Safeguarding children
Protecting and promoting the welfare of children is now to be overseen by the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland. agendaNi reports.
A Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland is to be established in April 2012 after the Safeguarding Board Bill was taken forward by former Health Minister Michael McGimpsey and received royal assent on 10 February 2011.
While voluntary and statutory organisations currently work together to safeguard children (for example on the Regional Child Protection Committee), this is now a statutory requirement. The Safeguarding Board will replace the committee. It will be sited within the Public Health Agency premises and £750,000 has been secured within the existing departmental budget to set it up and cover running costs.
The objective of the board will be to co-ordinate and ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each person or body represented on the board to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Policy development and reviewing information on the deaths of children will also be within the board’s remit.
Board members will include the Health and Social Care Board, the Public Health Agency, the five trusts, the PSNI, the Probation Board, the Youth Justice Agency, the NSPCC and district councils.
The former Director of Social Services in the Eastern Health and Social Services Board, Hugh Connor, was appointed as Chairman-designate of the Safeguarding Board by Edwin Poots on 30 June for a four-year term, receiving an annual salary of £34,333. As well as the above organisations, the board will include between two and four lay members appointed by the department, a safeguarding director, a professional officer and an administration officer.
The Safeguarding Board will be supported by five safeguarding panels, one located in each of the trust areas. It will also have a child death overview panel and a case management review panel.
An annual report will be given to the Health Minister who must then present it to the Assembly. Edwin Poots has said this represents a clear line of accountability between the Safeguarding Board and the Executive, adding that the board will also be open to scrutiny by the Assembly Health Committee.
Relevant bodies must comply as quickly as possible with requests for information from the board, only if they are responsible for that information and if it will help the board in carrying out its functions.
“Today many agencies are working with families who very often are overwhelmed by difficulties such as financial problems, domestic or sexual violence, physical or mental health problems, or because of dependence on alcohol or other substances,” the Minister has said.
Over 21,000 children are referred to social services in Northern Ireland every year. As of March 2010, there were 2,357 children on the child protection register, 2,606 children were being looked after by authorities and 1,653 were in care.
“It is important that we invest in the future fabric of our society so that fewer families reach crisis point and fewer children suffer harm. This Bill supports the wider safeguarding agenda which includes prevention and early intervention,” Poots stated.
England and Wales already have local safeguarding children’s boards which were set up in 2006.
In Scotland there is a children’s hearing system, which looks after children and young people who need welfare support as well as looking after those that appear before the courts. The Child Welfare and Protection Policy Unit carries out a similar role in the Republic.
Sinn Féin’s Assembly manifesto said it would “closely monitor” the implementation of safeguarding legislation for children. The SDLP’s manifesto welcomed the Bill and said it would encourage trusts to continue developing family support services for children in need. During the Bill’s final stage on 25 January 2011, Alliance’s Health Spokesman Kieran McCarthy commented: “Every family should welcome the Bill. This is what devolution is about, and it is a good news story.”
