be tackled by all agencies right across the country if we are to ensure that children are adequately safeguarded. This has major implications, particularly for the social care workforce, and I shall be seeking reassurance from the Government that the needs of vulnerable children and young people are being prioritised and met."
The first safeguarding report found some services were under considerable pressure because of difficulties in recruiting and retaining adequately skilled and experienced staff, for example in social services and secure settings. Three years on, staff shortages continue to have a detrimental impact on services' ability to safeguard children effectively.
Recruitment procedures and arrangements for checking that staff are suitable to work with children also continue to give rise to considerable concern, say the inspectors.
And arrangements for sharing information and joint working between agencies do not always work well. For instance, there can be delays in addressing risk factors, and health and education needs, which is a particular concern where councils place looked-after children in another area without notification.
What's more, not all councils meet their responsibilities to looked-after children, sending them to live hundreds of miles away from their homes, families and friends. "There is little follow-up to make sure they settle in to their new foster homes and schools," claim the inspectors.
Training needs reviewing
Children with physical or learning disabilities are also not being cared for properly. "Many staff charged with looking after them lack the proper training to communicate with them properly, or identify signs of potential abuse," they warn.
However, unlike the first safeguarding children report, children's voices feature prominently. There is even a young person's version of the report to explain what's been done to keep them safe.
"The defence wasn't nice. He was horrible. He said I was a liar. No one warned me he'd say that," says one young person who adds his voice to the inspectors' calls for children to be listened to more when they have to give evidence in court.
"This report is about children," concludes Behan. "They are telling us that we have more to do to provide the services they want."
KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
- The Department for Education and Skills should review arrangements to safeguard children where they are away from home in unregulated settings, such as sports, music or language centres
- The Department for Health should draw up guidance for NHS professionals who have child protection responsibilities
- The Home Office should consider introducing performance indicators for the police on child protection
- www.safeguardingchildren.org.uk.
