Working Together to Safeguard Children: Implementing Lord Laming’s .......
Wednesday 24th February 2010
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Location: Central London
Following the trial, which resulted from the tragic death of Baby Peter in Haringey, Children’s Secretary, Ed Balls, last November asked Lord Laming to prepare an urgent, independent report on the progress of national safeguarding arrangements. In his report, The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report (12 March 2009), Lord Laming acknowledged that Government reforms, introduced through Every Child Matters, provided a firm foundation, but there now needs to be a renewed commitment to child protection at every level of government and across all local services.
In May 2009, the Government announced a wide ranging package of measures setting out how it will deliver the step-change in child protection called for by Lord Laming in his recent progress report. The action plan commits to a greater openness and public scrutiny of local child protection arrangements, as well as more investment in training and support for front line social workers. This reform will be driven forward by a new cross-Government delivery unit working alongside Sir Roger Singleton, the first ever Chief Adviser on the safety of children.
The package also outlines a £58 million six-point plan to transform the social work profession, including:
•Sponsoring 200 university places from September •New recruitment campaigns specifically targeting social workers •Funding a new practice-based Master's in social work •A new Advanced Social Work Professional Status programme •Coaching and development for frontline social worker managers to boost leadership and management skills This new money brings the total investment in the workforce to £109 million over the next two years.
Children’s Minister Delyth Morgan also launched (July 2009) a consultation on guidance on serious case reviews (SCR) in order to improve their quality, consistency and impact. In his recent progress report, Lord Laming made a number of recommendations to strengthen and clarify the serious case review process. His recommendations were accepted in full by the Government with an undertaking to update statutory guidance set out in Chapter 8 of Working Together to Safeguard Children.
Since the publication of Lord Laming’s report, the Government has announced a number of measures to improve child protection services. This forum will offer delegates the opportunity to consider the practical implications of Lord Laming’s Report, and discuss and share best practice on how we can work together to better safeguard children.
Created Fri 8 Jan 2010 by Victoria Head | Email to a friend