Angus Child

Protection Committee

Annual Report 2003/04

CHILD PROTECTION COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 2003/2004

CONTENTS

Foreword Page No.

Introduction 4

Sub-Committee Reports - Policy 5 - Practice 6 - Training 7

Health 9

Angus Voluntary Sector Children’s Services Forum 11

Education Department 13

Social Work Department 17

Tayside Police 20

Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration 22

Review of Committee’s Action Plan for 2003/04 24

Action Plan 2004/05 25

Appendix 1 - Membership 29

Appendix 2 - Structure 31

Appendix 3 - Constitution of Angus Child Protection Committee 32

Appendix 4 - Roles & Objectives of Sub-committees - Policy 34 - Practice 36 - Training 38

Appendix 5 - Angus Child Protection Register Statistics 2003/2004 40 (Angus Council, Social Work Department)

Appendix 6 – Referral Statistics 41

2 Appendix 7 - Child Protection Trends (Angus Council, Social Work Department) 43

3 1. FOREWORD

This is the eighth annual report of the Angus Child Protection Committee. The past year has been demanding both of the time of Committee members particularly in relation to the national agenda of Reforming Child Protection. The Committee is also aware of the demands placed on frontline staff to provide quality services to vulnerable children and families in Angus.

As Chairperson I would wish to record my thanks to members of the Committee and particularly the Chairs of the three sub- committees and their admin support for their hard work and commitment in the past year.

Gordon McIntosh Chairperson Angus Child Protection Committee

2. INTRODUCTION

The past year has seen a very full programme of business meetings both for the full committee and the three sub committees. There has been significant additional work for members and agencies responding to the consultation processes launched via the Scottish Executive Child Protection Reform programme. The most significant of these being the development of a Framework of Standards, The Children’s Charter and the Child Protection Committee’s Review.

In October 2003 a group was convened by the Chief Executive of Angus Council which included senior representatives from the key local agencies involved in the protection of children. It was been agreed that this group will be known as the Angus Executive Group for Child Protection and it will oversee the work of the Angus Child Protection Committee, meeting on a four monthly cycle.

The coming year will undoubtedly be as demanding as the previous one with work on the dissemination of standards to be undertaken within and across agencies and preparation for multi-agency inspections towards the end of the year.

The appointment of a Development Manager for Child Protection to service the Child Protection Committee was made in March 2004 and this will assist greatly in the increased demands and responsibilities facing the local committee and its constituent agencies.

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3. SUB-COMMITTEE’S REPORTS

3.1 POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE

This has been another busy year for the Child Protection Policy Sub- Committee which has continued to meet regularly as a core group but which has also been supplemented by co-opted members for single issues (e.g. Getting Our Priorities Right). The sub-committee has produced local reviews and action plans in response to the sudden death inquiries of Caleb Ness, Victoria Climbié and Carla Nicole Bone. The recently published Children and Young People’s Charter and associated Framework for Standards: Protecting Children and Young People have been considered with a view to evaluating each agency’s performance against the standards in terms of policy, procedures and practice. The sub committee has also worked closely on a local working protocol for the Scottish Executive’s guidance “Getting Our Priorities Right” in partnership with the Angus Drug and Alcohol Action Team. Another piece of work focussed on follow-up letters to be issued by the Social Work Department to agencies and members of the public who have referred with child protection concerns. Future plans for the year 2004/2005 include working on the implementation of Getting Our Priorities Right, examination of interagency information sharing, providing guidance on the provision of reports to Child Protection Case Conferences, responsiveness in the field of domestic abuse and organising a seminar to consider thresholds in child protection intervention.

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3.2 PRACTICE SUB-COMMITTEE

The practice sub committee has met on three occasions since a new Chair was appointed. The practice sub committee has 2 roles (1) to periodically examine actual professional practice to ensure practice conforms to child centred principles and meets all agency standards and procedures and (2) to make recommendations regarding proposals to improve practice.

Two cases were referred to the practice sub committee during the course of the year. The first case was referred by Tayside Police and the Social Work and Health Department. The second case was referred solely by the Social Work and Health Department. Work in the second case has been delayed due to an agencies internal inquiry and other legal proceedings.

Examples of issues raised in the review of practice in the first case included:

• the need to improve communication between professionals and the requirement for extending training to professionals whose direct involvement in child protection issues may be very occasional.

• information available to and attendance at child protection case conferences. This was taken back to the child protection committee and looked at by the policy committee who are developing a pro forma for providing reports.

The sub committee was also asked to review the recording of case planning meetings as one of the action points from the Kennedy McFarlane Enquiry Report Action Plan. This has involved examining the recording in three types of planning meetings: pre investigation planning forums; network meetings to plan ongoing inter agency work in registered cases; and, meetings to plan and review work in cases where there are child protection concerns but where a child has not been registered or a Child Protection Conference is pending. The purpose of this is to achieve greater consistency of recording and ensure that meetings identify the purpose of the meeting and formulate a plan of action with key personnel and timescales identified. This work is ongoing and the Development Manager, Child Protection has been asked to assist in this work.

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3.3 TRAINING SUB-COMMITTEE

All agencies and their representatives have provided good support to the training sub-committee at all events during the past year.

Inter-agency Training 2003/2004

Due to changing circumstances within the University of Dundee the institution was unable to act as the commissioned training co-ordinator for Angus, Dundee, and Perth & Kinross Child Protection Committees as it has in the past. The co-ordination of training therefore fell to the training sub- committees. In order to continue the established and successful Pan -Tayside event the chairs of the training committee established a working group to arrange a conference seminar on “Decision Making”.

Dr Eileen Munroe of London School of Economics led this event attended by 200 people drawn from all the agencies associated with the 3 Area Child Protection Committees.

The event was very thought provoking and challenging, highlighting particularly the different levels of decision-making and complex assessment requirements needed to ensure children are protected from abuse and neglect.

Angus Child Protection Committee has also facilitated two development/consultation events and a desktop exercise in partnership with the Angus Drug and Alcohol Action Team to develop a local working protocol for the implementation of “Getting our Priorities Right” guidance.

Child Protection Roles and Responsibilities Awareness Training

This training was offered on demand to staff groups on a single and multi- disciplinary agency basis.

The members of the training sub-committee made a significant contribution to and facilitated a new programme for Angus Council Education Child Protection Designated Officers.

2004/2005

In the coming year advice and training will be provided for all agencies to ensure their staff are aware of the Children and Young People’s Charter and the associated Framework for Standards: Protecting Children and Young People from an individual and agency and inter agency perspective.

Training will also be provided/coordinated in response to a training needs analysis being undertaken by Angus Child Protection Committee during 2004/2005

A seminar/conference on a topical subject will again be organised on a Pan

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Tayside basis.

The sub-committee will also look at producing a CD-Rom on the subject of Child Protection Roles and Responsibilities that can be used as the basis of single agency, multidisciplinary event, or individual training.

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4. HEALTH

The Health Service in Tayside has undergone continued reorganisation over the past year towards the creation of the single entity of NHS Tayside, comprising the NHS Board, Primary Care Division, Acute Services Division and Local Health Care Co-operatives (LHCC). Representatives from these organisations continue to work closely together to plan and implement services for the population in Angus, which also serve vulnerable groups, children in need and children in need of protection.

Within Angus, Health continue to play a full representative part in Angus Child Protection Committee and it's Policy, Practice and Training sub committees. This includes representation on the Looked after Children's Group, Angus Health and Homeless Steering Committee and other inter agency strategic forums.

Angus LHCC has been prominent in seeking to implement the Public Health agenda, including Health for All (Hall4 Report), which will fundamentally shape the direction and delivery of future Healthcare both universally and to vulnerable groups, including children in Angus. LHCC staff and Public Health Practitioners play a full part in inter agency working both strategically and operationally. Angus Health staff play an integral part in new local and regional initiatives including the development of training regarding Postnatal Depression scoring and related support, Domestic Violence Health Strategy and specific issues of vulnerability.

While there is interagency training, primarily provided through the training sub committee, and a comprehensive plan to provide annual Child Protection Training for all staff in contact with children, the Senior Nurse Child Protection is also providing training to some staff groups. This has included School Health, input to Child Protection Designated Officer (Education) training, General Practitioner and Medical Practice staff and further input to Professionals Allied to Medical Services (PAMS). Training input to Community Mental Health Team Professionals is also planned.

Planning is currently in process to provide extra training to equip Public Health Nurses and recently qualified Health Visitors to be aware of the Child Protection needs of vulnerable families and how to respond to these. It is likely that this specific education and training will take the form of an intensive week at the end of the degree in Community Health Studies course. This specific training is being designed and delivered by the Senior Nurse Child Protection (Tayside) in conjunction with University of Abertay and is expected to receive accreditation.

The Health and Homelessness Co-ordinator, Senior Nurse Child Protection and Angus Council Housing staff have worked together to establish a Piloted process designed to improve access to routine health care and support for homeless families with children and pregnant women in Angus. It is anticipated that this pilot will be extended to cover the whole of Angus in the near future.

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Child Protection has been given special prominence within Angus and throughout Tayside over the last year as required by the Scottish Executive to act to implement the Children and Young People’s Charter and associated Framework for Standards: Protecting Children and Young People and the many recommendations of other National Guidance and Inquiry reports. Much of this work is being driven by the recently constituted NHS Child Protection Action Group (formerly the Child Protection Liaison Group). Chaired by Professor Stewart Forsyth, Lead Clinician for Child Protection in Angus and Caroline Selkirk, Child Health Commissioner. This group informs the Tayside Child Health Strategy Group. An NHS Tayside Child Protection Review has been completed to address the current needs of NHS Tayside and to respond to the Scottish Executive and issues raised both within and out with Tayside.

A Senior Nurse Child Protection (Acute Services Division) has been appointed, based at Ninewells Hospital Dundee and it has been agreed that a Consultant Nurse Child Protection post for Tayside be created. It is also proposed that an NHS Child Protection Training Co-ordinator be appointed to enable a Training analysis to be fully undertaken and implemented. These measures will assist the capacity of the NHS Child Protection Service to meet current and new challenges.

A plan to develop a comprehensive secure computer link system within Health, allowing nominated staff to access details of whether children attending for medical treatment, are known to be on the Child Protection Register in Tayside is being progressed. This inter agency link for the most vulnerable has been operational in some form for the past 18 months in areas of Paediatrics, Casualty, Midwifery and allied Health Professional staff at Ninewells Hospital. It is now planned to roll this out to Minor Injury Unit staff and Primary Care staff within Angus. Training of selected staff is planned in the coming year.

In tandem with the development of the “Getting our Priorities Right” protocol related to parental substance (drugs and alcohol) misuse, Senior Nurses Child Protection in Tayside have been consulting widely on a Protocol for Professional Response to concerns expressed regarding unborn children in Tayside. It is intended that this will provide early identification of vulnerable children and as required initiate an inter agency assessment and offer of support to vulnerable families. While this Protocol encompasses circumstances and conditions causing concerns wider than solely drug misuse this will be incorporated into the “Getting our Priorities Right” Local Action Plan.

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5. ANGUS VOLUNTARY SECTOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES FORUM

The Forum exists to support community and voluntary organisations engaged in providing services to children and families throughout Angus and membership and involvement by all relevant groups in the sector is encouraged. The forum seeks to influence decision making by providing the voluntary sector perspective to statutory bodies and the Child Protection Committee.

The forum has been well represented on the child protection committee and the flow of information has proved valuable particularly in relation to the Children and Young People’s Charter and associated Framework for Standards: Protecting Children and Young People and Getting Our Priorities Right. Representatives have attended interagency presentations and meetings with the Scottish Executive Action Team regarding the Framework for Standards. Forum representatives have also attended the joint DAAT/ACPC table top consultation events and exercises in relation to “Getting Our Priorities Right” and also the annual ACPC training seminar.

The forum has been an active partner in the Changing Children’s Services Fund where many new resources have been targeted towards statutory and voluntary organisations in order to strengthen child protection work across all sectors.

In March 2004 the Forum launched its directory outlining the services offered to children and families by forum members and this has been widely circulated within the Angus area.

All of the voluntary organisations within AVSCF recognise their responsibilities to the development of Child Protection practice and procedures and they are actively involved in ensuring their child protection policies are developed with local and national good practice recommendations in mind. Good practice guidance is provided within the forum by members who have a specific child protection remit, such as the Barnardos Polepark Family Service

Polepark Family Service aims to provide post investigative support to children and their families by building on their strengths and working in partnership to seek the best possible outcomes for them. Key services that Polepark provide are:

• In depth comprehensive assessments of need and risk

• Individual work with children and young people

• Family and parenting work

• Group work with children and young people

• Group work with parents and carers

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• Consultation and training This has been an extremely busy year for Polepark Family Service with new staff and continuing service developments. The focus on child protection following the review of child protection services in Scotland and the recent child death inquiries resulted in the development of child protection standards and the Children’s Charter. Staff, service users and their families have all been involved in the consultation process and have given their views and ideas about the future. Team members have also been involved in a number of table top exercises with partner agencies in Angus. The demand for services from Polepark continues to increase and reflects the increase in demand in Angus.

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6. EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Introduction

As in previous years, the Education Service has been active in all aspects of Child Protection Committee business. Through involvement in the “Getting Our Priorities Right” Implementation Team, the Education Service will ensure the needs of children and young people affected by problematic use of alcohol and other drugs by parents are addressed. The Education Service has also been represented on the Choose Life Implementation Strategy Group which aims to address the needs of children, young people, families and staff affected by deliberate self-harm, attempted and successful suicide. Through departmental representation on the Angus Partnership on Domestic Abuse (APODA), work is ongoing to develop closer multi-agency links to support school pupils affected by domestic abuse and to heighten awareness in schools of the needs of children and young people affected by domestic abuse. An APODA sub-group incorporating representation from Health, Barnardo’s, Women’s Aid and chaired by an Education representative is looking at the development of curricular materials to address issues raised in the Scottish Executive’s ‘With All Due Respect: The Role of Schools in Promoting Respect and Caring for Self and Others’ (2002). The Child Protection Strategy Group within the Education Service chaired by a Head of Service has continued to meet to take account of the many developments occurring within child protection locally and nationally.

Child Protection Designated Officers

All schools in Angus have at least one senior staff member who is a trained Child Protection Designated Officer (CPDO). Additional training has taken place and existing CPDOs have also accessed this as a means to refresh their skills and update their practice. CPDO training was successfully held over 2 days in March 2004 co-facilitated by Police, SWD and Education. Furthermore, two CPDO twilight development events involving voluntary agencies, health and the Children’s Reporter were delivered. A secondary sector CPDO Forum includes key personnel from Tayside Police Angus Social Work and Health has been in operation for three years. Its success as a forum for inter-agency problem-solving, discussion and CPDO practice development has led to the recent introduction of a primary sector CPDO Forum. Both Forums meet twice a year. Following on from the successful implementation of a personal safety learning and teaching resource pack for pupils with special educational needs in the secondary sector (Be Alert Stay Safe), a similar pack has been produced and disseminated to support the programme of personal safety education for

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pupils with special educational needs in Angus Primary Schools.

National Standards

In order to ensure that the Education Service fully complies with the new national Framework for Standards on Child Protection, a sub-group of the Child Protection Strategy Group has been convened onto which four experienced Child Protection Development Officers have been co-opted. The group will audit current Education policy, guidance and practice and measure those against the Standards. Strengths and any identified development needs will be taken forward in light of this exercise. This process will help inform the multi-disciplinary audit of child protection which may be carried out later in the year. All school staff members will receive an individual copy of the Children and Young People’s Charter and associated Framework for Standards: Protecting Children and Young People. These documents will also be distributed to all Community Education staff, Educational Psychologists and School and Family Support Service personnel. Following a number of recently published inquiries into child deaths, the recommendations of each report were reviewed and implications for the Education Service were identified. These will be taken forward in light of the “Framework for Standards”.

Training

The Education Service maintains its commitment to - and recognises the value of - planning and participating in multi-agency training. For example, involvement in the APODA’s table-top exercise in May 2004 led to increased mutual understanding of the roles of the various contributing agencies in supporting pupils affected by domestic abuse. A carefully planned presentation on child protection for school-based staff was delivered in all Angus schools between August and October 2003. This presentation was supported by the issue of a departmental leaflet on child protection which details the roles and responsibilities of Education teaching and support staff. This presentation forms a key component of the Education Service’s Pupil Care and Support Training Pack which has been produced to enhance the pastoral care skills, knowledge and understanding of secondary school teachers. Schools have a programme in place which will ensure that the training modules contained in the pack are delivered by the end of session 2004/05. A departmental training implementation action plan has been produced to ensure Service compliance with “Getting Our Priorities Right” and to highlight to staff that problematic substance use by parents can give rise to child protection issues. Included in the action plan is a new training presentation for delivery to school-based staff between August and September 2004. The afore-mentioned leaflet which already includes reference to misuse of alcohol and other drugs by parents will be re-issued to all staff. Education

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representatives attended the Child Protection Committee’s conference on 'Decision making - The Key to Effective Child Protection Practice'. Awareness-raising of child protection issues continues to be a feature of trainee teacher training. The Staff Tutor for Health Education continues to support schools in addressing a number of personal safety issues including education for alcohol and other drugs and sex and relationships education which impact on the protection of children and young people in the family and in society. Learning and Teaching Resources

A new resource on domestic abuse, the Zero Tolerance pack ‘Respect’, has been purchased and training will be provided to support its dissemination to secondary schools. Two packs will be retained by the Educational Resource Service for lending to Primary Schools. In recognition of the increasing incidence of children and young people being exposed to dangers by inappropriate or ill-informed use of the internet, the working group on child safety and the internet/new technologies produced and distributed a support leaflet to pupils and their families. Titled Be Safe on the Internet: a Guide for Pupils and Parents/Carers, the leaflet contains a parent/carer declaration which has to be signed and returned to schools stating that parents have discussed safe use of the internet with their child/ren. An associated draft personal and social education learning and teaching unit designed to promote internet safety through the curriculum and based on the report Just One Click (Barnardo’s, 2004) has been produced for consideration by Educational Development Service staff. Education Service guidelines are contained in the “Policy Statement and Guidelines on Pupil Photographs/ Images and the Use of Video, Cameras and Mobile Phones” which were produced in response to the Scottish Executive Education Department circular 1/2003 "Child Safety on the Internet". The School and Family Support Service continues to support school staff with child protection matters and related sensitive issues. Members of the Education Directorate support Head Teachers with complex child protection matters.

Next Steps

• Maintain representation on all relevant planning and implementation groups • Implement strategic plans created by these groups • Conduct an audit of Education Service policy, practices and procedures in light of the Children and Young People’s Charter and associated Framework for Standards: Protecting Children and Young People and implement any necessary change

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• Take forward the review of procedures in light of the review of child protection in Scotland and of inquiry reports into the deaths of Victoria Climbié, Carla-Nicole Bone, Caleb Ness and Kennedy McFarlane • Monitor the implementation of the “Be Safe Stay Alert” primary pack • Provide training in relation to ‘Respect’ teaching materials in the secondary sector • Continue to support CPDOs by facilitating the secondary and primary CPDO Forums

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7. SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT

The Social Work Department has continued to take the lead role in carrying out the statutory duties placed on local authorities to investigate, assess and intervene on behalf of children in need, in particular those children who might be in need of protective measures. The last year 2003/04 was characterised by a number of significant factors; increased pressures in child protection work around the issues of parental substance misuse and its impact on young children; recruitment difficulties arising from the national shortage of experienced child care social workers and increased expectation for effective joint working within the Department and between the Department and other agencies.

The Social Work Child Protection Team and Children and Families Teams received 240 referrals indicating child protection concerns in the year and of these referrals, 163 proceeded to formal child protection investigations. On 31 March 2004, there were 61 children on the Angus Child Protection Register. The categories of registration for these children were sexual abuse 1; physical abuse 12; physical neglect 44; emotional abuse 4. Two factors are worthy of note. Firstly, the overall number of children on the Angus Child Protection Register has reduced from this time last year; and registered numbers look set to stabilise at around 60-70 children as opposed to a figure of around 50 which had been an annual average up until two years ago. Secondly, the very high numbers of children under the physical neglect category indicates the prevalence of parental substance misuse, mental health and domestic violence issues. A worrying trend in the last quarter was the increase in the number of children becoming accommodated, especially due to the risks to pre-school children associated with parental substance misuse. Many of these children have been known to the Social Work Department for some time and their receptions into accommodation were often as a result of cumulative concerns around levels of neglect, inadequate basic parenting and exposure to violence, associated with drug dealing. In addition, there was a significant increase in the number of referrals for pre- birth risk assessments, mostly where the expectant mother was a known substance user. These make considerable demands on all the involved agencies, both during the assessment process and in terms of care planning after the child’s birth.

The Social Work Department, in common with social work services throughout Scotland, has had difficulties in recruiting experienced child protection workers. Whilst overall establishments within the Children & Families Teams have increased through Changing Children’s Services Fund funded posts it has been difficult to fill these posts including a specialist post for sexual abuse cases in the child protection team. The Social Work Department has developed strategies to retain existing staff, by introducing senior practitioner grades, and by encouraging the training of existing unqualified staff to develop the workforce.

A new post of Review Officer to serve as Chair of Child Protection Case Conferences in Angus was recently established and will be based within the

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Social Work Department Community Assessment and Review Officers’ Team; the appointed individual will commence duties at the start of the coming year.

The Social Work Department has played a key a role in developing an interagency protocol for children affected by parental substance misuse (Getting Our Priorities Right). Three interagency consultation days were facilitated to consider the protocol, the final day taking the form of a desktop case scenario to “road test” the protocol. At the time of writing, the final version of the protocol is nearing completion and will shortly be circulated for agencies to formulate implementation plans. It is anticipated that this will make a significant positive impact for effective working with families by establishing clarity about assessment and intervention processes for the Social Work Department and particularly for adults services. An accepted change of emphasis to working with adults, or parents, as to how their substance misuse on their parenting ability, will be key to its success.

Following the publication of the Edinburgh Inquiry findings and recommendations, a review was conducted looking at the interface between all adult Social Work services with the department’s Child Protection services. The findings of this review were considered by the Social Work Senior Management Team and an action plan including training issues is agreed and implemented.

A review was also conducted of operational child protection services and a report of recommendations presented to the Social Work Senior Management Team by the Head of Children’s Services. This resulted in additional administrative resources being allocated to the Social Work Child Protection Team to better support the professional staff in their functions. A comprehensive action plan based on this review was developed and implemented.

An audit system was implemented involving Service Managers examining practice as reflected in case files against departmental standards. This requires the Service Manager for Child Protection to report to the Social Work Children’s Management Team and the Social Work Senior Management Team quarterly on the audit findings and actions taken.

A Best Value review of the department’s duty system was initiated during the year and the outcome of this will be influenced by the interface with the child protection team’s remit. This is expected to report its conclusions and recommendations in summer 2004.

Post Qualifying Training for Social Workers

Following the amalgamation of the Northern College and University of Dundee, and both institution’s Child Protection programmes reaching the end of their academically validated period, Angus Social Work are reviewing the best way of ensuring staff receive appropriate training for post qualified Child Protection practice.

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During the past year we have been supporting staff who were in the process of undertaking the Recognition and Response Child Protection programme to successfully gain the award.

We have also been supporting Senior Social Workers, Senior Resource Workers and Residential Child Care Managers who were in the process of undertaking the Supervision and Management of Child Care and Child Protection programme to successfully gain the award.

Consultation on the development of post-qualifying courses in Child Care and Protection to meet the identified need of Social Work staff in Angus is ongoing with the University of Dundee.

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8. TAYSIDE POLICE

At the time of publication, Tayside Police along with its partner agencies is undertaking an extensive review of all practice issues, which impact on the protection of children. The challenges have been recently documented in the Children and Young People’s Charter and associated Framework for Standards: Protecting Children and Young People, as well as the lessons to be taken account of from several child death inquiries.

Along with other constituent agencies within the child protection committees of Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross, Tayside Police is in the process of formulating a strategic response to meet these demands. The response will take account of numerous issues, most of which can be grouped into one of the following broadly identified themes:

• Inter Agency issues • Quality assurance • Training, support and management of specialist and frontline staff.

One significant development is to ensure awareness of police officers as to their responsibilities in protecting the interests of children. This responsibility rests not only with specialist police officers but those who carry a wider policing perspective. To contribute towards meeting this expectation, seven full day seminars were delivered aimed at promoting awareness of significant child protection issues to Inspectors, Sergeants, Detectives and senior Constables within Angus.

Working in the field of child protection has, in common with other policing functions, been designated as one, which may require support additional to supervision. All Officers who work within the Family Protection Unit have access to an external counselling service where they may self refer on a voluntary and confidential basis.

The relationship between domestic abuse and the impact on a child’s well being is now deeply enshrined in policing practice. Tayside Police continue to work jointly with Barnardos to provide a service to families in this situation. In Angus a dedicated worker from each agency work together to respond to these issues. This partnership was recently the subject of an evaluation report by University of Dundee. The findings highlighted evidence that there was a significant improvement in the lives of service users. This work is to continue and develop in line with identified best practice.

One developing feature of child protection practice relates to the investigative interviewing of child witnesses. At the time of writing, the Vulnerable Witnesses Bill is still going through the process within parliament. The ethos of this significant legislative step is to ensure that vulnerable witnesses who come into contact with the justice system are

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treated in a way that respects their rights and ensures that they can effectively provide evidence that meets their interests and the interests of justice. Police and Social Work Practitioners in the area have for several years now been building an expertise in investigative interviewing. It is hoped that in the future the development of DVD recording will mean that children will not have to repeat their account as often as sometimes is the case currently.

The monitoring of sex offenders is a further associated function in which Tayside Police has a significant contribution. An officer from the family Protection Unit is responsible for working along with the Local Authority Criminal Justice Service to undertake risk assessments of those offenders who have been identified as presenting risk at various levels. This demands an ongoing commitment towards public safety and child protection.

An area where there is an increasing amount of work for police officers tasked with protecting children is in the identification and response towards children who live in an environment where parental substance misuse (drugs or alcohol) is an issue. The increased awareness of the problems for children associated with this has created a significant rise in referrals to the Family Protection Unit.

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9. ANGUS CHILDREN’S PANEL & SCRA (ANGUS & DUNDEE TEAM)

The Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration (SCRA) provides a service from the SCRA office at Merrin House, 50 East Abbey Street, Arbroath. Two full time reporters and four support staff are based permanently in Merrin House, managed by the Authority Reporter and Authority Support Manager who are based in Dundee.

Four scheduled Hearing sessions per week are held in Merrin House on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, Thursday mornings and Thursday evenings. In cases where emergency hearings require to be held, extra hearing sessions will be arranged in liaison with the Chairman of the Children’s Panel.

The Chairman of the Children’s Panel for Angus is Mrs Chrissie Urquhart. She and her Deputes – Chic Robertson and Jeannie MacLean have an administrative office at St James House, St James Road, Forfar. There are currently 36 members of the community appointed to serve as panel members in Angus.

For 2003/04, SCRA local objectives include:

• Promoting consistency of practice within SCRA • Implementing “Papers for Children” coming to Hearings • Partnership working with key agencies and the wider community in Angus

At 31 March 2004, the number of children in Angus subject to compulsory measures of supervision was:

At home with parents/relevant persons 82 With relative/friend 7 Required to reside in foster placement 54 Residential placement 3 Residential school 7 TOTAL 155

During the year 01.04.03 to 31.03.04, referrals in the categories listed at Section 52 of the Children (Scotland) Act relevant to Child Protection were received as shown on the following page. Please note that the number of referrals is greater than the number of individual children referred, as one child may be referred more than once and for more than one of the conditions mentioned at Section 52(2) of the Children (Scotland) Act.

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ANGUS CHILDREN’S PANEL & SCRA (ANGUS & DUNDEE TEAM) REFERRAL STATISTICS - CARE AND PROTECTION ONLY

SECTION DESCRIPTION 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 VAR. 52(2)(a) the child is beyond the control of any relevant person 35 49 57 101 26 25 -4% 52(2)(b) the child is falling into bad associations or is exposed to 37 38 53 45 61 19 -69% moral danger 52(2)(c) this child is likely : (i) to suffer unnecessarily; or (ii) be impaired seriously in his 151 149 216 162 162 172 +6% health or development, due to lack of parental care 52(2)(d) the child is a child in respect of whom any of the offences mentioned in Schedule 1 to the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) 200 174 134 112 79 89 +13% Act 1995 (offences against children to which special provision apply) has been committed. 52(2)(e) the child is, or is likely to become a member of the same household as a child in 33 54 26 29 22 9 -59% respect of whom any of the offences referred to in paragraph (d) above has been committed. 52(2)(f) the child is, or is likely to become, a member of the same household as a person 35 41 37 18 16 2 -87% who has committed any of the offences referred in paragraph (d) above. 52(2)(g) the child is, or is like to become, a member of the same household as a person 0 1 0 0 0 0 - in respect of whom an offence under section 1 to 3 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 (incest and intercourse with a child by step-parent or person in position of trust) has been committed by a member of that household.

TOTALS 491 506 523 467 366 316 -14%

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REVIEW OF COMMITTEE’S ACTION PLAN 2003/2004

Four key areas were identified as being the most important areas of business for the Committee:

• Promoting the protection of children and young people from abuse • Raising community awareness • Supporting abused children and young people • Positive intervention with parents and carers

Promoting the protection of children and young people from abuse

Seven action points were identified under this heading, and all were achieved within the timescale albeit work on the promotion and development of performance management and monitoring with all agencies is ongoing exemplified by work underway to develop a multi-agency audit tool for child protection work.

Raising community awareness

Three action points were identified under this heading and two were fully achieved and the other partially. The most helpful development under this area was the appointment of a Service Development Manager for Child Protection working to the Child Protection Committee based in the Joint Strategic Support Unit in County Buildings, Forfar.

Supporting abused children and young people

Four action points were identified under this heading and all were achieved within the timescale. Of note were the service developments enabled by the Changing Children’s Services Fund with Child Protection being accorded the highest priority by the Joint Commissioning and Management Group for Children’s Services.

Positive intervention with parents and carers

Four key action points were identified under this heading and all were achieved within the timescale, albeit one is ongoing, ie the development of a co-location office for the key agencies involved in early intervention in child protection work. An approach is to be made to the Scottish Executive with regard to the utilisation of underspend in the Changing Children’s Services Fund during year 2003/04 to seek permission to use this as capital for essential building work.

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ACTION PLAN 2004/05

PROMOTING THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE FROM ABUSE

Main Aims

• the development of agency policy and practice in the field of child protection;

• enhancing practice through the provision of inter-agency training for workers in the field

Key Partners

• Angus Council Departments (Education and Social Work) • Angus LHCC • NHS Tayside • Tayside University Hospital Trust • Tayside Primary Care Trust • Tayside Police • Angus Voluntary Sector • All agencies involved in Angus Child Protection Committee

Main Projects and Initiatives

• Provide an annual report on the Committee's activities with appropriate child protection trend data incorporated

• In partnership with key agencies and the Angus Drug and Alcohol Action team, implement protocols for practice and the sharing of information for children affected by parental substance misuse (Getting Our Priorities Right).

• Develop a multi agency audit tool in the area of Child Protection with reference to the Children and Young People's Charter and the associated Framework for Standards: Protecting Children and Young People

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• Further promote and assist the development of performance management and monitoring by key agencies in the field

• Further develop the strategic and operational agenda within the Pan Tayside Child Protection Action Group

• Collate the recommendations of recent Child Death enquiries and the National Audit and Review Report and review progress on the Committees Action Plan

RAISING COMMUNITY AWARENESS

Main Aims

• The promotion of children’s safety by raising public awareness and with agencies providing services to children

Key Partners

• Angus Council, Tayside Police, the Health sector, the local voluntary sector

Main Projects and Initiatives

• Assist key agencies to disseminate the Children and Young People's Charter and the associated Framework for Standards; Protecting Children and Young People

• Deliver a multi agency seminar regarding the Framework for Standards and its application in practice

• Further develop a Child Protection Committee media and information strategy

• Develop awareness within agencies of existing directories of services with a child protection remit.

• Review and update Interagency Guidance for Professional staff, "Working Together to Protect Children in Angus"

• Assist Community Groups wishing to produce Child Protection guidance

• Undertake interagency training needs analysis to determine training priorities

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SUPPORTING ABUSED CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Main Aims

• The development of policy and practice to enhance the support provided to children and young people in the child protection process

Key Parties

• All local agencies involved in direct work with children and young people who have or may have been subject to abuse

Main Projects and Initiatives

• Undertake consultation with young people in Angus to explore the best approach to providing them with information on Child Protection matters

• Extend the work of the pilot group established to improve liaison regarding access to routine health care and support for homeless families with children and pregnant women

• Develop a leaflet for parents and children advising them of the information agencies hold, store and under what circumstances it will be shared.

• Barnardos to develop a CD rom to support vulnerable witnesses in preparation for court appearances and giving evidence

• Barnardos to develop an animated video about “keeping safe” for young children

POSITIVE INTERVENTION WITH PARENTS & CARERS

Main Aims

• To enhance the quality of professional intervention with parents and carers of children who may have or may have been abused

Key Partners

• All local agencies involved in direct work with children and families where abuse is or may be an issue

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Main Projects and Initiatives

• Subject to suitable capital allocation building work to commence on new facility to co-locate Police, Social Work and Health staff involved in early intervention and assessment in Child Protection work.

• Review and update Angus Child Protection Committee information leaflets for parents, children and young people in relation to child protection investigations, child protection meetings, the child protection register and child protection orders/ assessment orders

• Develop an information sharing proforma based on the guidance “Sharing information about Children at Risk” to assist partner agencies obtain informed consent at initial contact with service users.

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Appendix 1 MEMBERSHIP – 2003/2004

Name Address Mr Gordon McIntosh Social Work Department, Ravenswood, Forfar Chair Person

Prof. Stewart Forsyth Consultant Paediatrician, Lead Clinician for Child Vice Chair Protection in Angus, Department of Community Health, Ravenswood, New Road, Forfar Ms Audrey Jenkins Senior Educational Psychologist, Bruce House, Arbroath

Mr Roger Bromage Social Work Department, Training Section, Bruce Chair of Training Sub House, Arbroath Committee Mrs Ann Manzi Polepark Family Service, Barnardos, 3 Fleuchar Street Chair of Practice Sub Dundee Committee Mr George Bowie Social Work Department, Academy Lane, Arbroath Chair of Policy Sub Committee Mrs Caroline Mackie Service Development Manager, Child Health Directorate of Change and Innovation, Tayside NHS Board, Tayside Kings Cross Hospital Clepington Road Dundee Mr Mark Hodgkinson Social Work Department, Criminal Justice Services, Fergus Square, Arbroath

Mr Arthur Pritchard Head Teacher, Hayshead Primary School, Arbroath Ms Rachel Burn Authority Reporter, Angus Det Insp Donny Crime Management, Tayside Police, Dundee Archibald Mr John Whamond Senior Nurse, Child Protection, Primary Services Division, NHS Tayside, Department of Community Health, Ravenswood, New Road, Forfar

Mrs Gillian Strachan Principal Officer, Parental Advice & Conciliation Service, Education Department, County Buildings, Forfar Det Sgt Douglas Gray Tayside Police, Dundee Dr Chrissie Urquhart Children’s Panel, St James House, Forfar Ms Sharon Laing Welfare Officer, RM Condor, Arbroath

Dr Dick Spiers Abbey Health Centre, Arbroath

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Ms Sheila Ferguson Angus Council, Housing Department, Forfar

Mrs Kate Mearns Development Manager, Child Protection, Angus Child Protection Committee, County Buildings, Forfar

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Appendix 2

STRUCTURE:

Angus Child Protection Committee Chair: Gordon McIntosh (SWD)

Vice Chair

Prof. Stewart Forsyth NHS Tayside

Policy Sub-committee Practice Sub-committee Training Sub-committee Chair: George Bowie Chair: Ann Manzi Barnardos Chair: Roger Bromage (Social Work Department) Polepark Family Service (Social Work Department)

Audrey Jenkins, Education Ann Robertson, Social Work Fiona Wallace, Education Caroline Mackie, Health John Whamond Primary Health John Whamond Primary D.S. Dougie Grey, Tayside Division NHS Tayside Health Division NHS Tayside Police Prof. Stewart Forsyth, NHS Devina Campbell, Community Evelyn Allardyce, Principal Tayside Education Planning Officer, Social Work Jackie Primrose, School and Sgt Janice Cowan, Tayside and Health Family Support Service Police John Whammond, Primary Education Mandy Sheridan, Angus Health Division, NHS Tayside D.S. Janice Cowan Tayside Voluntary Sector, Children’s Kate Mearns, Development Police Forum Manager, Child Protection + co-options as necessary + co-options as necessary + co-options as necessary

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Appendix 3

CONSTITUTION OF ANGUS CHILD PROTECTION COMMITTEE

1. The committee shall be known as the Angus Committee for Child Protection.

2. Membership will be by nomination of the Chief Officers in the prevention, detection and care of abused children and shall be represented on the following basis:

Police 2 members Health Service (Nursing & Medical) 2 members (each) General Practitioners 1 member Paediatrician 1 member Social Work Department 3 members Reporter to Children’s Panel 1 member Procurator Fiscal 1 member Education Department 3 members Voluntary Sector 1 member Armed Services 2 members Chairperson of the Children’s Panel 1 member

3. The Committee may agree to invite other persons with a contribution to make, to join the Committee as a co-opted member for a period of one year, renewable. This member will have equal rights with other Committee members.

4. The Committee will elect from its membership a chairperson and vice- chairperson who will service for two calendar years.

5. Members of the Committee may serve in the capacity of chairperson or vice- chairperson for a maximum of two years in respect of each post.

6. In the case of a tie for election, the current chairperson will exercise his/her casting vote to resolve the matter.

7. For a meeting to commence a quorum of 5 plus the chairperson or vice- chairperson to be present.

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8. The Committee will deal with the following matters:

a) Policy formulation and evaluation b) Implementation of policy c) Inter-disciplinary procedures and practice guidance d) Publication and public information e) Overall planning of inter-disciplinary training

9. The Committee will meet at least 4 times each year and one of these meetings will be designated as the Annual General Meeting.

10. A list of members and office bearers will be published every year following the Annual General Meeting.

11. The Committee will provide a report on an annual basis, a copy of which will be provided to all agencies represented on the Committee, the Scottish Executive and to other Child Protection Committees.

12. The chairperson of the Committee will be the liaison person with other Child Protection Committees, in particularly Dundee and Perth & Kinross but if unable to attend any planned meetings, the vice-chairperson should be asked to attend.

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Appendix 4

POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE - ROLE AND OBJECTIVES

Role

The primary role of the Policy and Practice Sub-committee is to enhance multi- agency Child Protection work in Angus through encouraging positive policy development and implementation thus enabling practice based on sound professional knowledge, research and effective inter-agency working to continuously develop.

Objectives

• Provide the necessary links to Angus Council’s planning bodies and contribute to the Statutory Children’s Service Plan with regard to Child Protection on behalf of the full Committee.

• Update and revise Angus Child Protection guidelines as required to take into account national/local development e.g. Scottish Office Guidance, Enquiry Reports etc.

• Give particular focus to promoting good inter-disciplinary practice in the prevention of child abuse.

• Promote the positive development of investigative and post investigative practices.

• Co-ordinate the production of the Child Protection Committee’s annual report.

Members of Angus Child Protection Committee - Policy Sub-Committee

Name Address

George Bowie Social Work Department, Arbroath Audrey Jenkins Education Department, Bruce House, Arbroath Caroline Mackie Service Development Manager, Child Health, Directorate of Change and Innovation, Kings Cross Hospital, Clepington Road, Dundee

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Det Insp Dougie Grey Tayside Police, Dundee Evelyn Allardyce Principal Planning Officer, Joint Strategic Support Unit, County Buildings, Forfar

John Whamond Senior Nurse, Child Protection, Primary Services Division, NHS Tayside, Department of Community Health, Ravenswood, New Road, Forfar

Kate Mearns Development Manager (Child Protection), Joint Strategic Support Unit, County Buildings, Forfar

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Appendix 4

PRACTICE SUB-COMMITTEE ROLE AND OBJECTIVES

Role

To enhance Child Protection policy, practice and provision in Angus by periodically examining actual professional practice.

Objectives

• To ensure the Child Protection practice conforms to child centred principles.

• To ensure that all practice conforms to all agency standards and procedures.

• To advise any agency or organisation as well as the Child Protection Committee of examples of excellent practice as well as deviations from desired practice.

• To recommend to agencies, organisations and the Child Protection Committee on how best to improve practice, procedures and provision of care and service delivery.

• To report on circumstances where multi-agency co-operation has failed and propose strategies to address.

• To examine cases where concern has been expressed in relation to the standards of practice and which might have broader implications for policy and resources.

• To provide a report to the Child Protection Committee at each full meeting of the Child Protection Committee.

Membership

• Maximum of six members of whom four must be members of the full committee.

• Frequency of meetings to be determined by the work to be undertaken at any given time, however it is envisaged they will take place quarterly as a minimum.

• Minutes of the sub-committee will be circulated to the chair of the full committee and other sub-committees.

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Name Address

Ann Manzi Polepark Family Service Barnardos Dundee

Jackie Primrose School and Family Support Service Bruce House Arbroath Sgt Janice Cowan Tayside Police, West High Street, Forfar

Dr Stewart Forsyth Consultant Paediatrician, Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust. Lead Clinician for Child Protection in Angus. Department of Community Health, Ravenswood, New Road, Forfar.

John Whamond Senior Nurse, Child Protection, Tayside Primary Care NHS Division, Department of Community Health, New Road, Forfar

Ann Robertson CARO (Child Protection), Social Work Department, Academy Lane, Arbroath

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Appendix 4

TRAINING SUB-COMMITTEE ROLE AND OBJECTIVES

Role

The primary role of the training sub-committee is to promote inter-agency communication, understanding and shared approach to child protection process through multi-disciplinary training. In this context child protection is deemed to involve the areas of prevention, protection and ongoing work with children and families.

Objectives

• Review and give advice on the co-ordination of individual agency training plans in relation to child protection.

• Identify appropriate opportunities for multi-disciplinary and/or joint training events.

• Provide feedback to agencies about possible training programmes. • Implement and agree multi-disciplinary programme of training. • Produce a statement of the training needs raised by local groups and to facilitate child protection training and development opportunities at a local level to meet these either on a multi-agency or a single agency basis.

• Provide an annual report and a half yearly report to the full Child Protection Committee.

• Specific training events to be organised by the sub-committee through the training co-ordinator and will include a rolling programme of multi-disciplinary events; and the production of a statement of all training and development activities relating to child protection in Angus. In addition the training sub- committee will have a role in advising the full committee on its strategic objectives in respect of multi-agency training in Child Protection.

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Members of Angus Child Protection Committee - Training Sub-Committee

Name Address

Roger Bromage (Chair) Social Work Department, Bruce House, Arbroath Fiona Wallace School & Family Support Service, Music Centre, Montrose Road, Forfar

Sgt Janice Cowan Family Protection Unit, Tayside Police, Forfar John Whamond Senior Nurse, Child Protection, Primary Services Division, NHS Tayside, Department of Community Health, Ravenswood, Forfar

Devina Campbell Community Education Worker, Education Department, Arbroath.

Mandy Sheridan Angus Voluntary Sector Children’s Forum

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Appendix 5

CHILD PROTECTION REGISTER STATISTICS 2003/2004 ANGUS COUNCIL SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT

1. The number of Child Protection referrals for the year to 31st March 2004 = 240 (02/03 = 390; 01/02 = 301).

2. The number of formal Child Protection Investigations for the year to 31st March 2004 = 163 (02/03 = 284; 01/02 = 165; 00/01 = 180; 99/00 = 211)

3. The number of Child Protection Investigations by geographical area:

Arbroath/Carnoustie/Monifieth = 95 Forfar/Kirriemuir = 34 Brechin/Montrose = 22 OOHS = 12

4. The number of Child Protection Investigations by type of referral:

Emotional concern = 8 Neglect concern = 55 Physical concern = 45 Sexual concern = 55 Failure to Thrive = 0

The total number of children whose names appeared on the Register at some point during the year 132.

5. The average figure for the year to 31st March 2003 for a child to remain on the register was 47.94 weeks.

The average figure for the year to 31st March 2004 for a child to remain on the register was 40.06 weeks.

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Appendix 6

REFERRAL STATISTICS

1. The number of referrals by area and referral type;

Child Protection Referrals for Period 1st April 2003 – 31st March 2004

Table Illustrated Referrals by Child’s Area of origin

Arbroath/ Forfar/ Brechin/ Totals by Carnoustie/ Kirriemuir Montrose Category Monifieth Physical 41 22 8 71 Abuse Emotional 0 0 0 0 Abuse Sexual Abuse 76 20 11 107

Physical 48 10 4 62 Neglect

Totals by 165 52 23 240 Area

Child Protection Investigations For period 1st April 2003 – 31st March 2004

Arbroath/ Forfar/ Brechin/ Out of Totals by Carnoustie/ Kirriemuir Montrose Hours Category Monifieth Service Sexual Abuse 18 14 15 8 55

Physical 30 6 7 2 45 Abuse Physical Neglect 40 13 0 2 55

Emotional 7 1 0 0 8 Abuse Failure to Thrive 0 0 0 0 0

Totals by Area 95 34 22 12 163

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2. First Stage Medical Examination Undertaken = 14 First Stage Medical Examinations by area:

Arbroath/Carnoustie/Monifieth = 9 Forfar/Kirriemuir = 2 Montrose/Brechin = 3

3. Second Stage (Specialist assessment) Medical Examination = 12 Second Stage Medical Examinations by area:

Arbroath/Carnoustie/Monifieth = 10 Forfar/Kirriemuir = 1 Montrose/Brechin = 1

4. Total Number of Child Protection Case Conferences held = 121 Number of Child Protection Case Conferences by area:

Area Initial Case Review TOTAL Conference Case Conference

Arbroath/Carnoustie/ Monifieth 24 43 67

Brechin/Montrose 8 18 26

Forfar/Kirriemuir 8 20 28

TOTAL 40 81 121

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Appendix 7

SOCIAL WORK DEPARTMENT CHILD PROTECTION TREND INFORMATION

Chart 1: Total Number of Investigations

Chart 2: Child Protection - Investigations quarterly

Chart 3: Investigations - Emotional Abuse

Chart 4: Investigations - Physical Abuse

Chart 5: Investigations - Neglect

Chart 6: Investigations - Sexual Abuse

Chart 7: Number of Children on Register - Emotional Abuse

Chart 8: Number of Children on Register - Physical Abuse

Chart 9: Number of Children on Register - Neglect

Chart 10: Number of Children on Register - Sexual Abuse

Chart 11: Total Number of Children on Child Protection Register

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