Child Protection Group update

Report: 8
Date: 22 April 2004
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report provides an update on implications of The Children’s Bill 2004, the current budget considerations with regard to supporting Local Child Protection Committees (LCPC) and Operation Paladin.

A. Recommendations

That the report be noted.

B. Supporting information

Child Protection Group financial management information

The Children’s Bill 2004

1. Following the Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters’, the government has now published the Children Bill together with a number of documents including ‘Every child matters: next steps’ (ECMNS), the latest in a series of documents published by the Minister for Children, Families and Young People, the Rt. Hon. Margaret Hodge MP. The Bill has strategic, financial and operational implications for the MPS. This report is restricted to those provisions directly related to England although the Bill includes similar provision for Wales.

2. The government is providing a £20m change fund to support Directors’ of Children’s Services and their key partners in leading local change. Part of the fund will be used to appoint regional change advisors.

Children’s Commissioner (ss1-5)

3. The Bill introduces this new role to promote awareness of the views and interests of children in the UK. This is a strategic role and the Children’s Commissioner (CC) will not investigate individual cases but will be able to conduct inquiries on behalf of the Secretary of State. The CC must involve children and have regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The CC will report annually to the Secretary of State.

Information Sharing (s8)

4. The Bill makes provision for the Secretary of State to;

• require Local Authorities to establish and operate databases containing information about children and young people, or
• establish and operate a database himself. In this case he may establish a body corporate to establish and operate one or more databases.

5. Databases may be set up at local, regional or national level to facilitate the sharing of information to safeguard children’s welfare and promote their well-being (ECMNS 2.38). The government will draw on the experiences of the IRT Trailblazers before deciding how best to introduce information sharing provisions (ECMNS 2.40).

6. The Bill makes provision for the Secretary of State to make regulations specifying the information a database may contain; permitting or requiring disclosure to it; access and participation. Guidance will be issued detailing:

• Conditions on which access must or may be given
• Management
• Technical specifications
• Security
• Transfer of information between databases (s8(9))

Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) (ss9-12)

7. It is intended that LSCBs will replace Area Child Protection Committees. The Bill requires Local Authorities to set up LSCBs in each local authority (LA) area. Board partners may contribute towards the expenditure of the Board either directly or by way of a separate fund (s11).

8. LCSBs will be chaired by Directors of Children’s Services unless it is considered more appropriate locally to have an independent chair. However, the Director of Children’s Services will always be directly accountable to the Local Authority for the functioning of Boards (ECMNS 2.17).

Children’s Trusts

9. The primary purpose of a Children’s Trust is to secure integrated commissioning of children’s services (8 ‘pathfinder’ Children’s Trusts are being established in London). They will be formed through pooled budgets from one or more of children’s health services, children’s social services, education, Connexions and – where agreed locally Youth Offending Teams (ECMNS 2.20). Police are not able to pool budgets.

Implementation – issues for the MPS

Implementation timetable

Strategic issues

10. The new duty on police, and other key agencies, to co-operate to ensure children’s well-being, and the new duty on key agencies to discharge their normal functions having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, will have significant implications for the MPS. These are distinct duties, the latter placing an obligation on the MPS to review all activities and ensure compliance. This is not restricted to the Child Protection Group (SCD5) and will have implications for policy, training and supervision. SCD5 are including this aspect in its impending Children and Young People Safeguarding Strategy.

11. The role of the police in children’s issues will be reflected in the next national policing plan. Due for publication in November 2004, and covering the period 2005-08, the plan will inform the next round of policing plans (ECMNS 4.19).

12. The change programme includes the facilitation of partnership working at regional level; the MPS will have a key role in developing the programme for London. Planning includes developing cross-sector leadership development programmes at director level, including the police, and developing common occupational standards (ECMNS 3.39). There is a clear expectation that programmes will involve children and young people in the design, delivery and evaluation of services (ECMNS 3.19).

13. The relationship between strategic partnerships, LSCBs and Children’s Trusts is unclear. Whilst strategic partnerships will have the widest remit in terms of delivering universal children’s services and improving well-being, LSCBs will have specific responsibility for safeguarding and welfare. Police are required to be members of strategic partnerships and LSCBs but are not expected to be members of Children’s Trusts (other than in Trusts that incorporate YOTS where police may work as partner with the Trust (ECMNS 4.19)). However, police may be invited to participate in Children’s Trusts in a non-executive role; Hammersmith & Fulham’s borough commander has already joined its pathfinder Trust in a non-executive capacity (ECMNS 2.22).

14. Police representation on strategic partnerships, LSCBs and Children’s Trusts will need to be resolved. There is likely to be an inherent tension between local and pan-MPS imperatives and dual representation from SCD5 and BOCUs may be required. Although ACPO has indicated that the correct level of representation for LSBCs is Superintendent, this is not feasible for the MPS who will be required to provide representation on at least 30 LSCBs. A solution may be for BOCU and SCD5 DCIs to attend both LSCBs and strategic partnership meetings on behalf of their respective OCU commanders with deputy OCU commanders attending less frequently.

15. Safeguarding, welfare and well-being are not clearly defined. Whilst LSCBs are likely to have a far wider role than the Area Child Protection Committees (ACPC), they will have a tighter remit than the strategic partnerships described at s6. LSCBs will be concerned with safeguarding and welfare, whilst strategic partnerships – and Children’s Trusts – will be concerned with well-being. It is hoped that the promised guidance and/or the autumn ‘next steps’ document will clarify this area.

16. The new Sector Skills Council for Social Care, Children and Young People will bring together those working in social care with other occupational groups including law enforcement. A Justice SSC is envisaged as part of the UK Children’s Workforce Network. Participation will form part of the formal remit of relevant councils and bodies (e.g. CENTREX) (ECMNS 3.27).

Operational issues

17. Initiatives such as the National Services Framework for children and young people, the Common Assessment Framework and the development of lead professional responsibilities are likely to have a significant impact on the MPS at an operational level. Whilst SCD5 will resist police being drawn into a lead professional role, it is likely that we will be expected to adopt common referral processes and may be expected to conduct initial assessments of need. There may also be increased pressure for police to co-locate within multi-agency teams; SCD5 have already had to decline an invitation from Redbridge (pathfinder Children’s Trust) to provide police resources to their multi-agency safeguarding children team (ECMNS 3.14 & 3.37).

18. The MPS are currently involved in the development of information sharing and assessment (ISA) across London and expectations of increased information sharing between agencies and professionals are already impacting on SCD5 referral teams. Commander TP is leading a project to manage the expected increased demand on the MPS and new policy will be published in due course. This will have implications for the way SCD5 conduct business, particularly in relation to the management of MERLIN Come To Notice reports and child protection referrals.

19. Police need to be aware that the Bill creates new intervention powers for social services in line with those relating to education services (s41). Also, Child Safety Orders will be amended to remove the power to make a care order where an order is breached. However, Child Safety Orders will be extended to a maximum of twelve months and, where a Child Safety Order is breached, a Parenting Order may be made (s48).

20. Case reviews are likely to occur more frequently due to plans within the impending National Service Framework for Children to review all unexplained child deaths. LSCBs are likely to be asked to review cases and instigate investigations for these and other serious cases. At present SCD have a small Chapter 8 review team dealing with all cases where ACPCs decide to implement a Chapter 8 or internal management review.

21. Police are the only agency that has a pan-London overview of these cases and the London Child Protection Committee is exploring the possibility of establishing a multi-agency review capability. It is likely that police will need to devote further resources to this area in future.

Operation Paladin

22. The three month Project, Paladin Child, to track the movement of unaccompanied minors through Heathrow into the UK from non-EU countries has now completed.

23. The report and data analysis is in the final draft form and will be finalized with all the stakeholders and MPS Safeguarding Independent Advisory Group (IAG) on 19th April 2004 and will be suitable for wider media briefing and dissemination that week.

24. Ministers have received advanced submissions from the Home Office and a full report will be submitted to the MPA as soon as our partners have fully agreed the findings. This is likely to coincide with a wider media briefing to ensure the complex social and community issues are appropriately explained.

C. Race and equality impact

There are no direct equality or diversity implications arising from the Children’s Bill. The Paladin report will have significant implications for the African community in London, as Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa are the largest numbers of Unaccompanied Minors entering the UK.

D. Financial implications

1. Although £20m of new money is promised, this is not a substantial amount for the whole of the UK and it is likely that the MPS will be asked to contribute to both the strategic partnerships and to LSCBs. At present SCD5 make contributions to ACPCs in the region of £227,000 per annum, a budget of £300k has already been set aside within SCD5 for partnership work.

2. Negotiations are currently taking place with the London Child Protection Committee with a view to the rationalisation of these contributions against specific cross-borough criteria, which in essence will reduce the sum to a figure nearer to £200,000 per annum. A breakdown of the exact costing per borough is attached at Appendix 1.

3. There is likely to be significant expenditure in developing and delivering MPS training to take into account the new duties. Also, in relation to information sharing, changes will be required to the IT infrastructure, PITO have recommended that Child Protection Units across the UK utilise the ‘VISOR’ system as a National CP database. Should this recommendation be agreed by the MPS, then additional funds to provide hardware for each CPU would cost approximately £100, 000.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: DCI Michael McDonagh and DI Ian Angus, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

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