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Future of child protection
21/06/2009
Around 65 child protection experts and professionals will gather in Edinburgh this week (June 23, 2009) to discuss how Scotland can best deliver services for vulnerable children during the next 20 years.
The event, organised by the Scottish Government, will explore how to improve services for children and young people and how to anticipate and plan for the threats, challenges and opportunities faced in the longer-term.
These include the anticipated continuing growth in the use of the internet and social networking sites, the changing nature of childhood such as new past-times, different expectations and changing attitudes to child safety, and the changing nature of society and local communities.
The discussions and workshops will help inform the review of the 1998 national guidance, Protecting Children: A Shared Responsibility, which was announced by the Minister for Children and Early Years, Adam Ingram in December and is currently underway.
Both he and the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Fiona Hyslop, will be among the key speakers at the conference.
Mr Ingram said:
"Ensuring stringent measures are in place to protect Scotland's children from neglect or abuse must always be a key priority for government. Scotland already has the most robust child protection inspection regime in the UK, allowing problems to be identified quickly and action taken immediately but we can never be complacent.
"We must continue to make improvements where these are deemed necessary and work with HMIE, child protection experts and frontline staff to drive up child protection standards across the country and sure that good practice is one area becomes common practice for all.
"Tuesday's conference is an opportunity for all those involved in planning and delivering services for children at risk of harm or neglect to come together to discuss how we tackle the challenges of the present and better prepare for those of future, from the digital divide which exists between some parents and their children to the impact of the changing nature of local communities. Their input is vital if we are to better recognise and respond to the needs of our vulnerable children and young people, who with the right care and support can go on to lead full and active lives.
"While, no child protection system can ever provide 100 per cent safety for every young person, our duty must be to ensure that the measures we have in place are as robust and effective as they can be. The findings from this conference will help drive forward those efforts and will be fed into our review of the national guidance on child protection practices which we expect to launched next year."
Colin McKerracher, Chief Constable of Grampian Police and Chair of the North East Scotland Child Protection Committee - who will be one of the many local representatives at the event, said:
"Protecting our children and keeping them safe from harm is everyone's business. Our children are Scotland's future and those involved in planning and delivering child protection services for them must continually look for new ways to improve care, drive up standards and ensure that good practice in one area is shared with those working elsewhere.
"This event will enable staff from across Scotland to come together to discuss these challenges and look at new ways to improve services for our children and young people in the years ahead."
The review of guidance on child protection practices across Scotland was announced in December 2008. Tuesday's conference is designed to ensure that a wide range of professionals from Scotland, as well as experts in the field of child protection, have the opportunity to contribute to that review and help inform those changes.
In February the Scottish Government announced a new cycle of targeted child protection inspections aimed at driving up standards in struggling areas.
Earlier this year Mr Ingram also announced that Scotland is to have the UK's first hub of child protection expertise which can put agencies in touch with leading professionals from across the world.
A three year child protection reform programme which substantially strengthened Scotland's 30 Child Protection Committees was implemented following the independent review of child protection services in Scotland in 2002, "It's Everyone's Job to Make Sure I'm Alright". The reform programme also led to the tough new multi-agency inspection regime, led by HMIE, which is systematically inspecting child protection services in every local authority area in Scotland