The Children and Social Work Act 2017 required new local safeguarding arrangements to be made, led by the three statutory safeguarding partners of the local authority, chief officers of the police and clinical commissioning groups, together with relevant agencies drawn from a range of local organisations including health providers, schools and adult facing services. This legislation saw the abolition of the previous model of Local Safeguarding Children Board to the revised multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.
The three statutory partners are accountable for the safeguarding arrangements, which must include and independent scrutiny function. In Luton this role is fulfilled by an independent chair and scrutineer who offers advice, scrutiny and challenge on the effectiveness of the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and their impact on outcomes for children and their families, including arrangements to identify and review serious child safeguarding cases. In Luton the partnership also chose to retain the name of Local Safeguarding Children Board due to its familiarity and easy identification of its responsibilities.
The LSCB’s main objective is to ensure itself that local safeguarding arrangements and relevant agencies act to protect young people from abuse and neglect. We do this by ensuring that children and young people in Luton are effectively safeguarded, properly supported and their lives improved by all agencies working together.
The overarching principles that the safeguarding partners work within are to:
- Have an informed understanding of safeguarding arrangements and performance in single agencies and an authoritative oversight of the quality of front-line multi agency practice.
- Have effective governance arrangements and operating structure, with clear lines of accountability with other strategic partnerships, and be able to demonstrate its influence on the work of those partnerships. Boards have a strong culture of challenge that is the responsibility of all Board members.
- Ensure learning from audits, case reviews, Serious Case Reviews, Significant Incidents and Safeguarding Adult Reviews is identified and is used to develop practice and service provision.
- Ensure the provision of high quality multi agency safeguarding training and evaluate the impact on practice of such training.
The three statutory partners are accountable for the safeguarding arrangements, with an independent scrutineer taking on a role to work with the safeguarding partners but also offer scrutiny on the arrangements and their impact on children and their families. The scrutineer holds partners and relevant agencies account for their contribution, training and delivery of services to safeguard children and to challenge areas of practice where the standard falls short of expectations. Led by the statutory partners, the LSCB identifies an annual set of priorities which determine the LSCB strategic work plan for the year. The LSCB has sub-groups monitoring and driving the work plan forward. Each Sub Group has a Chair drawn from the statutory partners and relevant agencies and they work to a Chair’s job description supported by the LSCB Strategic Business Manager, who meet together on a regular basis to discuss progress and any challenges or barriers to meeting strategic priorities.
The three LSCB Statutory Partners meet monthly to drive forward decision making on priorities and oversee any Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews.
The Luton Wider Partnership meets quarterly.
The Joint Safeguarding Executive meets bi monthly.
The Joint Children Safeguarding Practise Review/Safeguarding Adult Review meet bi monthly.
LSCB Scrutiny and Performance meet quarterly.
Joint Learning and Improvement Group meet bi-monthly.
The following statutory partners, relevant agencies and individuals are represented on the LSCB:
Luton Borough Council People Directorate
Luton Borough Council Housing & Community Living
Luton Clinical Commissioning Group
Cambridgeshire Community Services
Luton & Dunstable NHS Hospital Trust
East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT)
Bedfordshire Police
Beds, Northants, Cambridgeshire and Herts CRC, and National Probation Service
Pan Bedfordshire Learning Improvement & Training Group
Lead Member for LBC Children’s Services
Luton Youth Offending Service
Representation from the voluntary sector
Two Head teachers representing Primary and Secondary schools
Further Education Sector
Two Lay members
The Joint Executive Group (Exec) Terms of Reference
The primary purpose of the Group, is to ensure that the business of the Board is effectively managed and progressed, to ensure that partner agencies are fulfilling their statutory obligations under Working Together 2015.
The LSCB Scrutiny and Performance Group (S&P) Terms of Reference
The primary purpose of the Scrutiny and Assurance Sub Group is to scrutinise, monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of LSCB, it’s partner agencies and commissioned organisations for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in Luton.
The Joint Learning and Improvement Group (LIG) Terms of Reference
The primary purpose of the Learning and Improvement Sub Group is to monitor and evaluate operational practice across the LSCB and LSAB and ensure its effectiveness for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in Luton.
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Group (CSPR) Terms of Reference
The primary purpose to receive and consider serious cases of abuse, neglect or death where a Serious Case Review may be appropriate and make recommendations to the Chair of Luton Safeguarding Children Board.
