This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Child protection team on the road
12/09/2003
Scotland's new Child Protection Action
Team - set up by the Executive to help drive forward its
three year programme of reform - will be in Cumbernauld on
Monday to consult on the development of national standards
for child protection.
The team, which includes professionals
from health, social work, police and education services,
will be seeking to develop the new standards between now
and the turn of the year, building on the views and
experiences of local people involved in child
protection.
The standards will aim to improve the
protection of Scotland's most vulnerable children and young
people, and be applied across all agencies - health,
education, social work and police, to encourage better
joined-up working and approaches which will deliver
improved outcomes for children.
The North Lanarkshire roadshow is part
of a series of events across Scotland, which will also
enable the Action Team to raise awareness of the
Executive's child protection reform programme.
Projects in the programme include the
development of a Children's Charter, proposals to ensure
that all agencies are jointly involved in inspecting
services for vulnerable children, reviewing the role and
remit of local child protection committees, and creation of
a register of adults deemed unsuitable to work with
children.
Deputy Minister for Education and
Young People Euan Robson said:
"The Executive is delivering a three
year programme of sustained activity to improve child
protection and ensure that the protection of Scotland's
children continues to be a top priority, as pledged in our
new Partnership Agreement.
"We cannot achieve change alone and
need to continue to work closely with agencies and
professionals across Scotland to constantly improve and
reform child protection services, and achieve better
outcomes for our most vulnerable children and young people.
The Action Team will play a central role in
that process, working with the Executive and external
agencies to develop and drive forward improvements.
"During the next month the team will be visiting
towns acrossScotland, liaising with the chairs and co-ordinators of local
child protection committees to bring together professionals
who work with children and young people to develop new
national standards for child protection. This work will
also be informed by consultations with children and
families, as the draft standards are developed during the
autumn.
"From 2004, agencies will be expected to work
towards delivering their services against these new
national standards which will underpin the Children's
Charter. This will be launched by the Executive later
this year, following work undertaken by Save the
Children to identify what children need to help protect
them from harm and ensure their needs are met."
The Cumbernauld roadshow will take place at Broadwood
Stadium from9.30am - 12.30pm, and again from1.30pm - 4.30pm. Further roadshows will take place at the same times
and venue on September 25.
he report of the child protection audit and
review team
, It's everyone's job to make sure I'm
alright, was published on November 25 last year
along with the Executive's five point response, which
included the following commitments -
A three year programme of
sustained activity to reform child protection
services;
Establishment of a team of
experts to work directly with local agencies;
New multi-disciplinary
inspection system to ensure that reform is
delivered;
Creation of a Children's
Charter, which is being drafted by Save the
Children, and which will set out what support
children need to protect them from harm; and
Increased funding for
ChildLine and ParentLine - which has already been
implemented.
The National Delivery Action Team,
including six external secondees, has been fully in place
since July 1 this year. The secondees are:
Fiona McManus - Child
Protection Adviser seconded to the team from the
Greater Glasgow Primary Care NHS Trust.
Martin Kettle - Area Service
Manager seconded to the team from Glasgow City
Council.
Ross Drummond - seconded
from Fife Constabulary as T/Chief Inspector.
Jennifer Stark
- Pupil Support Manager seconded from Education and
Cultural Services in West Lothian
Dr Helen Hammond - a
consultant paediatrician at St John's Hospital,
Livingston.
Belinda Cook - a senior
social worker from Aberdeen City Council's Children
Services.