Your safeguarding responsibility
As a responsible professional, you have an obligation to promote the safety and welfare of children and young people. This includes your individual responsibility to ensure that if you have any knowledge, concerns or suspicions that a child is suffering, has suffered or is likely to be at risk of harm, you will refer your concerns to Social Services or the Police. This is not a matter of individual choice.
Working together and communicating with one another is an essential element of effectively safeguarding the children and young people we work with. The role of the LSCB is to ensure partner agencies are working well together and delivering their responsibilities in accordance with the All Wales Child Protection Procedures
The Welsh Government has established seven core aims, as stated ‘In Children and Young People: Rights to Action 2004′
. The Welsh Government is committed to making sure that all children in Wales:
- Have a flying start in life.
- Have a comprehensive range of education and learning opportunities.
- Enjoy the best possible health and are free from abuse, victimisation and exploitation.
- Have access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities.
- Are listened to, treated with respect, and have their race and cultural identity recognised.
- Have a safe home and a community which supports physical and emotional well being.
Statutory Responsibility
The partner agencies listed in The Children Act 2004
share statutory responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and there is a duty placed on all professionals working for those agencies to report concerns.
- The suspected abuse of a child must be reported to Social Services or the Police who, with the NSPCC, have the statutory powers to investigate suspected abuse.
- Agencies must not undertake their own internal child protection enquiries, but refer their concerns to Social Services or the Police.
- If the concern involves a member of staff, agencies must not make their own internal decisions about whether it is a disciplinary issue or a child protection matter. These concerns should be referred to Social Services or the Police.
- The Police have statutory powers and responsibility for determining whether a criminal investigation is to be undertaken.
- All agencies working with children should have robust recruitment and selection procedures. Additional guidance can be found in Safeguarding Children: Working together under the Children Act 2004