BSCB Constitution and Terms of Reference
Blackpool Local Safeguarding Children Board Constitution and Terms of Reference
Section 1: Name
This constitution relates to Blackpool Local Safeguarding Children Board, hereinafter referred to as the LSCB.
Section 2: Terms of Reference The Children Act [2004] requires each top tier local authority to establish a Local Safeguarding Children Board, to be made up of representatives from the agencies and bodies which have regular contact with children or responsibility for services to them in the local area. Part 2, Section 11, of the Children Act [2004] places a duty on key persons and bodies to make arrangements to ensure that in discharging their functions, they have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The core objectives of the LSCB are set out in Section14 (1) of the Children Act [2004]. The statutory agencies which are required to cooperate in the establishment and operation of the LSCB have shared responsibility for the effective discharge of its functions and are set out in Section 13(3) of the Children Act [2004].
Sections 13 to 16 of the Children Act [2004] set out the framework for the LSCB.
The LCSB is the key statutory mechanism for agreeing how relevant organisations in Blackpool co-operate to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in Blackpool and for ensuring the effectiveness of what they do.
The work of the LSCB is part of the wider context of the Children’s Trust arrangements that aim to improve the overall well-being of all children in Blackpool. The LSCB has a particular focus on the ‘Staying Safe’ aspect of the five ‘Every Child Matters’ outcomes.
Section 3: Objectives The core objectives of the LSCB are consistent with those set out in section 14(1) of the Children Act [2004] as follows: a) To co-ordinate what is done by each person or body represented on the LSCB for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in Blackpool b) To ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each such person or body for that purpose.
Section 4: Scope of the Role The LSCB will safeguard and promote the welfare of children through its activity in three broad areas: a) Activity that affects all children and aims to prevent maltreatment, or impairment of health or development, and ensure children are growing up in circumstances with safe and effective care b) Proactive work that aims to target particular groups c) Responsive work to protect children who are suffering or at risk of suffering harm. As part of its monitoring and evaluating work, the LSCB will ensure that where particular children are the subjects of intervention that safeguarding work aims to help them achieve all five outcomes, to have optimum life chances.
Section 5: Functions
- The core functions of the LSCB are set out in the Local Safeguarding Children Boards Regulations 2006. In all its activities the LSCB will take account of the need to promote equality of opportunity and to meet the diverse needs of children.
The functions of the LSCB are: a)
To develop policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in Blackpool, including policies and procedures in relation to: i. The action to be taken where there are concerns about a child’s safety or welfare, including thresholds for intervention; ii. Training of persons who work with children or in services affecting the safety and welfare of children; iii. Recruitment and supervision of persons who work with children; iv. Investigation of allegations concerning persons who work with children v. Safety and welfare of children who are privately fostered; vi. Co-operation with neighbouring children’s services authorities and their LSCB partners. b)
To communicate to persons and bodies in Blackpool the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, raising their awareness of how this can best be done and encouraging them to do so. c)
To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of what is done by the Local Authority and LSCB partners, individually and collectively, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and advise them on ways to improve. d)
To participate in the local planning and commissioning of services for children in Blackpool to ensure that they take safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children into account. e)
To undertake reviews of serious cases, advising Blackpool Children’s Services Authority and LSCB partners on lessons to be learned. A serious case is one where: i. Abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected; and ii. either – a) the child has died, or b) the child has been seriously harmed and there is cause for concern as to the way in which the authority, their LSCB partners or other relevant persons have worked together to safeguard the child. f)
To engage in any other activity that facilitates, or is conducive to, the achievement of the LSCB’s objective. g)
From 1 April 2008 the LSCB will have additional functions relating to the deaths of children normally resident in Blackpool. These will be:
a)
To collect and analyse information about each child death with a view to identifying: I. any case giving rise to the need for a serious case review, II. any matters of concern affecting the safety and welfare of children in Blackpool III. any wider public health or safety concerns arising from a particular death or from a pattern of deaths in Blackpool b)
To put in place procedures for ensuring that there is a coordinated response by the authority, their LSCB partners and other relevant persons to an unexpected death.
Section 6: Powers and Accountability Whilst the LSCB has a role in co-ordinating and ensuring the effectiveness of local individuals’ and organisations’ work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, it is not accountable for their operational work. Each LSCB partner retains their own existing lines of accountability for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children by their services.
Section 7: Membership Part 1: The Chairperson
Blackpool LSCB will have an Independent Chairperson with a term of office of 36 months. The chairperson is accountable to the Local Authority, through the Director of Children’s Services, for the effectiveness of the LSCB’s work. The chairperson will be appointed with reference to an agreed job description and associated person specification. The role of chairperson is crucial in making certain that the LSCB operates effectively and in securing for it an independent voice. The chairperson will be of sufficient standing and expertise to command the respect and support of all partners. The chairperson will act objectively as LSCB chairperson and distinguish their role as LSCB chair from any day-to-day role.
Part 2: The Members As far as possible, organisations should designate particular, named persons as their LSCB member, so that there is consistency and continuity in the membership of the LSCB. Members will be people with a strategic role in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children within their organisation and should be able to: i. speak for their organisation with authority ii. commit their organisation on policy and practice matters iii. hold their organisation to account Local Authority Elected Members and non-executive directors of other Board partners will not be members of the LSCB. Their role, through their membership of governance bodies is to hold their organisation and its officers to account for their contribution to the effective functioning of the LSCB. The lead member for the Children’s Services Authority will have a particular focus on how Blackpool Council fulfils its responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and will hold the Director of Children’s Services to account for the work of the LSCB. Each LSCB partner will nominate one named LSCB member and named deputy in the case of circumstances not allowing the nominated member to attend. From the inception of the LSCB, the following partner organisations will nominate one member: a) Blackpool Council Children and Young Peoples Department Social Care b) Blackpool Council Children and Young Peoples Department Pupil Services c) Blackpool Council Housing and Social Services d) Lancashire Constabulary e) Lancashire Probation f) Youth Offending Team g) Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals h) Blackpool PCT i) Connexions Service j) CAFCASS k) General Practitioner representative l) State school representative m) NSPCC n) Representative of Leisure and Youth Services. Within the first year of operations the LSCB, the Board will agree representation or links with the following: a) Strategic Health Authority b) Service Users c) Independent Schools d) Further Education Establishments e) Representative for Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations, including bodies providing specialist care for children with disabilities f) Independent Health Care Providers g) Lancashire Care Trust h) Faith Group Representative The LSCB may at any time secure the involvement of any other relevant Local Organisation including for specific purposes and specific periods. The LSCB will be supported in its function by the following: a) Local Authority Legal Services b) Children’s Social Care Quality Assurance Service Manager c) Chairs of sub-groups d) Designated Doctor, Child Protection e) Designated Nurse, Child Protection f) Children and Young Peoples Department Pupil Welfare Manager g) Any others as may be agreed The LSCB will also draw on the work of key national organisations and liaise with them when necessary. Individual members of the LSCB will have a duty as members to contribute to the effective work of the LSCB including making the LSCB’s assessment of performance as objective as possible and recommending or deciding upon the necessary steps to put right any problems. This should take precedence if necessary over their role of a representative of their organisation.
Section 8: Rules of Procedure Part 1: Meetings
The LSCB will meet initially on a bi-monthly basis.
The date time and venue of the meetings will be notified to members, as soon as possible, but not later than 10 working days before the date of the meeting. Notification will be in writing. The LSCB will consider at each meeting an agenda. Items for the agenda will be required to be received by the chair in writing no later than 15 working days prior to the meeting. Part 2: Quorum A quorum at an LSCB meeting shall be one half of all statutory LSCB members agencies.
Part 3: Minutes Minutes of LSCB meetings will be maintained by Blackpool Council and issued to all members. The minutes will be agreed as accurate and correct at the commencement of business at subsequent LSCB meetings. The minutes of the LSCB meetings, when agreed, will be made available to the public.
Part 4: Attendance To ensure continuity, it is essential that nominated members attend LSCB on a regular basis. If a member regularly misses meetings the matter will be raised by the Chair with the relevant partner agency. Part 5: Sub-groups The LSCB will be immediately assisted in its operation by the work of the following sub-groups: a) Operational and Quality Assurance Sub-group b) Training Sub-group c) Policy and Procedures Sub-group d) Serious Case Review Sub-Group, as required
The LSCB may set up additional working groups or sub-groups on a short term or standing basis. The LSCB will be required to set up a Child Death Overview Panel with a standing membership chaired by a member of the LSCB when it begins to operate the Child Death Review processes described in Chapter 7 Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006. The LSCB may set up such a panel in co-operation with other LSCBs to cover their combined areas. Each sub-group of the LSCB will work to agreed terms of reference with explicit lines of reporting, communication and accountability to the LSCB.
Section 9: Finance and Staffing It is important that Blackpool Local Safeguarding Board is adequately resourced to ensure that it operates effectively and so, needs to be supported by its members with adequate and reliable resource. The funding requirement of the LSCB will be determined by the work it plans to undertake. However, the LSCB will have a core minimum of work and partners must ensure that the resources of the LSCB are sufficient to enable it to have staff to take forward its business whether those are paid from the pooled budget or are seconded as part of a contribution in kind. The LSCB Business Plan will include a detailed budget requirement for the relevant year. Contributions from member agencies will be committed, in advance, according to an agreed formula.
Records of income and expenditure will be maintained and audited by Blackpool Council and a financial statement prepared and presented at each LSCB meeting.
Section 10: Planning The LSCB will contribute to and work within the framework established by the Blackpool and Young People’s Plan. The LSCB’s planning will fit clearly within the framework of priorities and actions set out in the Children and Young People’s Plan. The LSCB will have a clear work programme including measurable objectives, contained in a three-year Business Plan. An Annual Report will be produced to include relevant management information on activity in the course of the previous year and review its progress against objectives. The LSCB Business Plan and Annual Reports will be endorsed by all Board members and made publicly available.
Section 11: Monitoring and Inspection The LSCB’s work to ensure the effectiveness of work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children by partner organisations will be a peer review process based on self- evaluation, performance indicators and joint audit. The aim of the LSCB is to promote high standards of safeguarding work and to foster a culture of continuous improvement. The LSCB will identify and ensure that action is taken on identified weaknesses in services. To avoid unnecessary duplication of work the LSCB will ensure that its monitoring role complements and contributes to the work of both the Children’s Trust and the Inspectorates. Where it is found that Board partner is not performing effectively in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and the LSCB is not convinced that any planned action to improve performance will be adequate the LSCB Chair or a Member or Employee designated by the Chair will explain these concerns to those individuals or organisations that need to be aware of the failing and may be able to take action. The local inspection framework will play an important role in reinforcing the ongoing monitoring work of the LSCB. Individual Services will continue to be assessed through their own quality regimes. These inspectorates will have as part of their remit considering the effectiveness of their agencies’ role in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The LSCB should draw on the work of the relevant inspectorates and will feed its views about the quality of work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children into these processes. The effectiveness of the LSCB itself will also form part of the judgement of the inspectorates particularly through the Joint Area Review. It will be for Blackpool Council to lead in taking action if intervention in the LSCB’s own processes is necessary.
Section 12: Amendments to the Constitution Alterations to the constitution shall require the approval of not less than three quarters of the member agencies.