Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, this also means that it often complex. The Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership regularly reviews safeguarding in many different ways to reflect on how well safeguarding is working in Durham, to find ways to constantly improve partnership working in safeguarding and to understand what happened when things go wrong.
You can find reports and further information related to these reviews in the Resource Library.
Local and National Safeguarding Practice Reviews
A Serious Child Safeguarding Practice Review can be held in cases where a child has died or has been seriously harmed as a result of abuse, or neglect of a child is known or suspected. These reviews seek to examine the records to identify where improvements can be made to try and prevent any child from experiencing the same situation in the future.
When partners identify a case that requires a serious child safeguarding review they notify the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel of their decision to have a review and whether the review will be 'local' or 'national'. The partners will consider factors such as themes that have been identified or have already been subject to improvements, cases which highlight concerns about how agencies worked together to ensure safeguarding was effective and cases where no agency was involved in the safeguarding of the child. Some cases may not exactly match the definition of a serious child safeguarding case but still raise issues that are important to partners in Durham, such examples of good practice or where partners feel there was a situation that could have led to a serious incident. In these cases Partner can choose to have a local child safeguarding practice review.
You can find out more about the definitions behind some the terms used and the processes involved in these reviews at the Working Together to Safeguard Children online resource.
Child Death Review
The death of a child is a devastating loss that profoundly affects all those involved. When a child dies, in any circumstances, it is important for parents and families to understand what has happened and whether there are any lessons to be learned, a Child Death Review seeks to understand what happened and why, and where possible, to prevent future child deaths. When a child’s death is reported, a copy of When a Child Dies – a guide for families and carers should be offered to all bereaved families or carers in order to support them through the child death review process. In addition to supporting families and carers, staff involved in the care of the child will also be considered and offered appropriate support.
A Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) is the local panel that manages the process of reviewing deaths in Durham and Darlington and ensures that each child death has an appropriate review.
The Child Death Overview Panel is a sub-committee of both Durham and Darlington Safeguarding Children Partnerships. It is responsible for reviewing the available information on all child deaths and is accountable to the Safeguarding Partners. You can find reports from the Child Death Overview Panel in the Resource Library.
You can find out more about the definitions behind some the terms used and the processes involved in these reviews at the Working Together to Safeguard Children online resource.
Audits
The Partnership seeks to challenge partners and continuously improve safeguarding for children and young people in County Durham. The Embedding Learning Sub Group is responsible for coordinating multi-agency auditing, ensuring all areas for improvement are addressed effectively and that any learning gained from audits is embedded in practice across the partnership.
Audits are scheduled throughout the year and the Partnership aims to complete between 4 and 6 multi-agency audits within the annual reporting period. The subject or focus of audits will be determined through discussion between the DSCP Business Manager and the chairs of the two main sub groups, utilizing learning from both groups. A flexible approach is taken to scheduling the audits and the areas for review to ensure the process remains responsive to the understanding of issues within the partnership and the level of complexity or investigation required.
'Section 11' Review of Safeguarding
Section 11 of the Children Act places a statutory duty on key organisations to make arrangements to ensure that in their operation they deliver on the responsibilities they have with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The Partnership checks that these responsibilities are being fulfilled by partners on a bi-annual schedule and develops the questions asked to reflect the changes to safeguarding and the areas of interest that have been identified through other reviews and audits.
The Partnership undertakes an extended version of the required S11 process which includes schools and GP practices.
Partnership Annual Reports
As the three statutory partners of the Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership, we present our report covering the period 2021/22. In it we aim to demonstrate how we function and provide assurance that our safeguarding arrangements are effective in keeping children safe.
Annual reports available for download:
Local and National Safeguarding Practice Reviews
A Serious Child Safeguarding Practice Review can be held in cases where a child has died or has been seriously harmed as a result of abuse, or neglect of a child is known or suspected. These reviews seek to examine the records to identify where improvements can be made to try and prevent any child from experiencing the same situation in the future.
When partners identify a case that requires a serious child safeguarding review they notify the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel of their decision to have a review and whether the review will be 'local' or 'national'. The partners will consider factors such as themes that have been identified or have already been subject to improvements, cases which highlight concerns about how agencies worked together to ensure safeguarding was effective and cases where no agency was involved in the safeguarding of the child. Some cases may not exactly match the definition of a serious child safeguarding case but still raise issues that are important to partners in Durham, such examples of good practice or where partners feel there was a situation that could have led to a serious incident. In these cases Partner can choose to have a local child safeguarding practice review.
You can find out more about the definitions behind some the terms used and the processes involved in these reviews at the Working Together to Safeguard Children online resource.
Child Death Review
The death of a child is a devastating loss that profoundly affects all those involved. When a child dies, in any circumstances, it is important for parents and families to understand what has happened and whether there are any lessons to be learned, a Child Death Review seeks to understand what happened and why, and where possible, to prevent future child deaths. When a child’s death is reported, a copy of When a Child Dies – a guide for families and carers should be offered to all bereaved families or carers in order to support them through the child death review process. In addition to supporting families and carers, staff involved in the care of the child will also be considered and offered appropriate support.
A Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) is the local panel that manages the process of reviewing deaths in Durham and Darlington and ensures that each child death has an appropriate review.
The Child Death Overview Panel is a sub-committee of both Durham and Darlington Safeguarding Children Partnerships. It is responsible for reviewing the available information on all child deaths and is accountable to the Safeguarding Partners. You can find reports from the Child Death Overview Panel in the Resource Library.
You can find out more about the definitions behind some the terms used and the processes involved in these reviews at the Working Together to Safeguard Children online resource.
Audits
The Partnership seeks to challenge partners and continuously improve safeguarding for children and young people in County Durham. The Embedding Learning Sub Group is responsible for coordinating multi-agency auditing, ensuring all areas for improvement are addressed effectively and that any learning gained from audits is embedded in practice across the partnership.
Audits are scheduled throughout the year and the Partnership aims to complete between 4 and 6 multi-agency audits within the annual reporting period. The subject or focus of audits will be determined through discussion between the DSCP Business Manager and the chairs of the two main sub groups, utilizing learning from both groups. A flexible approach is taken to scheduling the audits and the areas for review to ensure the process remains responsive to the understanding of issues within the partnership and the level of complexity or investigation required.
'Section 11' Review of Safeguarding
Section 11 of the Children Act places a statutory duty on key organisations to make arrangements to ensure that in their operation they deliver on the responsibilities they have with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The Partnership checks that these responsibilities are being fulfilled by partners on a bi-annual schedule and develops the questions asked to reflect the changes to safeguarding and the areas of interest that have been identified through other reviews and audits.
The Partnership undertakes an extended version of the required S11 process which includes schools and GP practices.
Partnership Annual Reports
As the three statutory partners of the Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership, we present our report covering the period 2021/22. In it we aim to demonstrate how we function and provide assurance that our safeguarding arrangements are effective in keeping children safe.
Annual reports available for download: