Details
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (the “Panel”) recently launched a website designed to support safeguarding practitioners working with children.
The Website
The website consolidates the Panel's work into a single platform where practitioners can access resources such as national reviews, annual reports, and practice briefings, as well as practical guidance on thematic issues.
The key content on the website includes:
- A central hub with learning resources for safeguarding practitioners organised by topic (Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage children; child sexual abuse; neglect; vulnerable babies);
- An explanation of the Panel, its role and function;
- A news portal, including the Panel’s monthly newsletter and other relevant updates;
- A repository of publications, reports and statistics on child safeguarding; and
- Practical guidance on how to report concerns about a child.
The Panel
The Panel is an independent body established under the Children and Social Work Act 2017 to commission reviews of serious child safeguarding incidents and to work with local safeguarding partners to improve learning and professional practice. The Panel also publishes reports, findings, and thematic analyses with the aim of driving system-wide improvements in the protection of children.
Commentary
The website is a hub for practical safeguarding learning and facilitates multi-agency working by consolidating evidence-based knowledge in a single accessible platform for all practitioners. Practitioners can use the website to review published knowledge sources such as literature reviews, annual reports and case studies to support their work. The website also focuses information sharing in a thematic way and presents information in various mediums such as webinars, infographics and briefing papers which can be useful for training and publicity materials.
Importantly, the website clarifies when a local review (a detailed review to be completed within 6 months when there is significant learning that may improve local safeguarding practice) or national review (where the incident has broader implications for legislative, country-wide or recurrent themes in child safeguarding) should be commissioned by the Panel in response to an incident. There is practical guidance for practitioners on how the child safeguarding system works in England and how local authorities and practitioners should work with the Panel when an incident occurs, including resources for both local and national review processes.
As summarised by Panel member Jacqui Belfield-Smith, the website is intended as an accessible and comprehensive knowledge support tool for safeguarding practitioners:
“this [website] is a national learning hub designed to support safeguarding practitioners working with children and families; whether you work on the frontline or in a leadership role, this aims to be a trusted resource to strengthen multi-agency practice and support better outcomes for children.”
The YJLC Safeguarding Legal Guide supports criminal practitioners representing children with further information on the intersection between safeguarding, criminal law and welfare law.