Ref
No |
Recommendation |
Action |
Responsible Agency/Lead Person |
Completion Date
|
1 |
The Chief Officer of Environment and Neighbourhoods will ensure that all relevant staff undertake child protection awareness training.
|
Identify relevant service areas.
Audit current position with regard to Child Protection Awareness training
Establish rolling programme of training where needed.
Where appropriate, include Child Protection Awareness training in induction package for new starters.
Establish project and agree work programme
Implement work programme |
Senior Leadership Team
Project team |
Completed Aug 08
Completed Aug 08
Completed May 09
Implementation ongoing
Completed Mar 09
Completed with implementation ongoing |
2 |
The Chief Executive of the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust will ensure that all telephone calls and conversations regarding a child’s care should be recorded in appropriate records. |
All children’s records have communication sheets within and all telephone calls etc are recorded appropriately. |
Named Nurse |
Completed Aug 2008 |
3 |
The Chief Executive of the Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust will ensure that a written process is in place to manage differences of medical opinion that have resulted from the undertaking of child protection medicals. |
All child protection medicals are witnessed and a second person & any differences of opinion are widely discussed & solutions sort. All discussions will be documented. |
Divisional Medical Manager |
Completed Sep 2008 |
4 |
The Named Doctor for the Teaching Hospital Trust will ensure that where there is a change to a previously expressed opinion regarding a child protection medical this must be communicated in writing to the chair of the strategy meeting with a request for a written acknowledgement.
|
Named Doctor to be made aware of this action and complete as necessary. |
Named Doctor |
Completed Aug08 |
5 |
The Named Doctor for the Teaching Hospital Trust will ensure that current plans are progressed to identify a lead paediatrician to co-ordinate assessments in all cases of suspected child abuse.
|
Named Doctor will be clear about who is leading & coordinating cases of suspected child abuse and this would be documented for reference purposes. |
Named Doctor |
Completed Sep 2008 |
6 |
The Head of Midwifery (Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust) and the Senior Child protection Co-ordinator (Children & Young People’s Social Care) will review the antenatal risk assessment tool to ensure that social circumstances and parenting capacity issues are addressed in relation to young women under 18 years of age. |
Review to occur & evidence of decisions made on this. Evidence to be presented at Trust wide Steering Group. |
Head of Midwifery |
Completed Nov 08
|
7 |
The Chief Officer Children’s Social Care will ensure Social Care managers chairing strategy meetings take responsibility for identifying a minute taker and signing off minutes which include action points, timescales, agreed roles and responsibilities and an agreed mechanism for reviewing completion of the action points (including reconvening if further significant information emerges).
|
To place on agenda for Children’s Management group for appropriate managers to cascade to all team Managers and Child Protection coordinators responsible for chairing strategy meetings.
|
Chief Officer Children & Young People’s Social Care |
Completed Sep 08 |
8 |
The Chairs of strategy meetings will ensure that written action points are circulated to all parties within one working day.
|
To place on agenda for Children’s Management group for appropriate managers to cascade to all team Managers and Child Protection coordinators responsible for chairing strategy meetings.
|
Chief Officer Children & Young People’s Social Care |
Completed Sep 08 |
9 |
The Chief Officer Children’s Social Care will ensure arrangements are in place for strategy meeting minutes to be circulated to all parties within ten working days.
|
To place on agenda for Children’s Management group for appropriate managers to cascade to all team Managers and Child Protection coordinators responsible for chairing strategy meetings.
|
Chief Officer Children & Young People’s Social Care |
Completed Sep 08 |
10 |
The Chief Officer Children’s Social Care will ensure that Team Managers always nominate one worker to be responsible for recording information when more than one social worker is involved in a child protection investigation.
|
Team Managers to ensure that where a case is joint worked that clear arrangements are established as to which worker has the lead responsibility for ensuring that up to date file entries are maintained. |
Chief Officer Children & Young People’s Social Care |
Completed Sep 08 |
11 |
The Chief Officer Children’s Social Care will ensure that all assessments must be completed prior to case closure. Where capacity issues prevent allocation and/or completion, team managers should notify Service Delivery Managers, who should make alternative arrangements for outstanding work to be completed.
|
Service Delivery Managers to ensure that unallocated/incomplete work is reviewed with Team Managers through regular supervision. |
Chief Officer Children & Young People’s Social Care |
Completed Sep 08 |
12 |
The Chief Officer Children & Young People’s Social Care will ensure that notifications from the Police of domestic violence incidents in families where there are C&YP are monitored and that repeat notifications trigger analysis and appropriate referral.
|
Chief Officer, together with Head of Child Protection Section, to consider best way to release additional admin resources to deal with domestic violence notifications, through impending restructuring of Child Protection Section |
Chief Officer Children & Young People’s Social Care |
Completed process in place Jun 09 |
13 |
The Chief Officer Children’s Social Care will ensure that core assessments include all the relevant domains of the Assessment Framework, including the family history and functioning, parents/carers’ own experience of being parented and, where relevant, the parenting capacity of extended family members who are involved in supporting a family.
|
Improving the quality of Core Assessments is identified as a target in the Action Plan of the CYPSC 08/09 Service Improvement Plan. Arrangements are being made to provide training for 150+ social work staff, and for audit of quality of assessments by managers |
Chief Officer Children & Young People’s Social Care |
Completed Mar 09 |
14 |
The Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police will ensure that all children and young people who are victims of alleged sexual abuse are notified, and where appropriate referred, to Children & Young Peoples Social Care.
|
All divisional personnel to receive Every Child Matters training and have access to e.learning.
|
West Yorkshire Police Child & Public Protection Unit |
Completed Dec 08
|
15 |
The Chief Constable will ensure that West Yorkshire Police, in conjunction with Children & Young People’s Social Care, develop a threshold based referral process for domestic violence cases involving families with children.
|
West Yorkshire Interagency Safeguarding Procedures re Domestic Abuse to be revised to include risk factor screening for children and young people. |
West Yorkshire Police Child & Public Protection Unit |
Revision of procedures to be implemented Jan 10.
|
16 |
The Chief Constable will ensure that West Yorkshire Police Child & Public Protection Unit reviews supervisory arrangements and introduces minimum standards in relation to the direction, regular review and finalisation of all active child protection investigations.
|
West Yorkshire Police to increase supervisory capacity within the Child & Public Protection Unit to enable more intrusive supervision of all child protection investigations. |
West Yorkshire Police Child & Public Protection Unit |
Completed Aug 08 |
17 |
The Chief Constable will ensure that all non-familial child rape investigations are managed under the direction of an appointed Senior Investigating Officer.
|
The Force to create a dedicated Rape Investigation Unit under the direction of a dedicated Detective Inspector, who has links and access to SIO’s when appropriate.
|
Chief Constable West Yorkshire Police
|
Completed Aug 08 |
18 |
The Chief Probation Officer NPS-WY will ensure that Offender Managers notify Children’s Social Care in writing where an offender is subject to statutory supervision, having been convicted of violent and/or sexual offences resides, or has contact, with children.
|
No action required. This is standard practice and has been so for a considerable time. The method and criteria for notification and referral will be reviewed as part of the action in relation to Recommendation 19. |
Assistant Chief Probation Officer Leeds East |
Completed Jul 08 |
19 |
The Chief Probation Officer NPS –WY will ensure, in conjunction with the Chief Officer Children & Young People’s Social Care, that current arrangements for notification are reviewed and a protocol agreed.
|
Review to be undertaken
Timetable for this review to be agreed between WYPA and Leeds CSC/ Children’s Trust.
|
Assistant Chief Probation Officer
Leeds West |
Review and changes completed
Final draft of protocol completed June 09
|
20 |
The Director of Offender Management NPS-WY will ensure that Risk Management Plans are implemented by Offender Managers and that reasons for non implementation are recorded.
|
Completion of RMPs to be designated a priority for level 1 OASys sampling, and for quarterly OASys quality audits.
Practice instruction that delivery of RMP objectives should be prioritised in the sentence plan
Future OASYs training to emphasise requirement to record reasons for non implementation
Staff bulletin on serious further offence learning points highlighted the need to ensure that RMP objectives were delivered in day to day supervision of offenders
|
Director of Offender management
Director of Offender management
Director of Offender management
Director of Offender management
|
Completed July 08
Completed July 08
Completed and ongoing as new issues of OASys rolled out
Completed July 08 |
21 |
The Director of Offender Management NPS-WY will ensure that the accuracy of OASys basic information is checked and that all details have been taken into account when undertaking risk assessments. |
Covered by staff bulletins in August 07 and June 08, and discussed in district management teams.
To be re-inforced in September bulletin and district management team discussions |
Director of Offender management
Director of Offender management
|
Completed Jun 08
Completed Sep 08 |
22 |
The Directors of Offender Management and Interventions will undertake a review of the way ‘Enforcement’ and ‘Enforcement Letter’ protocols operate between Offender Management and Interventions sections at the office concerned.
|
Action delegated to Leeds Assistant Chief Officers.
Programmes managers asked to confirm that their unit’s communication with offenders does not conflict with OM breach process.
|
Assistant Chief Probation Officers Leeds East and West |
Completed Jun 08 |
23 |
The Chief Probation Officer NSP-WP will write to the National OASys Review Group identifying concerns that the OASys system can underplay the significance of drug misuse as it relates to offending.
|
Issue to be discussed at regional OASys meeting in July, which includes attendees from national OASys group. Decision about follow up letter will be taken after that meeting. |
Director of Offender management
|
Completed July 08 |
24 |
The Chief Executive of Education Leeds will ensure that the content of training is reviewed and take up of training for school staff monitored regarding identification of indicators of ‘persistent conduct disorders.’
|
To be prioritised in delivery of all CP training for schools
|
Education Leeds Child Protection Team |
Completed May 09 |
25 |
The Director of Operations for Carr-Gomm will ensure that information about risk and needs is received from referring agencies about families with children prior to a service being delivered.
|
Ensure all of Carr-Gomm’s staff who are responsible for referrals and allocations comply with Carr-Gomm’s policies and procedures relating to risk and needs assessment and that controls are in place to minimise the risk of non-compliance. |
Director of Operations |
Completed Dec 07
|
26 |
The Director of Operations will ensure that the identity and role of all adults, either living in a household or having significant contact with children and young people, is established and where appropriate, risk assessments undertaken.
|
To ensure that staff support clients to identify people who have significant contact with their children and complete risk assessments where appropriate. |
Director of Operations |
Completed Dec 07
|
27 |
The Chief Crown Prosecutor will ensure that all prosecutors are aware of policy bulletin 40, issued in 2007, on how to approach a situation where a complainant aged under 16 in a non consensual sex case cannot, due to credibility or other problems be relied on as a prosecution witness, but there is evidence which points to a lesser, consensual offence where consent is irrelevant (either USI under the Sexual offences Act 1956 or, post 1 May 2004, where consent is irrelevant).
|
Policy bulletin 40 of 2007 was circulated to all lawyers at the time of its publication.
A further reminder has been sent to all lawyers in CPS West Yorkshire in view of this recommendation. |
Chief Crown prosecutor |
Completed Jul 08 |
28 |
The Chair of Leeds Safeguarding Children Board will ensure that work is progressed via the LSCB Business Plan with both Children’s and Adult services to develop a protocol and provide appropriate training to improve inter agency communication and intervention with respect to children living in the context of parental substance misuse and domestic violence.
|
1) Consultation Event
2) Development of joint working protocols
3) Development of interagency training
|
Steering Group
Steering Group
Learning & Development sub group |
Completed Oct 08
Working draft completed Jun 09. Pilot ongoing Jul 09 – Mar 10
To be developed in the light of the pilot Jul 09 – Mar 10 |
