Safeguarding Procedures
Welcome to the Multi-agency Safeguarding Procedures directory for the Wirral Safeguarding Children Partnership. You can access all of our safeguarding procedures from this page. Each procedure will open in a new tab.
Please Note: on the 1st September 2019 the Wirral Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSCP) replaced the Wirral Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB). All policy and procedure documents have transferred to the new partnership and all remain valid.
Use of Gender Language in Procedures, particularly in relation to Domestic Violence and Abuse
Please note that throughout the WSCP procedures, particularly those related to domestic abuse perpetrators are generally referred to in the masculine and the term ‘mother’ is often used to refer to the non-abusive partner. This gender specific language is based on research and reflects the majority of cases. However it is important to recognise that it does not always apply – males can be victims and females can be perpetrators – and the terms should always be read flexibly
Quick links to chapters:
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Policy Framework
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The WSCP and Roles and Responsibilities
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Thresholds and the Continuum of Need (links to main page)
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Supporting Families Enhancing Futures (links to main page)
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Managing Individual Cases
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Children in Specific Circumstances
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Learning and Improvement Framework and Case Reviews (links to main page)
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Child Death Overview Panel and Process (links to main page)
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Individuals who Pose a Risk to Children
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Complaints and Multi-agency Escalations
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Multi-agency Protocols and Practice Guidance
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Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018
Chapter One – Policy Framework
1.1 Policy, Principles and Values
1.2 Recognition of Significant Harm
1.3 Information Sharing and Confidentiality
1.4 Step Up/ Step Down Process
1.5 Family Group Conferences (links to LA Children’s Services Page)
1.6 Legal Framework for Child Protection
1.7 Race, Ethnicity and Culture
1.8 Use of Interpreters, Signers or Others with Communication Skills
1.9 Safer Recruitment, Selection and Supervision of Staff
Chapter Two – The WSCB and Roles and Responsibilities
2.2 Agency Roles and Responsibilities
Chapter Three – Thresholds and the Continuum of Need – links to main page
3.1 WSCP-Thresholds-Document-September-2019
Chapter Four – Supporting Families Enhancing Futures (SFEF) – links to main page
4.1 Multi-agency Practice Guidance
4.3 Prompt Sheets for Practitionersv2
4.4 SFEF On a Page
Chapter Five – Managing Individual Cases
5.2 Single Assessment Policy and Guidance (links to LA Children’s Services Procedure)
5.4 Initial Child Protection Conferences
5.5 Deciding and Recording that a Child Should be Subject to a Child Protection Plan
5.6 Implementation of the Child Protection Plan – Lead Social Worker and Core Group Responsibilities
5.7 Child Protection Review Conferences
5.8 Multi-agency Standards for Child Protection
5.9 Multi-agency Standards for Child in Need (S.17) (new March 2019)
5.10 North-west Protocol for Standards in Supervision of Children and Families Social Workers
5.11 LADO and Managing Allegations against Staff (links to main page)
Chapter Six – Children in Specific Circumstances
6.1 Safeguarding Children from Abuse Linked to a Belief in Spirit Possession
6.2 Abuse of Disabled Children
6.3 Children and Young People who Display Sexually Inappropriate and Harmful Behaviour
6.4 Working with Young People Engaged in Sexual Activity
6.5 Bullying in Children and Young People’s Settings
6.6 E-Safety: Safeguarding Children and Young People using Digital and Interactive Technology
6.7 WSCB pan Merseyside Missing from Home Care Protocol and Procedure May 18 (new May 2018)
6.8 Children at Risk of Not Receiving a Suitable Education
6.9 Children Living Away from Home (including Children and Families Living in Temporary Accommodation)
6.10 Private Fostering (links to LA Children’s Services Procedure)
6.11 Management of Children and Young People in Need who are Medically Fit for Discharge
6.12 Children in Need Moving In and Out of Wirral
6.13 North-west Children in Need Moving across Local Authority Boundaries Protocol
6.14 Complex (Organised or Multiple) Abuse
6.15 Children Visiting Psychiatric Wards and Facilities
6.17 Pre-birth Procedure (updated October 2017)
6.19 Dangerous Dogs and Safeguarding Children (links to main page)
6.20 Fabricated or Induced Illness
6.21 Female Genital Mutilation
6.22 Wirral Honour Based Violence and Forced Marriage Protocol
6.23 Safeguarding Children from Abroad (including Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children)
6.24 Modern Slavery
6.25 Safeguarding Children and Young People who may have been Trafficked
6.26 Guidance on Safeguarding Children for Faith Groups in Wirral
6.27 Working with Children and Families affected by Substance Misuse (links to WSCP Substance Misuse webpage)
6.29 Children Affected by Gang Activity and Youth Violence
6.30 Safeguarding Children in Licensed Premises
6.31 Safeguarding Children and Young People against Radicalisation and Violent Extremism
6.32 Cross-border Child Protection Cases under the Hague Convention
6.33 Sexual Health Policy and Guidance for Staff Working with Young People under 19 Years of Age
6.34 Child Sexual Exploitation: Multi-agency Strategy, Protocol and Practice Guidance (links to main page)
6.35 Working with Families who Display Disguised Compliance (new Jan 2018)
6.36 Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines (new April 2018)
6.37 Child Exploitation Pan Merseyside Protocol (new October 2018)
Chapter Seven – Learning and Improvement and Case Reviews – links to main page
7.1WSCB Learning and Improvement Framework June 2018
7.2 Reviewing Cases below the Serious Case Review Threshold
7.4 Notifiable Incidents Procedure
7.5 Learning from Serious Case and other Reviews (links to main page)
Chapter Eight – Child Death Overview Panel and Process – links to main page
8.1 pan-Merseyside Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Childhood (SUDiC) Protocol (updated October 2017)
8.2 Child Death Overview Panel, including information for professionals and parents (links to main page)
Chapter Nine – Individuals who Pose a Risk to Children
9.1 Managing Individuals Posing a Risk to Children
9.3 Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA)
9.6 Visiting of Prisons by Children
Chapter Ten – Complaints and Multi-agency Escalation Process
10.1 Child Protection Conferences Appeals Procedure
10.2 Multi-agency Escalation Procedure (updated January 2020)
10.3 Whistleblowing or Raising Concerns at Work
Chapter Eleven – Multi-agency Protocols and Practice Guidance
11.2 Children Placed in Wirral – Notification Procedure
11.5 Wirral Domestic Abuse Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) Operating Protocol
11.6 Joint Local Protocol between Drug and Alcohol Partnerships and Children and Family Services (links to WSCP Substance Misuse webpage)
11.7 Bruising in Children who are Not Independently Mobile
11.8 Assessment of Sexual Abuse
11.9 Assessing Sexual Perpetrators with Learning Disabilities
11.10 Considerations of Sexual Abuse in Kinship Placements
11.11 Assessing Adult Female Sexual Perpetrators
11.12 Assessment of the Mother as a Protective Parent where a Child has been Abused
11.13 How to Respond if a Child Discloses Sexual Abuse
11.14 Assessment of the Sexually Abused Child
11.15 Assessing Children who Sexually Abuse
11.16 WSCP-Neglect-Strategy-19-21
11.17 Neglect and the Graded Care Profile (links to main page)
11.18 Safer Sleeping Guidance
11.19 Good Practice Guidance for Working with Children and Families Affected by Substance Misuse
11.20 Chronology Guidance for Professionals 2018 (December 2018)
11.21i Police and Children’s Social Care Joint Working Protocol (new May 2019)
11.21ii Police and Children’s Social Care Joint Working Protocol – Appendix One
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Chapter Twelve – Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018
12.1 Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)