Wood Review of LSCBs

To replace the existing statutory arrangements for LSCBs and introduce a new statutory framework for multi-agency arrangements for child protection.

The role of schools in providing early help to children and young people should be included in the Department for Education's review of the role of a local authority in education. This should include the role of the police and health services.

To consider whether the statutory guidance in relation to Directors of Children's Services and Lead Members is necessary in light of the new White Paper and recommendations made by this review.

To consider issuing new guidance on the responsibilities of a chief officer nominated by each of health, the police and local government to agree the multi-agency arrangements and processes in an area.

The Care Quality Commission, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation should review their inspection frameworks to ensure they focus on child protection practice without being burdensome on service providers. Their inspections should be proportionate and always assess the contribution the agency they inspect makes to successful multi-agency working.

There are too many separate inspections of local authority children's services: this is over burdensome, costly and needs urgent attention. In replacing the Single Inspection Framework (SIF), Ofsted should be encouraged to develop a model that is not burdensome, is unannounced, short in duration (five days), and focuses on the child protection practice. It should identify strengths and areas for development in the local authority.

The Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) should not replicate the inspection of the child protection front door. That should be a discrete inspection. The JTAI should concentrate of key themes in the life and experience of children and young people e.g. domestic violence, child sexual abuse, children with a disability, missing children, youth violence, gangs and neglect. In carrying out these thematic inspections the focus would be on the multi-agency approach and the outcomes for children achieved by it.

The review of an LSCB as part of the SIF should be discontinued at the earliest possible time.

For the Home Office and Departments of Communities and Local Government, Health, and Education to issue joint advice and guidance on the critical importance of effective and speedy sharing of information and data in relation to protecting and safeguarding children. This should focus on the expectation that unless there is specific legal impediment information must be shared.

To incentivise all applicants for devolution deals to include in their proposals arrangements for establishing multi-agency arrangements for protecting children.

Government departments should review the range of Boards and guidance (e.g. Health and Wellbeing Boards, Local Family Justice Boards, Community Safety Partnerships) with a view to reducing the burden, and therefore cost, on the health agencies, the police, local government and other agencies.

To require all areas to move towards new multi-agency arrangements for protecting children within a prescribed period. Local areas/regions would need to establish a plan which would describe how services would: meet the new statutory framework; be coordinated; be led by senior officials; be evaluated for their effectiveness; involve a role for independent scrutiny; engage with children and young people; and be held to account. The existing legislative framework underpinning LSCBs should cease to operate as new arrangements come into being.

To emphasise in all national guidance that the main purpose of inquiring into an event is to improve the systems we provide to protect children.

To discontinue Serious Case Reviews, and to establish an independent body at national level to oversee a new national learning framework for inquiries into child deaths and cases where children have experienced serious harm.

For the Department for Education to set out the key tasks for the new body to determine. These should include: the creation of a new national learning framework; the process by which the notification of an event takes place; the process for establishing a National Serious Case Inquiry (NSCI); best practice guidance on delivering a proportionate approach at local level to conduct a Local Learning Inquiries (LLIs); providing new guidance to cover best practice in undertaking single and multi-agency inquiries, including the importance of a rapid response and transparency in publicising how an area has learned for the event and what has changed in local practice; and advising how learning can be reported through existing local accountability structures so as to ensure transparency and promote learning.

Once established, the new body to carry out consultation on the introduction of this new model.

For the new body to be required to report to the Secretary of State, identifying the lessons for government from learning derived for LLIs and NSCIs.

On the creation of the new body, to end the national panel of independent experts on SCRs.

To require the new body to be responsible for overseeing a new model for learning from serious events affecting children.

To ensure that this model is driven by proportionate LLIs, whose reports should be published and sent to the national body.

To ensure the new body has the capacity to commission and or carry out NSCIs.

To amend as appropriate the legislative framework to introduce this new model of inquiry.

To require the three key agencies, namely health, police and local authorities, in an area they determine, to design multi-agency arrangements for protecting children, underpinned by a requirement to work together on the key strategic issues set out in this report and referenced in recommendation 2.

That the national sponsor for CDOPs should move from the Department for Education to the Department of Health. It should consider how CDOPs can best be supported and sponsored within the arrangements of the NHS.

If the national study recommends the introduction of a national database for CDOPs, the Department of Health should consider expediting its introduction.

The Department of Health should determine how CDOPs can be organised on a regional basis with sub-regional structures to promote learning and dissemination. They should also give consideration to the membership of CDOP to ensure appropriate representation from both health and non-medical agencies.

In considering a common national standard for high quality serious incident investigations for child death the Health Safety Investigation Branch of the NHS should consider the role CDOPs will play in this process.

The Department of Health should consider the role that Health and Wellbeing Boards and the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment play in dealing with child deaths and the role of a CDOP.

For new statutory arrangements to require health, local authorities and the police to make clear their leadership responsibility for multi-agency arrangements, to include the identification of a chief officer in each of the agencies to have responsibility and authority for ensuring full collaboration with those statutory arrangements.

For government to provide guidance on: a. Drawing up a local proposal to provide strategic multi-agency arrangements to protect children. b. The meaning of the terms Child Protection, Safeguarding and Wellbeing, clarifying the part of this spectrum to be covered in multi-agency statutory arrangements.

For government departments (Department of Health, Department for Education, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Home Office) to provide a clear, joint statement explaining their commitment to multi-agency arrangements and explaining how all local partners will be supported and required to play a full and committed role.

The Department for Education should review what approaches to early cross agency intervention and intelligence gathering to identify children and young people at risk are most effective, including considering whether the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs model offers an effective approach.

NHS (England) should consider how their Accountability and Assurance Framework for safeguarding vulnerable people could be amended to place greater emphasis on how local health agencies fully participate in multi-agency practice.

Keeping Children Safe in Education should be reviewed to ensure it covers child protection and safeguarding issues in respect of unregistered school settings, independent schools and home education. There should also be clearer guidance on the role played by the police and the NHS in that process. Keeping Children Safe in Education should make clear what role, if any, academy chains will carry out in respect of child protection and safeguarding children.