Improved accountability for child safety plans

ENGLAND – Children’s secretary, Ed Balls has announced the government will introduce new legislation to ensure that multi-agency Children’s Trust Boards are operating in every local authority area.

Under the new law, for the first time, every local authority will be required by law to have a Children’s Trust Board with responsibility for improving the safety and well-being of all children and young people in the area.

The Children’s Trust Boards will consist of the local authority, health, police, schools and other services who will be legally required to work together to agree and deliver a Children and Young People’s Plan.

The Plan will set out a clear local strategy for child safety arrangements, and sets the framework for the operation of the Local Safeguarding Children Board which leads work on safeguarding children.

The legislation will strengthen co-ordination of services at a local level and improve accountability by:

• Requiring LA’s, Primary Care Trusts, schools, colleges, health services and others to work closely together to jointly own local children’s plans;

• Putting effective early intervention for children at risk central to those plans;

• Requiring individual members to be held to account for delivering their agreed part of the shared plan.

Mr Balls will ask each board to publish an annual review of progress against their Children and Young People’s Plan so that safeguarding remains a priority.

Speaking at the Children’s Plan conference Mr Balls said: “In some places, there is still too little emphasis on early intervention and prevention. Organisational barriers and competing priorities appear to be getting in the way.

“Professionals working with children in this country do a tough job, often in very difficult circumstances. But we must do whatever it takes to strengthen local arrangements to enable children to live and grow up safely.

“Our responsibility – working together – is to ensure that children are safe and protected from abuse – and I will not rest until we have the very best possible child protection arrangements to safeguard our most vulnerable children in every part of the country.”