The Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership (DSCP) is established in accordance with the Children Act 2004 (as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017) and Chapter 3 Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023.
The DSCP provides the arrangements under which the safeguarding partners and relevant agencies work together to coordinate safeguarding services such as the commission and publication of local child safeguarding practice reviews. By working together agencies are better able to identify and respond to the needs of children in County Durham and provide scrutiny to ensure the effectiveness of safeguarding services.
Our vision is to ‘keep children safe’
The Partnership looks to realise this vision by focussing on:
- Prevention through early intervention – We will work together to prevent harm at the earliest opportunity.
- Joined up response – We will respond bringing together the expertise of partners.
- Listening – We will listen to and observe children ensuring their voice is heard even when they don’t or can’t speak out.
- Identifying – We will identify those most at risk of harm by sharing information and data effectively.
- Challenging – We will challenge, learn and continuously improve.
and by applying the following values:
- Tenacity – acknowledges that there will be an element of endurance required by teams and individuals facing difficult and long term problem solving where solutions are not immediately apparent. In the area, effective inter-agency working is vital to maintain a focus on keeping the child safe.
- Curiosity – it is essential that we look beyond the immediate presentation to ensure that the concerns about children are not being masked or hidden by individuals, circumstances or a lack of curiosity on the part of those responsible for safeguarding.
- Openness – we need to be open and empathetic to the child and the perspective of other agencies. This includes an openness to challenge and be challenged so that the best decision in the interests of the child are made.
The partnership
Find out more about our partnership from the following pages: