Information Bulletin
6 June 2004
Chiefs Sign Statement on Child Protection in Shetland
Children and young people have a right to have services provided to them in a child-friendly and safe way, and to have their basic needs met. Children have varied needs, and to ensure their proper development these need to be met in a timely way. For many children, these needs can be met by their parents, drawing on services and support as needed. A significant number will need outside help if their proper development is to be safeguarded. Some may need to be protected from damaging abuse and neglect.
We all have a responsibility to act on concerns about a child's welfare, and Shetland is committed to promoting best practice in child protection and responding appropriately to any such concerns. Agreed Policies and Procedures in the statutory agencies aim to promote this, and work is also being taken forward to assist independent and voluntary organisations in fulfilling their responsibilities appropriately.
To emphasise the importance attached at the highest level to the promotion of good child protection practice, Scottish Ministers have requested Statements of Assurance from Local Authority, Police and Health Board chiefs about the services offered in their area, and steps taken to address areas for improvement.
A Press briefing has been arranged for Tuesday 8 June at 12.00 noon at Lerwick Town Hall, when Chief Executive Sandra Laurenson of Shetland NHS Board, Chief Executive Morgan Goodlad of Shetland Islands Council, and the Chief Constable of the Northern Constabulary, Ian Latimer, will be invited by their Child Protection Committee representatives to sign off on Shetland's joint Statement of Assurance. The Chair of NHS Shetland, Betty Fullerton and Convener of Shetland Islands Council, Sandy Cluness, will also be in attendance.
The statement refers to work already undertaken to review and safeguard standards of child protection practice in Shetland, as well as the Child Protection Committee's on-going work programme.
Copies of the statement will be available to members of the media.
Shetland Child Protection Committee brings together the main agencies involved with the provision of services to children and young people locally, and the joint Statement highlights work that has been, and is being, done locally to promote good child protection practice. In this difficult area of work there is never room for complacency, and current shortages of professional staff are a particular concern, both in Shetland and nationally.
Locally, an audit of the operation of agreed inter-agency child protection procedures led to an action plan to improve still further the services offered. This was followed by publication of the Scottish Executive's national review of child protection services, 'Its Everyone's Job to make sure I'm alright', which mirrored many of the finding of the local audit.
Shetland CPC has therefore been pleased to work with the Scottish Executive Child Protection Action team, appointed to take forward nationally the recommendations of the review. This team - which includes professionals with a practical background in child protection work - has been working on:
- developing a Children's Charter for child protection work
- developing national standards for child protection to be applied across all agencies
- arranging for inspections of child protection work from a multi-agency perspective
- reviewing the role and remit of Child Protection Committees.
Members of the team visited Shetland last October. Their purpose was to consult on best practice issues with a wide range of people working with children and their parents or carers in Shetland. This was well supported by representatives of the statutory and independent and voluntary sectors. Last month, a further Scottish Executive presentation took place in Lerwick, providing key managers with information on the work done by the team to date, including the Framework for Standards.
Like the recent visit from the Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland, this provided a valuable opportunity for Shetland to have an input into work being carried out nationally, and to highlight local needs.
Agencies such as SIC Community Services, NHS Shetland and the Police, amongst others, will be co-ordinating their work through Shetland Child Protection Committee, as they aim to provide the level of service that children and young people have a right to expect. The formal briefing and sign-off session emphasises the importance attached to this work locally.
Further information from: Dr Sarah Taylor, Chair of Shetland Child Protection Committee, Tel: 01595 743072 or Jacqui Watt on Tel. 01595 744001.