Introduction
Since September 2019, the Enfield Safeguarding Children Partnership’s (ESCP) new arrangements have been in place. These new arrangements are led by 3 safeguarding partners (local authority, police and ICB), alongside relevant partners from statutory organisations, schools and the voluntary sector to work in close collaboration to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children and young people in Enfield.
They, through the executive group, co-ordinate safeguarding activities, act as a strategic leadership group in supporting and engaging others, and implement local and national learning, including from serious child safeguarding incidents (Working Together 2018).
This business plan sets out the strategic priorities that the partnership has identified and will be the primary focus across 2023 to 2026. The plan will support the involvement of services with children and young people in the local area, with the aspiration of supporting each child to reach their full potential.
It will be updated annually to respond to local and national requirements and emerging themes identified through a process of learning and continuous improvement, with the detail being set out in the specific work plans of the partnership’s activity groups. This work will be reported on the annual report. The Safeguarding Children Partnership will always seek to involve children and young people in its work and will keep them as the focus for all its activities and decision making.
All members of the Executive, Activity Group and Partnership meetings, as part of their role and responsibility to the Safeguarding Partnership, will be champions in their own agency to support and progress the work of the business plan, and ensure there is engagement of front-line practitioners to support successful delivery.
The Safeguarding Children Partnership supports partners as system leaders, and challenges and holds them to account. We want to create conditions to develop a learning culture driving best collaborative practice for good outcomes.
Our strategic proprieties are:
- child-on-child abuse
- physical abuse
- anti-racist practice
Priorities of the partnerships
The business plan is intentionally brief and focused on strategic priorities that form the basis of the work of the partnership over the year. These priorities support the statutory functions of the Enfield Safeguarding Children Partnership and the partnership response to protecting vulnerable children and young people, preventing harm, and promoting their welfare.
Strategic priorities - plan
Priority 1: Child-on-child abuse
What the ESCP want to achieve:
Children and young people are safe from harm from their peers virtually, at school and in the local community.
| What we will do | How will we know |
|---|---|
| Have strategic oversight to the levels of child-on-child abuse that is being reported by children and young people in Enfield. |
VYP activity group to have representation by education within the activity group. Data to be shared and scrutinised within executive group. Safeguarding ambassadors to provide feedback to business unit on child-on-child abuse. |
| Ensure there is effective training to frontline practitioners on child- on-child abuse and the impact upon the development of children and young people | Frontline practitioners will be equipped on how to prevent, disrupt, and protect from child-on-child abuse. |
| Capture the voices of children and young people so they exert ongoing influence on the partnership’s effectiveness | We will be able to demonstrate the voice of children and young people has been sought and captured and evidence where their voices have influenced the partnership. |
Priority 2: Physical abuse
What the ESCP wants to achieve:
Children and young people to be protected from all forms of physical abuse. Practitioners to understand the priorities in preventing physical abuse and can use their skills to identify, respond and protect against concerns.
| What we will do | How will we know |
|---|---|
| The national review into the deaths of Star and Arthur along with Enfield’s multi-agency audit will inform an action plan to address identified concerns. | Actions from the review and multi-agency audit will be reviewed and monitored by the Practice Improvement group meeting. |
| Monitor the effectiveness of the front door arrangements and ensure the partnership have oversight of all cases. | Early, targeted support is available for children, adults and families who need it. |
| Partnership workshops to be established to support and develop frontline practitioners in being able to share information, escalate concerns, respond and protect. | We will have evidence through data reporting that children and young people are being protected. |
Priority 3: Anti-racist practice
What the ESCP want to achieve:
Effective partnership working to ensure that all children and young people in Enfield receive fair and equal protection and services irrespective of their race or cultural heritage.
That all children and young people in Enfield receive the same opportunities to thrive and succeed.
| What we will do | How will we know |
|---|---|
| An activity group to be formed that will oversee and track the progress of all work to reduce the disproportionality in services to children and young people. The activity group will work to recommendations from the local review in Hackney on Child Q and Enfield’s CSPR on Andre and forced marriage. | Data will be tracked at anti-racist practice activity group and will show a decrease in disproportionality across the partnership. |
|
Ensure that there are Partnership opportunities available to all staff to understand the principles of adultification and the nuances that contribute to disparity within the system. S11 and S175 to have a focus on anti-racist practice and how organisations are individually working to ensure frontline practitioners are equipped with the skills and knowledge to support children and young people from minority ethnic backgrounds. Ensure the voice of children and young people is regularly provided to the activity group. | Frontline practitioners will report feeling more equipped to recognise and support children and young people from minority ethnic backgrounds. |
The business plan will be monitored quarterly by the business group and progress will be routinely reported to the executive group.
Other activity
The activity described above can be considered the key priorities identified by ESCP. In addition, to the delivery of work to deliver the priorities, ESCP will carry out a range of other activities in relation to its current statutory functions. ESCP will:
- Review and update policy, procedures and practice guidance
- Raise awareness of the action to be taken to safeguard children and young people
- Safeguarding training
- Multi-agency audit programme
- Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews/ Rapid Reviews
- Review of child deaths
- Section 11 and s175/157 audits challenge
- Performance management framework
- Allegations against professionals
Reporting the impact of the business plan
The progress on implementing the plan will be reported to the Local Authority, Metropolitan Police and NHS NCL ICB. In addition, the annual report will summarise the work it has carried out over the year. Self-assessment, peer reviews and future inspections will assist to evaluate and evidence the progress made in terms of delivering its statutory functions in accordance with the requirements of statutory guidance.
Enfield's learning and improvement framework (PDF, 262.1 KB) supports and challenges any practice that will take place within the Business Plan.
Stuart Smillie, Detective Superintendent, London Metropolitan Police, North Area
Chair, of the Enfield Safeguarding Children Partnership