Partnership activity

The purpose of the group is to consider if a serious incident referred into the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Subgroup meets threshold for undertaking a Child Safeguarding Practice Review as outlined in Working Together 2018

Serious Incident

A Serious Incident is:

Where the local authority knows or suspects that a child has been abused or neglected and:

· the child dies (including suspected suicide) or is seriously harmed in the local authority’s area

· while normally resident in the local authority’s area, the child dies or is seriously harmed outside England

When a serious incident becomes known the Local Authority should notify the OSCP and the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel within five working days of becoming aware that the incident has occurred. The Child Safeguarding Practice Review subgroup of the Partnership will promptly undertake a rapid review of the case. The aim is to enable the OSCP to

• gather the facts about the case, as far as they can be readily established at the time
• discuss whether there is any immediate action needed to ensure children’s safety and share any learning appropriately
• consider the potential for identifying improvements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
• decide what steps they should take next, including whether to commission a Child Safeguarding Practice Review.

As soon as the rapid review is complete, the OSCP will send a copy to the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. They should also share with the Panel any thoughts they have had on whether the case may raise issues which are complex or of national importance such that a national review may be appropriate, and on whether they plan to carry out a local child safeguarding practice review. They may also do this if, during the course of a local review, new information comes to light which changes their judgement and suggests a national review may be appropriate.

When a local review has been agreed a review panel will be established by the Child Safeguarding Practice Review subgroup.

If the case does not meet the criteria for a child safeguarding practice review the Subgroup must consider whether any of the following are appropriate:

• Appreciative Inquiry
• Multi Agency Concise Review
• Single Agency Review
• Multi Agency Audit

The following flow chart explains the process of a rapid review referral in Oldham: Practice Review Activities and Timescale Flowchart.docx

To refer a serious incident to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review subgroup please complete the referral form below and send securely to: OSCP.group@oldham.gov.uk.

Published Reviews will remain on the OSCP website for 12 months. Where a 7 minute briefing has been developed this will remain on the website to support Partnership learning and improvement.

Serious Case Review - Child M

Final report: Child M Serious Case Review.pdf

Seven minute briefing: 7 minute briefing -Child M.pdf

Serious Case Review - Child G

Seven minute briefing: 7 minute briefing - Child G Final.pdf

Serious Case Review - Child H

Seven minute briefing: 7 minute briefing - Child H Final.pdf

For a copy of any of the following Serious Case Reviews:

• Child A
• Child B & C
• Child D
• Child F

please email OSCP.group@oldham.gov.uk.

The Communications subgroup is a joint subgroup with the Safeguarding Adults Board.

The role of the group is to develop a communications strategy with respect to the work of the Oldham safeguarding partnerships; to support the communication platforms used by the partnerships to communicate with key stakeholders (e.g. social media, website); and to manage media related queries with respect to the safeguarding partnerships.

The overall purpose of this subgroup is to have the strategic oversight of what is done by Oldham Safeguarding partners, individually and collectively, to safeguard and protect children and adults at risk from all forms of exploitation.

The subgroup will provide challenge and support within the context of the respective operational delivery of the following workstreams:

• Sexual Exploitation
• Criminal Exploitation
• Modern Slavery
• Organised Crime

The subgroup will provide reassurance to both the Safeguarding Children Partnership and the Safeguarding Adult Board.

The Domestic Violence and Abuse Partnership is a collaborative group of organisations and key stakeholders from all sectors across the borough of Oldham, with the joint aim of improving the lives of individuals and families affected by domestic violence and abuse.

The aim of the group is:

• To deliver a co-ordinated strategic response to domestic violence and abuse across the Borough
• To ensure the voice of the child and the voice of adults at risk is heard and is at the heart of the response to domestic violence 
• To have a live delivery plan that is responsive to meeting the needs of those affected by or at risk of domestic violence and abuse with robust performance monitoring and reporting of progress against any identified targets. 
• To identify areas of innovative practice and service improvement through cross-sector working with a joined up approach to co-production and were required ensure effective commissioning arrangements.
• To identify gaps and barriers to service delivery and to identify solutions and/or escalate matters which cannot be resolved.;
• To monitor performance data and activity providing challenge and support were required with regard to effective service delivery;
• To monitor trends and evolving areas of work in relation to domestic violence and abuse and were possible ensure a partnership response;
• To identify opportunities for funding and support appropriate funding applications
• To have oversight of threat, risk and harm processes in relation to safeguarding children and adults were domestic violence is identified.
• Were specific projects are commissioned regular monitoring of the implementation and delivery plan and evaluation of projects will take place
• To monitor the progress of statutory reviews in which domestic violence and abuse is an identified factor and ensure recommendations which arise are implemented in accordance with action plans and shared with the safeguarding boards;

Domestic violence is defined as:
'Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality.

Controlling behaviour is a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.

Coercive behaviour is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.'

This definition, which is not a legal definition, includes so called ‘honour’ based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage. It is clear that victims are not confined to one gender or ethnic group.

The Domestic Violence and Abuse Partnership also manages and discharges the Community Safety and Cohesion Partnership responsibilities under the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004) to conduct Domestic Homicide Reviews where the death of person over 16 occurs and has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by

(a) a person to whom he was related or with whom he was or had been in an intimate personal relationship, or

(b) a member of the same household as himself

For more information on Domestic Homicide Reviews please visit the Council's page Domestic Violence and Abuse

The purpose of this group is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of what is undertaken by the board partners individually and collectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and advise them on ways to improve.

The aims of the subgroup are:

• To monitor and evaluate the OSCP’s section 11 audit, which includes an agreed set of standards and scoring matrix which are ratified by the Partnership.
• To evaluate multi-agency working by undertaking themed audits of case files, areas identified (by Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Multi Agency Concise Reviews, Partnership activity and national themes), looking at the involvement of the different agencies, and identifying the quality of practice and lessons to be learned in terms of both inter-agency and multi-disciplinary practice.
• To bring findings of safeguarding audits undertaken in own partner agency in relation to safeguarding children.
• To report to the OSCP and appropriate sub-groups (e.g. training, policy and procedure) the findings and recommendations made as a result of the audit.  Where necessary specific task groups will be established to undertake action plans developed from the findings.
• To review action plans to ensure recommendations are embedded into practice.

The group is responsible for developing and implementing the Partnership's Learning and Improvement Quality Assurance framework.

The purpose of this group is to:

• To develop and lead on Oldham’s neglect strategy
• Develop an understanding the prevalence of neglect in Oldham (JSNA)
• Include a wide range of neglect concerns/ differences
• Improve the early recognition and identification of neglect across the Partnership
• Identify a clear pathway for support and intervention at the earliest stage
• Establish a collective understanding and threshold for intervention where neglect is a concern (i.e. referral pathways).
• Identify key learning and messages to be incorporated into the OSCP multi agency training and development package.

Oldham OSCP has adopted the Greater Manchester Safeguarding Children Board's policies and procedures: http://greatermanchesterscb.proceduresonline.com/

The Policy and Procedures Subgroup of the OSCP has multi-agency representation to support the review and continuous development of the Greater Manchester policies and procedures.

The aim of the subgroup is:

• To ensure that policies and procedures for safeguarding children in Oldham are up to date and reflect current research and good practice.  All policies and procedures must be:
  • Child Centred
  • Rooted in child development
  • Focused on outcomes for children
  • Holistic in approach
  • Ensuring equity of opportunity
  • Involving of children and families when and where appropriate
  • Building on strengths as well as weaknesses
  • Multi/inter agency in approach
  • A continuing process not an event
  • Providing and reviewing policies informed by evidence
• to contribute to the cyclic review of Greater Manchester policies and procedures.
• to review policies and procedures in response to learning arising from Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Multi-Agency Case Evaluations and Audit activity and make recommendations to the Greater Manchester policy and procedures group for amendments to existing policies and procedures.

The aim of this group is to provide support to schools, academies, colleges and other education establishments in their work to raise standards and drive forward the safeguarding and wellbeing agendas in these settings.

The key objectives are:

• To provide assurance to the OSCP and Oldham Education Partnership on the consistency of safeguarding children arrangements across all educational establishments, by supporting the implementation of duties under S11 of the Children Act 2004 and those identified in “Keeping Children Safe in Education”.
• To provide a tangible link on safeguarding between the OSCP and Oldham Education Partnership and schools/academies/colleges and other education establishments, ensuring a coherent approach to the delivery of high quality outcomes on safeguarding in these settings.
• To ensure the effective dissemination and action of key safeguarding guidance, evidence based practice and recommendations from national and local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews and Multi Agency Concise Reviews.
• To enable discussion and identification of emerging safeguarding issues impacting on children and young people and to identify mechanisms to address these or alert the OSCP and Oldham Education Partnership to any gaps in provision.
• To support and share knowledge, ideas and practice on the wellbeing agenda in schools, academies and colleges to support all children and young people to happy and safe. 
• To enable discussion and identification of emerging wellbeing issues impacting on children and young people and to identify mechanisms to address these or alert the OSCP and Oldham Education Partnership to any gaps in provision/support.
• To receive regular updates from the behaviour and attendance working parties with regards children missing from education and identify with them ways to support schools, academies, colleges and other education establishments to improve attendance. 
• To ensure that systems are in place for schools, academies, colleges and other education establishments to identify and support the safety and welfare of children who are privately fostered.
• To consider key learning about safeguarding practice arising from school Ofsted inspections and to monitor dissemination of learning through safeguarding networks meetings.

In line with the national and local children’s workforce vision, the training subgroup is committed to ensuring that everyone who works with children and adults at risk in Oldham is: 

• Ambitious for every child and young person
• Committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk
• Highly skilled and excellent in their practice
• Committed to partnership and integrated working
• Respected and valued as professionals

The group's objectives are:

1. To lead on the development and delivery of an annual action plan which supports the priorities of Oldham Safeguarding Children Partnership (OSCP) and Oldham Safeguarding Adults Board (OSAB)

2. To develop, collate and analyse robust workforce information, including training needs analyses, to inform the annual action plan.

3. To maximise available resources for developing the Partnership Workforce in Oldham through accessing funding from a range of internal and external sources, pooling staff resources and sharing information, ideas, expertise and experience, as appropriate.

5. To invest in the workforce training offer in order to support the retention of skilled and competent professionals

6. To coordinate and ensure multi agency approaches to staff development and training programmes where appropriate.

7. To promote common induction standards as outlined in the Section 11 audits, and the core skills and competencies into professional development programmes and activities for the Partnership workforce in Oldham.

8. To be aware of single agency workforce developments and activities and to identify outcomes and areas of learning that may benefit other areas of the Partnership workforce.

9. To work with professional bodies at local, regional and national levels as required.

10. To identify representatives from individual partner agencies, sectors or services reflected through the membership of this Group, to participate in workforce task groups relating to workforce development priorities.

12. To monitor and evaluate the delivery of the multi agency training calendar and annual action plan in terms of workforce outcomes and the impact for children and Adults at risk in Oldham.

 13. To highlight best practice and positive impact for children and Adults at risk from Partnership workforce development and training delivery.

14. To support Inspections, audits and assessments from a workforce development perspective.

The Transition subgroup, with the Adult Safeguarding Board, evaluates the current performance of transition initiatives in relation to the following workstreams:

• Children's Social Care to Adult Social Care
• Youth Justice to Adult Justice
• Young People's Mental Health to Adult Mental Health
• Young People's Substance Misuse to Adult Substance Misuse
• Primary to Secondary to Further Education
  
  The objectives of the subgroup include:
• Ensure an overview of the work that is being undertaken regarding transitions in Oldham
• Ask specific groups to offer the OSCP assurance that transitions are appropriately in place for children moving into adult services