Every Child Matters implementation update

Report: 11
Date: 8 January 2009
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides members with details of the work undertaken by the MPS to enhance the implementation of Every Child Matters following the death of Baby P, an assessment of the effectiveness of the MERLIN system and an update on progress towards achieving safe vetting across the organisation.

A. Recommendation

That Members consider the contents of this report against the MPA ECM oversight document and support the work undertaken by the Every Child Matters Programme Board.

B. Supporting information

1. The Children Act 2004 is the Government’s response to the findings and recommendations of Lord Laming’s Public Enquiry into the circumstances leading to the death of Victoria Climbié. The Act is the legal framework for the Government’s national change programme ‘Every Child Matters – Change for Children’. The Children Act sets out a statutory requirement for all agencies working with children and young people to work in partnership to ensure that all children are able to achieve in life. Sec 10 sets out the duty for all agencies to cooperate to improve well-being and Sec 11 is a duty to promote safeguarding and well-being. All organisations including the police were required to have processes in place by April 2008.

2. The oversight-monitoring grid (appendix 1) created by the MPA has been used as a tool for the MPS development of the ECM change for children agenda and clearly sets out the current MPS position against each of the requirements to be addressed.

3. The MPS Every Child Matters (ECM) Programme Board was formed in September 2005, working for the past 3 years to develop the strands of work that needed to be completed to ensure that the MPS met the statutory requirements of the Children Act 2004. Since the death of Baby P on the 30 August 2007, the MPS have introduced a number of significant changes to the way that children safeguarding and well being issues are addressed.

4. On the 11 November 2008 the ECM Programme Board was officially closed with all work either having been completed or adopted as business as usual for the MPS. ECM remains a portfolio responsibility for Commander Violent Crime who is supported by an ECM team working as part of the Public Protection Desk service delivery team. ECM is firmly included in the appropriate new MPS strategies, being:

• The MPS Youth Strategy and
• The MPS Serious Violence Strategy

5. The ECM agenda and the two strategies impact on all aspects of policing, with Territorial Policing (TP), Violent Crime Directorate (VCD) and the Child Abuse Investigation Command (SCD5) being the primary MPS business groups whose work can most significantly influence the MPS ability to deliver.

Oversight of Police Force policy 1
The Police Force should ensure senior management commitment to safeguarding, promoting welfare and improving the well-being of Children and Young People with a clear line of accountability within the organization.

6. The MPS ECM Programme Board was chaired at Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) level, by Commander Safer Neighbourhoods; Commander Violent Crime now leads the ongoing MPS ECM responsibilities. The work of the programme board was reported through the Youth Engagement Board and the Vulnerable Children and Young People Board to the MPS Youth Strategy Board chaired by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing. The Programme Board had a dedicated programme manager. As recognition of the work undertaken by the MPS to develop ECM and raise awareness across other police forces, Commander Safer Neighbourhoods now has National ACPO responsibility for ECM.

7. The Programme Board was supported by senior MPS officers and staff representing the business groups whose work is directly impacted by the ECM agenda and who can contribute to ensuring the MPS are able to meet our statutory requirements. To ensure that the MPS considered the strategic issues and impact on the work by partner agencies, membership of the programme board included; a representative from the London Councils, the Greater London Authority, a Director of Children Services, who also represents the Association of London Directors of Children Services (ALDCS); a Children’s Services Advisor from Government Office for London (GOL); a member of the Safeguarding Independent Advisory Group (SIAG) and the MPA. Links continue with these bodies to ensure that the ongoing work to support ECM is fully consulted on and influenced by local, regional and national initiatives.

8. To support the delivery of the ECM agenda the Programme Board had two project teams that reported progress to the main board. Both these project teams had clear terms of reference with supporting plans and risk registers.

9. The ECM People Project team was chaired by a Detective Superintendent and delivered the MPS ECM safeguarding children policy and standard operating procedure (SOP), developed training, created the borough based Public Protection Desks (PPDs) and developed MPS safe recruiting standards for staff working with children and young people. This project team consisted of staff who represented borough policing, the Child Abuse Command, the Violent Crime Directorate, Professional Standards, the Diversity, Citizen Focus Directorate and the Department of Public Affairs.

10. The ECM Systems Project team was chaired by a Detective Chief Superintendent and developed a safeguarding children information sharing process and the MPS ICT solutions that included:

• Improvements to the MERLIN ICT system which is used to manage information about children and young people who are at risk of not achieving one or more of the five ECM Key Outcomes.
• The development of an ICT solution to provide information to the national index ‘ContactPoint’.
• This project team consisted of staff who represented borough policing, the Intelligence Standard Unit and the MPS Directorate of Information (DOI). The work to develop links to ContactPoint has also transferred to the Commander Violent Crime and has its own project board.

11. The MPS is represented at the London Safeguarding Children Boards and at a local level on each Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB). The MPS is represented on the LSCBs at Senior Management Team (SMT) level from the borough; additionally the Detective Inspector of the Child Abuse Investigation Team (SCD5) for that local authority area is also part of the LSCB. This enables the LSCB to tackle those issues around keeping children and young people safe with the full support of the MPS. As part of the development of the Public Protection Desks (PDD), supervisors working on the PPDs are also representing the MPS on pertinent LSCB sub groups, especially those dealing with integrated working and the Common Assessment Framework (CAF).

Oversight of Police Force policy 2
The Police Force should ensure that all officers and staff are familiar with the force commitment and responsibilities under ECM

12. To raise awareness of the ECM change for children agenda, an ECM communication strategy was written. Communication managers representing the business areas most impacted by the ECM agenda support the communication plan. This included the Department of Public Affairs who are responsible for internal communication and publicity, the Territorial Policing Press Office who handle external issues, the Human Resources Directorate and the DOI communication team. The ECM team continues to liaise with communications managers as part of ongoing work; responding to questions from national media and providing information for MPS staff. Since April 2008 the ECM communication has included a successful poster campaign, publications of advice leaflets and warrant card sized information cards. ECM has also been subject of two articles in the Job magazine.

13. The communication work is supported by the creation of the ECM Intranet WEB page, which gives guidance to staff on the ECM agenda, roles and responsibilities and links to the Safeguarding Children Operating procedures. The intranet site also has a link to the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) web site and other related sites including, including the London Safeguarding Web Site, which gives access to the recently published London Child Protection Procedures.

14. As part of the continuing awareness campaign within the MPS the ECM team has continued to deliver presentations on ECM to staff working in roles where there is a requirement that they understand the wider ECM change for children agenda, this includes public protection desk staff, Child Abuse Investigation Command (SCD5), safer schools police Officers (SSP), and safer neighbourhood officers. To support senior officers, presentations have been delivered to all BOCU Commanders at the link Commander meetings, to update them on all ECM developments.

15. Nationally the MPS has led the police ECM agenda, raising awareness through ACPO and arranging in collaboration with the Department of Children Schools and Families (DCSF) a national ACPO ECM event aimed at all forces in England and Wales. This event held in February 2008 attracted senior officers from 32 forces. In addition the MPS ECM team have provided guidance to other forces on steps taken to deliver the ECM agenda and have delivered presentations at national events including the recent ACPO children and Young Persons conference.

Training being delivered

16. As part of the ECM delivery work, the MPS produced a 3 hour classroom based ECM awareness training package that has been delivered as mandatory training to all police officers up to and including inspectors, Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and front line staff who come into contact with children and young people including Dedicated Detention Officers (DDOs), Forensic Scene Examiners (FSEs) and METCALL staff. It was identified that this training will need to be delivered to up to 38,000 MPS staff and to date since April 2008 over 35,000 staff have completed the training.

17. This training clearly sets out the Children’s Act requirements, including the ‘Common Assessment Framework’ (CAF), and what is expected of MPS staff who have a concern about the well-being or safety of a child, including how to record this information, identify issues that impact on welfare and the process for assessing and sharing that information.

The training has two stages delivered during the same lesson. Session one has been designed to give staff an understanding of the Children Act, 2004, the objectives of the Every Child Matters agenda and the MPS mechanisms to gather, analyse and share information. Session two will give staff the knowledge necessary to identify concerns about the safety and well being of a child and how to submit (pre and post intervention) intelligence through the Pre-Assessment Checklist (PAC) process.

18. As part of the ongoing ECM training the content of the awareness training has been used to develop an ECM training package for new recruits and PCSOs and is used by the Crime Academy to update current training packages for investigators.

19. Specialist awareness training for officers within the PPDs was devised between SCD5 and the VCD to assist them in their new role and this has now been delivered across the MPS to current PPD staff. Since this training a role specific training programme for officers attached to PPDs has been developed by the Crime Academy in partnership with TP and the SCD5. The course is one week long and includes input from experienced child abuse investigators. The provision of this training began in October 2008 and to date 5 courses delivered to 75 officers and staff have been completed. Further courses are planned for early next year and an additional 9 courses have been planned for the 2009 –2010 financial year as part of the Crime Academy training programme.

Oversight of Police Force policy 3
The Police Force’s service development takes account of the need to safeguard, promote welfare and improve well-being of Children and Young People and is informed, where appropriate, by the views of children and families

20. The MPS Youth Strategy was written with ECM as the core theme throughout, with ‘Engagement with children and young people’ being one of the four work strands. The creation of the MPS Youth Strategy Board chaired by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing enables the coordination of all policing issues that impact on children and young people. Through the ECM change for children agenda the MPS have ensured that children are considered in all policies. The Equalities Impact Assessment now includes children and young people under the age of 18, as a distinct group that should be considered when creating all future policies and reviewing current policies.

21. As one of the partner agencies working to deliver ECM in the local authority areas the MPS continue to be part of local consultation exercises that take place, this includes the consultation with children and young people over the development of the local Children and Young People Plans. At a regional level the MPS have been represented on a number of pan-London consultation events including an event to consult with children in care which resulted in the recently published London pledge for children in care.

Oversight of Police Force policy 4
The Police Force engages in effective partnership working to safeguard, promote welfare, and improve well-being of Children and Young People

22. The involvement of the borough police with LSCBs and the creation of the public protection desks have helped to establish improved local partnership working. The Child Abuse Command continues to deliver extremely effective partnership working. Their partnership team works together with stakeholders including the London and Local Safeguarding Children Boards, Independent Advisory Group, and community partnerships to explore and identify issues that concern minority communities and develop effective awareness and preventative strategies.

23. As part of the ongoing work to improve the MPS engagement in partnership working, £540,000 funding has been provided by the MPS to support a pan London initiative. Managed by the London Councils on behalf of the London Safeguarding Children Board the project is designed to improve communication and sharing of information, to tackle children who are at risk of sexual exploitation. This project begins in April 2009 and will run for three years. The funding for this project was obtained as part of the four million pounds approved by the MPA during the 2007/08 financial year for use in connection with the work undertaken by the youth strategy board.

24. The Children Act 2004 requires greater sharing of information between all agencies working with children and young people. For the police service this means:

• Agreeing information sharing protocols
• Accessing the 32 different London Common Assessment Framework systems
• Inputting data and searching ‘ContactPoint’ the DCSF National Information Sharing Index.

25. The Safeguarding Children SOPs contain very clear guidance on information sharing processes in relation to children and young people; this guidance has been adapted from the current DCSF information sharing guidance and offers practical advice to staff being asked or wishing to share information on the welfare or safety of a child. The London Councils are in the process of writing a pan London information sharing protocol and the MPS have been invited to be part of its development. Currently there is an information sharing protocol in place for the sharing of MERLIN reports electronically by Child Abuse Investigation Teams, with local authority children services departments. This protocol has been amended to enable the sharing of information in support of a CAF by the public protection desks.

26. Implementation of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) has required the MPS to review the way information on children at potential risk of harm is processed. As part of the new MPS Safeguarding Children process the MERLIN system has been adapted so that it can capture the information need to generate a Pre Assessment Checklist (PAC). To support the ECM five key outcomes and the CAF process, the MERLIN threshold has been reviewed and now captures a broader range of concerns to be recorded by staff and where appropriate shared with partner agencies, both statutory and voluntary. Each local authority area is currently developing CAF systems and public protection desks have established effective working links with the local CAF coordinators and where in place are being given access to electronic CAF systems

27. One of the key intended outcomes of the implementation of the above listed actions was a significant increase in the number of children and young people reported where there are concerns about their well being or safety this information being shared with partners to enable earlier interventions, leading to increased reporting of victims of crime.

28. To date, since the inception of the ECM programme in April this year, there has been a three-fold increase in the number of Merlin reports created. In the same period last year reports averaged 2000 per week, whereas this year the figure has already reached an average of over 6000 per week across the MPS.

29. Public Protection Desks are currently managing this increase with the support and assistance of SCD5. These desks, once fully accredited, will take over full responsibility for doing so. This increase, linked to an increased reporting of crimes against children, will provide opportunities for greater and more effective gathering and sharing of relevant intelligence with key partners and will enable earlier interventions to safeguard children.

30. The DCSF have announced plans to develop a national Electronic CAF process, this project is being lead by the Director responsible for the ContactPoint project and as such is now being closely linked to the ContactPoint project. The MPS have developed a close working relationship with the DCSF ContactPoint team and through this will be able to develop any possible ICT solutions required to allow links into the E-CAF. It is unlikely that a national E-CAF system will be delivered before 2010 and the MPS will continue to use the MERLIN system to record information about children and young people and use this to produce a PAC that can be shared with other agencies and inform the CAF process.

31. ‘ContactPoint’ which was formerly referred to as the ‘National Information Sharing Index’, is being developed by the DCSF and will contain specific information of all children up to the age of 18 living in England. Access to the system will enable all professionals working with children to identify if there are concerns about that child and will provide contact details for the professional who will have additional information that could help to safeguard that child. MERLIN has been identified as the system that will notify ContactPoint of children that the organisation holds significant information on. The electronic processes for this to happen are still being assessed with continued liaison between the ContactPoint Team and the MPS Department Of Information. The searching of ContactPoint will be possible for trained staff via an Internet link, it is envisaged that up to 1,500 MPS staff may need to be trained on searching ContactPoint.

32. ContactPoint is due to go live during spring 2009 with early adopters beginning to use the system immediately. The MPS as the only police force recognised as a national implementation partner are due to begin using ContactPoint in December 2009. As mentioned earlier in this report the MPS have a ContactPoint project team overseen by Commander Violent Crime, this project has a dedicated project manager who works closely with colleagues from the Department of Information (DOI) who are responsible for the technical solutions. As a result of the significant work undertaken by the MPS to develop ContactPoint, the project manager also works closely with ACPO to support national police implementation.

Oversight of Police Force policy 5
Operational policies and processes in place – considerations for working with individual children/forces

Public protection desks

33 These have been established on all boroughs and have taken on the responsibility of receiving, evaluating, disseminating and collating intelligence pertaining to the welfare and safeguarding of children on that borough. On most boroughs each PPD team comprises a minimum of four people drawn from existing BOCU staff.

34 PPDs have been staffed from existing borough resources to ensure that they were in place to manage Merlin reports from June 2008 and this has placed pressure on other borough functions. To remove this pressure, additional funding has been provided to employ 64 researcher posts at a cost of 2.5 million, this will provide a minimum of two researchers per PPD. The funding for these posts is subject to final budget agreement as part of the TP Mid Term Financial Plan and will be available from the financial year 2009 – 2010, with no additional costs. Funding has been made available from the 2008/09 budget to begin the recruiting process immediately. Each BOCU is currently in the process of recruiting these staff.

35. At present these desks research all information reports about children coming to notice (recorded on the MPS Merlin database as a PAC) and assess whether there is a crime to investigate and if the information should be shared with partner agencies in order to safeguard that child, his/her siblings or associates. The Child Abuse Investigation Command is overseeing this process until such time as each PPD has been ‘accredited’ as fully effective. This is to ensure that risks to children and families are appropriately identified and managed and that there is consistency in service delivery while the new system is established.

36. The Violent Crime Directorate of TP is managing the implementation and accreditation process for the PPDs with support from SCD5. At the time of writing, an inspection process of the desks is nearing completion with 23 of the 32 desks now accredited. It is anticipated that full accreditation will be completed by January 2009, after which the desks will no longer require oversight from SCD5.

37. The functions of the desk include a daily review of information in respect of vulnerable people (including children), dangerous people and dangerous places, assessing the opportunities for development of that information into proactive opportunities, then progressing through the established NIM tasking processes. All safeguarding and protection information are assessed through the public protection group or the daily intelligence meeting and high risk issues reviewed at the daily management meeting, to ensure risks are identified and resources appropriately allocated with oversight by the senior management team (SMT) on each BOCU.

38. Co-ordination of information and activity between BOCU PPDs, SCD5 and partner agencies are now closer, with daily exchange of information and requests for action regarding vulnerable people, places and dangerous people.

39. TP has a team within the VCD to support BOCUs. The Public Protection Desk service delivery team provides the professional lead for public protection to support implementation, monitor standards of performance and service delivery and ensure recommendations from the recent HMIC report are adopted. Including target setting to ensure improved performance, delivery to new objectives, monitoring of implementation and quality of initial risk management. This team also retains responsibility for corporate ECM issues on behalf of Commander Violent Crime.

Safe recruiting

40. Under ECM, the MPS is required to ensure that robust recruitment and vetting procedures are in place for people working with children. The MPS continues to review the current vetting procedures to ensure that all staff working with, or who come into contact with children, and young people are subject to an enhanced vetting process. With the introduction of the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) in October 2009, there is a distinct possibility that police officers will also need to be part of this scheme, but the national picture remains unclear with the full costs for this provision are still unknown. MPS Vetting Board are aware of the potential demand increase and whilst awaiting clarification from the Home Office and subsequent ACPO guidance are monitoring progress for future cost implications.

41. Security Vetting standards applied to current MPS staff have involved several different data standards and different intervals of review. Staff applying for specific posts, including SCD5 and Safer Schools, are vetted on selection and at 10 yearly intervals regarding the potential threat they may pose to children. All officers who joined since 1994 will be vetted routinely every 10 years. Those who apply for other specialist posts may be vetted to higher standards with 5 yearly reviews.

42. Pending decisions about the VBS, agreement has been reached with staff associations to introduce an additional requirement for enhanced Criminal Records Bureau CRB checks for staff in those posts involving working with young people. Funding has been committed within the current Vetting Branch budget to ensure that 861 staff who are employed in roles that have regular direct contact with children and young people, will be subject of an enhanced CRB check during 2008-9; the cost to complete this has been estimated to be around £31,000. Funding for this work is met from the SCD budget. This proposal is subject to agreement from CRB for the MPS to be a registered body, which is being taken forward by Vetting Branch and is overseen by the MPS Vetting Board chaired by Commander Serious Crime

43. The MPS recruitment department has undertaken a review of their processes in light of the Children’s Act requirements. A new policy focusing on the recruitment of staff likely to work closely with children has been drafted and will be implemented once Vetting Branch have established the vetting process outlined above.

Allegations against staff

44. Working Together refers to ‘people who work with children’. In relation to the police service this would include someone whose day to day working regularly includes contact with children, young people or families. It would also include any member of staff whose behaviour, regardless of posting, brings into question their suitability to work with children.

45. The fact that an individual may have close contact with children does not affect the threshold for triggering an allegation as the same high standards of behaviour are expected from all police employees. Where a pattern of behaviour emerges- e.g. several unproven complaints about conduct towards children or young people, serious consideration should be given to triggering procedures as a way of ensuring transparency and independent oversight.

46. Existing practice within most Forces including the MPS already addresses these requirements. The processes in place throughout the service are robust and are already subject to independent scrutiny by the IPCC. Nothing in Working Together seeks to change those arrangements or put in place additional lines of bureaucracy.

47. The MPS Department for Professional Standards (DPS) prior to April 08 agreed with the DCSF Allegation Advisors a policy that ensures that the MPS engage where necessary with each of the 32 Local Authority Designated Officers (LADOs) who have responsibility for reporting to LSCBs issues around allegations against professionals.

ECM Information Communication Technology (ICT)

MERLIN

48. The MPS continues to use the Merlin database, available through the corporate Aware computer network, to record, evaluate and disseminate intelligence relating to children coming to notice. In June 2008 the Merlin system was upgraded to include enhancements identified to ensure compliance with the Children’s Act ECM agenda, improve the identification and sharing of information on children and young people at risk of not achieving one or more of the five key outcomes and sharing information in a format compatible with CAF via a new secure e-mail capability between Police, Health and Children’s Services.

49. The use of Merlin is an effective way of recording concerns about the well-being and safety of children and young people. Merlin is not an investigative system, but is used to record concerns so that a decision can be made about further police action or to share information with partner agencies.

50. Once information has been recorded, it is sent to the Public Protection Desk (PPD) for the borough where the child lives, or if not known, or the child lives outside of the MPS, the report goes to the PPD where the incident occurred.

51. The PPD will assess the information and undertake further intelligence checks before deciding if or with whom, to share the information. Clear guidance is given to PPD staff on information sharing to meet local expectations, especially on the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) process and a rigorous training programme has been undertaken.

52. The enhanced Merlin PACs are now e-mail compatible and each BOCU is committed to sharing information via the secure CJIT e-mail system. This is a much faster process than faxing data and complies with MPOI guidance and provides audit trails for the passage of information. This faster and improved process supports the increased volume in reports to be shared.

53. It was agreed by the PCSO project board that all PCSOs will be trained to record concerns about a child or young person onto MERLIN. To ensure all PCSOs have access to appropriate training a new MERLIN Computer Based Training (CBT) programme was developed in May 2008. As a result, 3,199 PCSOs, now use Merlin. In addition a further 3,000 police officers now use MERLIN

54. Front line supervisors have a responsibility to ensure that MERLIN reports are created where concerns about the well-being or safety of a child are impacted in line with the MERLIN PAC threshold policy. The introduction of the PPDs has enabled closer scrutiny of the initial supervision, quality of reports and compliance with policy.

55. Recent inspections of MERLIN compliance in relation to allegation of crime recorded onto CRIS undertaken by the MPS Inspectorate found:

• Improvements to initial supervision
• Increase in the number of CRIS reports correctly recorded onto MERLIN
• Reduction in data standards errors

These improvements are predominantly due to improved understanding of the importance of completing the MERLIN reports and how they provide information to partner agencies to improve intervention as a result of the ECM training; and the improved management of MERLIN reports by the PPDs.

C. Race and equality impact

1. Every Child Matters has clear and distinct equality and diversity implications. It aims to ensure that policies and services are designed around the needs and well being of children and young people. The ethos of the Children Act is quite explicit, 'every child matters' irrespective of race or other social attribute. The key point is that the main area of vulnerability is age and all children should receive the services they need, including the need for protection. Within this framework, the MPS is committed to ensure that the benefits of this program are delivered to all children irrespective of any other diversity factors.

D. Financial implications

1. There are no new or additional costs in this report except for those reported below.

Information Communication Technology (ICT)

2. The MPS are required to develop an ICT system that can electronically link to the ContactPoint to enable a search and to populate the index with the name and contact details within a police force where the police consider they hold important information to share with partner agencies relating to the person.

3. Funding for this project has been discussed with DOI and it is estimated that the work will cost up to £600,000. This funding was originally committed by DOI in their 2007-8 financial plans, but due to national delays, this could not be progressed at that time. When finalised, there will be a statutory requirement for which DOI are planning. There will also be some additional costs in developing a training package for staff, but these costs will not be known until early 2009 when the training materials are released on behalf of the Department of Children Schools and Families (DCSF). As a ‘national implementation partner’, any cost incurred to develop and deliver training for staff to search ContactPoint will be met by the DCSF; details of the funding arrangements have not been released.

4. The greater use of Merlin has raised the significance of weaknesses in the system regarding an inability to provide useful management information on which evidence of ‘business change’ is partially based. The options of linking Merlin with ‘business objectives’ and other solutions are being considered by the ‘responsible senior owner’, Commander Violent Crime. The costs for this upgrade are not known at this time and will be part of a bid through DOI for further Merlin changes through the Commander VDC for funding in 2009 – 2010.

Safe recruiting

5. The MPS is reviewing the current vetting procedures to ensure that all staff working with or who come into contact with children and young people are subject to an enhanced vetting process. With the introduction of the Vetting and Barring Scheme, there is a distinct possibility that police officers will also need to be part of this scheme.
Until the national picture becomes clearer the full costs for this provision are not known

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Inspector Alan Hodges, Territorial Policing, Violent Crime, MPS

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback