Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted
It is not clear how lessons and learning from changing threats, serious case reviews and...
Recommendation
It is not clear how lessons and learning from changing threats, serious case reviews and child safeguarding review panels are embedded in day-to-day practice. Time and again reviews into child deaths highlight poor coordination between services, including insufficient joined-up leadership and a lack of appropriate and timely information-sharing around cases, as a contributing factor in the death. Adolescents may be exposed to ‘extra-familial’ harms which occur outside the home, such as sexual exploitation, modern-day slavery, serious violence and criminal exploitation. The Department for Education acknowledges the care system was designed to response to harm originating from inside a family. However, we were told there is a growth in older age groups and an increasing occurrence of extra familial harms. As such social work practice and the design of the care system is still adapting to known and changing risks to vulnerable young people. The Department for Education tells us it does evaluate what works but good practice does not reach everywhere, and social work practice is still variable. Despite the learning available it is unclear how lessons are disseminated to those people working directly with vulnerable adolescents to ensure that necessary actions are taken by all those that play a role in safeguarding children. The Department acknowledges that it would be helpful to build lessons into national standards, to reduce the reliance on every individual within the system identifying and acting on lessons learnt. Recommendations • Government should set out within six months how it will ensure that learning from national reviews is built into day-to-day practise, including supporting appropriate and timely data sharing, by those working with vulnerable adolescents. Support for vulnerable adolescents 7 • The Department for Education, in its response to the Care Review should set out how the revised care system will more effectively address the risks to adolescents pos
Government Response Summary
The Department for Education published 'Stable Homes, Built on Love' which sets out plans to transform children’s social care. The government is funding national facilitators to support local areas in improving practice, and has invested in the Tackling Child Exploitation Programme to develop multi-agency practice principles for tackling harms outside the home.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, published by the Department for Education in February 2023 sets out plans to transform children’s social care, ensuring the system improves and makes better use of evidence and data. This responds to the National Review findings, following the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson and the Independent Review for Children’s Social Care. 4.3 The department is strengthening its child protection response by supporting agencies to share data and work together in a more integrated way. The government funded national facilitators are currently supporting local areas to develop the way that they use learning to improve practice. This is in addition to existing single agency support and means organisations can work together more effectively to protect children. To enhance this further, the Panel is introducing a support offer to maximise the impact of learning from safeguarding reviews. The department has also committed to developing Practice Guides, to help leaders design services in a way which embeds the best evidence and learning on what works. 4.4 To address specific challenges that adolescents face the department has funded the Tacking Child Exploitation Programme. This will develop multi-agency practice principles and improve local area responses when safeguarding adolescents from extra-familial harm. The department is also prioritising the development of a highly skilled social work workforce and are introducing an Early Career Framework, based on learning and best practice, as a programme of support for child and family social workers to set the groundwork for professional confidence and competence. 4.5 The DfE has set up a new governance structure to make sure that child protection and safeguarding are championed across government. The Child Protection Ministerial Group has been established where joint action or resolution is needed. The Group is attended by Ministers from Department of Health and Social Care, Home Office, Department for Levelling- Up Housing and Communities, and Ministry of Justice. 4.6 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.7 In February 2023, the Department for Education published Stable Homes, Built on Love: implementation strategy and consultation in response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. 4.8 In the response, the department outlined its commitment to deliver a decisive and multi-agency child protection system for all children, acknowledging a more tailored approach is required to respond to harm outside the home. The Children’s Social Care National Framework, published for consultation, alongside the Implementation Strategy, also recognises the need for a strong child protection response to harm outside the home and exploitation. 4.9 To strengthen local area responses to safeguarding adolescents from exploitation and extra familial harm, the department has invested £2.8 million in the Tackling Child Exploitation Programme. In 2022-23, the programme has worked with the sector, and across government, to develop multi-agency practice principles for local partnerships when tackling harms outside the home. These principles are grounded in evidence and draw on the views of young people with lived experience. The principles will be available in Spring 2023. 4.10 The department is also taking steps to ensure that the child protection framework is strengthened to respond effectively where harm is from outside the home. In 2022-23, the department is provided funding to four local authorities, to further test a Risk Outside the Home pathway, based on the model developed in Wiltshire Council. Learning from the pilots will help to identify the key features of a bespoke pathway, and opportunities to further strengthen Working Together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance for children facing harm outside the home.