SVPP Newsletter - Issue 8
SVPP Newsletter Issue 8
Welcome to Issue 8 (summer edition) of Wiltshire SVPP’s e-newsletter, bringing you the latest news and updates from the SVPP, including the Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP).
Changes to statutory guidance: Working Together to Safeguard Children
Working Together 2023 has been revised and is currently being consulted upon. The revised document contains some key changes in relation to safeguarding partners, multiagency safeguarding arrangements and practice and the consultation sites can be found here: Working Together to Safeguard Children: changes to statutory guidance - Department for Education - Citizen Space
A revised Information Sharing guidance for practitioners is also being consulted on and this contains updated seven golden rules to align with changed advise relating to the legal framework and updated advice and responsibilities for practitioners in relation to information sharing: Information sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners - Department for Education - Citizen Space
There are a number of events hosted by the DfE coming up very shortly, including sector specific events and I would encourage you to attend where possible. These can be booked here: Free Online Working Together to Safeguard Children Events | Eventbrite
Consultation closes on September 6th.
Safer Sleep for babies away from home
The summer holidays and, particularly being away from home, can disrupt the safer sleep routine parents may have adopted. Local and national case reviews have identified an increased risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI) when parents are out of routine in their sleeping arrangements, e.g. holidays, child staying with other relatives/friends. This was also highlighted in the national CSPR Panel Review: Out of routine, 2020
We encourage all agencies/practitioners to take any opportunity to reinforce safe sleep messages:
Routine is important in reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Deaths (SIDS); therefore it’s advised that parents keep the same sleeping routine even when they are away from home: For more information download the ‘safer sleep away from home guide’ here.
New Wiltshire Neglect Framework
All agencies have a responsibility to act on concerns around neglect or suspected neglect and to ensure professionals are confident in the identification, assessment and response to neglect at the earliest signs. To support practitioners, a new framework has been developed, designed to highlight best practice and tools that can help in our recognition of and response to neglect. The framework aims to:
- To develop an increased understanding, common language, and a shared narrative of neglect across the partnership.
- Increase and embed the use of the GCP2 as a tool to assess parenting capacity and target support.
- Improve our response to early signs of neglect.
View the framework in full here and for Neglect training and GCP2 Practitioner training click here
Dog safety
Dog Safety has been a focus of the recent Child Safety Week that ran from the 5th-11th June 2023. DEFRA, the Child Accident Prevention Trust, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and leading animal welfare organisations have put together a range of resources with practical Dog Safety tips that families can use in their everyday lives.
We are encouraging safeguarding professionals to share these materials throughout the summer holidays to help spread the message in our communities. Resources include:
For further information, please download dog safety resources and visit the Canine and Feline Sector Group website page on dog
Safeguarding unborn babies and under 1s
Safeguarding under 1s remains a key priority for the SVPP and some useful resources have recently been made available for professionals to use:
- This paper explores current practice and the evidence base relating to working with fathers to reduce non-accidental injury (NAI) in infants under 1 year old:
- A podcast from the psychologist, Elie Godsi ,the author of the Psychologist’s Report which formed a critical part of the National Review of Non-Accidental Injury in Under 1s that was published in 2021. The focus is on drawing out lessons for professionals to understand the key factors that must be recognised in order to identify those children most at risk of harm: Replay - Non-Accidental Injury in Under 1s (careknowledge.com)
TeenTalk is a confidential counselling service for young people aged from 10 to 25 within North and West Wiltshire. Advice and support can be sought from parents and carers worried about their child’s behaviour and an early help service providing short-term interventions and advice for professionals. Please see their website for further information. For referrals and what they offer click here.
Knife Crime Matters – Knife crime is a priority for the police and its recent prevalence in the local media means that if you have any information on people carrying weapons in your community or are worried about someone, you can report to Crime stoppers anonymously here or call 0800 555 111.
Fearless is Crimestoppers’ Youth Service for 11–17-year-olds providing young people with the opportunity to give information about crime and delivering free workshops in schools.
Review of support for adults abused in own homes
Safe care at home review is a published joint review led by the Home Office and DHSC into the protections and support for adults abused, or at risk of abuse, in their own home by people providing their care. During the passage of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, evidence was presented
on violence against people receiving care in their own homes, inviting the government to consider whether care relationships should be explicitly covered by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The review makes the case that a stronger response is needed to protect and support people with care and support needs who are at risk of, or experiencing, abuse in their own homes by people providing their care.
Child Sexual Abuse
The UK Government has published its response to the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in England and Wales. The report sets out responses to each of the 20 recommendations and includes: an agreement to implement a mandatory reporting duty for child sexual abuse which will be informed by public consultation; and a commitment to a redress scheme for people who have experienced child sexual abuse. NSPCC Learning has published an updated CASPAR briefing including the government’s response.
Read the response: Response to the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
Read the CASPAR briefing: Government response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse: CASPAR briefing
Child Abuse and Neglect
The Department for Education (DFE) has published the latest statistics on serious incidents involving children that English local authorities have notified the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel about. Figures for 2022-23 include: 456 serious incident notifications, up 14 from 2021-22; 201 serious incident notifications relating to child death, up 10 from 2021-22; and 244 serious incident notifications relating to serious harm, up 17 from 2021-22.
Download the data here: Serious incident notifications 2022-23
See also on NSPCC Learning Child protection system in the UK
The launch of guidance on Identifying and addressing cognitive impairment in dependent drinkers
The latest guidance on Identifying and addressing cognitive impairment in dependent drinkers has been developed as part of a national, multi-partner initiative. It involved both national experts like Prof. Ken Wilson and Dr Julia Lewis, as well as partners from 25 local authorities and treatment agencies around England and Wales.
As part of the cognitive impairment project, we created a series of one-hour webinars on various aspects of cognitive impairment:
- Alcohol Related Brain Damage
- Using Legal Powers to Protect Cognitively Impaired drinkers
- Living with Korsakoffs Psychosis
- Understanding Memory, Brain Injury & Neuropsychiatry Services
- The Glasgow Model
- The Use of Pabrinex
- Speech and Language Therapy for Cognitive Impairment
These recordings can be accessed from the bottom of the page here. They offer a tremendous training and professional development resource for anyone working in this field.
Useful links, resources and events in brief
- A Domestic Homicide Review into the death of Emily a 21-year-old was published on 27th July and is available here together with agency resources to support this review. There is a webinar on 10thJuly 10-11am where the key findings and recommendations will be presented. Booking information is here.
- Virtual Prevent Conference: Taking place on 4th & 5th October 2023. Day 1 is open to all professionals and will be looking at Prevent more broadly. Click here to book your place. Day 2 will be focused more around education. Booking for this event is available via Eventbrite here.
- FearLess, domestic abuse specialist service for Wiltshire, are encouraging partner agencies to refer perpetrators into their service as they only receive on average 1 referral a week for perpetrators. Referral pathways and information can be accessed here. Please contact Wiltshire Service Manager jessica.severn@fear-less.org.uk if you would like a member of staff to attend your team meetings to discuss FearLess support offer.
- Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, call for evidence – The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse recommended that the government make it a legal requirement for certain people to report child sexual abuse when: they’re told about it by a child or perpetrator; they witness it happening; they observe recognised indicators of child sexual abuse. The DfE have a call for evidence to inform their response , closing on August 14th: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/mandatory-reporting-of-child-sexual-abuse/mandatory-reporting-of-child-sexual-abuse-call-for-evidence
- NSPCC Learning: Preventing non-accidental head injuries: NSPCC Learning has launched a new online training course on preventing non-accidental head injuries for professionals working with expectant and new parents. The course aims to support professionals with: understanding the prevalence of non-accidental head injuries in babies under one; identifying the risk factors within families; recognising early warning signs that parents and carers may be struggling; and engaging with male carers. Take the course: Preventing non-accidental head injury training
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Knife Crime Matters – Knife crime is a priority for the police and its recent prevalence in the local media means that if you have any information on people carrying weapons in your community or are worried about someone, you can report to Crime stoppers anonymously
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Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel newsletter for information can be downloaded here.
Upcoming Safeguarding Campaigns:
Please use these campaigns and resources to raise awareness of safeguarding within your own organisation.
- Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Awareness Week 3-9th July – we have recently supported ASB awareness week sharing information and resources on social media and with partners.
- Alcohol Awareness Week 3-9th July - we have recently supported ASB awareness week sharing information and resources on social media and with partners. This years theme is ‘Alcohol and Cost’ which is all about the true cost of alcohol in the form of health problems, financial worries, relationship breakdown and family difficulties. Resources and information can be found on our ‘news’ page here.
- World Day Against Trafficking People – 30th July
- International Overdose Awareness Day – 31st August
- National Child Protection Week 5-12 September
SVPP Training and Learning Events
Did you know the SVPP offers a range of free e-learning courses? Modules include Child and Adult Exploitation, Self-Neglect, Learning from Case Reviews, Mental Capacity Act and DoLs and E- Safety. To book any SVPP training courses including e learning, click here
18.07.2023 Safer Recruitment Refresher
07.09.2023 Webinar: Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) Krystyna and Elzbieta
12.09.2023 Radicalisation and Extremism
19.09.2023 Sexualised Behaviour
28.09.2023 Contextual Safeguarding Courses - Half Day
28.09.2023 Ways of Writing Workshop
04.10.2023 DASH Risk Assessment and MARAC Training
05.10.2023 Working Together: A Shared Responsibility
10.10.2023 Specialist Advanced Practitioner Training
13.10.2023 Neglect
Coming soon: SVPP will be launching new e-learning modules from 20th July. All modules are free to access. Here is a full list of what will be available:
- An intro to ASD NEW
- Safe sleeping for babies NEW
- Self harm awareness NEW
- Self neglect
- Working with disabled children NEW
- Understanding the impact of the trio of vulnerabilities NEW
- Hate crime NEW
- Understanding animal welfare in violent homes NEW
- Level 1 Safeguarding Everyone
- Awareness of Domestic Violence and Abuse NEW
- Child and Adult Sexual Exploitation
- e-Safety
- Statutory & Mandatory Training: Mental Capacity Act & Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
Early Support Assessment (ESA) Recorded Webinar
An introduction to Early Support Assessments from the Early Intervention Team with hints and tips on how to complete an assessment together with perspectives from practitioners on their experience of using Early Support Assessments.
Available as an e-learning module via the Learning tile on your Virtual College account.
E-learning modules can be accessed via our learning management system, Virtual College. Please log in or register using the following links. All new modules will be available from 20th July:
Login: https://wiltshiresvpp.vc-enable.co.uk/Login
Register: https://wiltshiresvpp.vc-enable.co.uk/register