Stoke-on-Trent has always been a city with a strong identity – one that our residents are rightly proud of. We are now strengthening our partnership arrangements to safeguard children.

As a partnership we will provide leadership and joint accountability to provide protection, support and representation for those in greatest need.

We believe in prevention and that it is better to act before harm occurs, while seeking the least intrusive response appropriate to the risk presented.

We aim to provide local solutions through services working with their communities, we will promote a child centered approach and continue to do our best to listen to the views and understand the needs of children and families in Stoke-on-Trent. We will do our best to ensure people are supported and encouraged to make their own decisions with informed consent, but where children need to be protected, we will take decisive action to safeguard them.

Vision

Our vision is that partners in Stoke-on-Trent will work effectively and collaboratively towards shared priorities to improve safeguarding outcomes for all children.

Principles

The vision of the Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership is underpinned by the following principles:

• Child centred – Children are at the heart of everything we do and we will ensure that we listen to children, understand their lived experience and needs, risks are minimised and protective factors supported.
• High support high scrutiny – We will learn from each other, promote scrutiny and supportive conversations that have a sharp focus on keeping children safe.
• Outcome & Impact focused – Our partnership strategy, plans and practice will be informed by evidence, performance and evaluation

Priorities

We have a strategic business plan for Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership 1st January 2022- 31st March 2025, This will be reviewed annually.

The safeguarding partnership has identified two overarching strategic priorities, three practice priorities and three assurance priorities:

Strategic Priorities

• Lead and embed effective Partnership arrangements to safeguard children.
• Develop and implement a Quality Assurance and Scrutiny Framework.

Practice Priorities

• Child Exploitation
• Neglect (Graded Care Profile 2)
• Safeguarding young children aged 0-2.

Assurance Priorties

• Missing Children
• Serious Youth Violence
• Child Mental Health

What are Local Safeguarding Partnerships

The Children and Social Work Act (2017) replaced Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCB) with Safeguarding Partnerships. Working Together (2018) sets out what is expected of Local Safeguarding Partnerships and how organisations will work individually and jointly, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Following these national changes, it was decided that Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire would have a joint safeguarding partnership. This was in place until October 2021 when it was agreed that Stoke-on-Trent would have its own Safeguarding Partnership separate to Staffordshire. Whilst some work things will be done separately in future, there will continue to be strong co-operation between Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, and wherever possible joint arrangements and protocols will remain in place to avoid duplication and keep our safeguarding arrangements as simple, effective and joined up as possible.

The Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership is led by three statutory safeguarding partners who will hold equal responsibility for safeguarding children in the area. The statutory safeguarding partners are Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care System (ICS) and Staffordshire Police.

The purpose of the local safeguarding children partnerships is to support and enable local organisations and agencies to work together in a system where:

• children are safeguarded and their welfare promoted
• partner organisations and agencies collaborate, share and co-own the vision for how to achieve improved outcomes for vulnerable children
• organisations and agencies challenge appropriately and hold one another to account effectively
• there is early identification and analysis of new safeguarding issues and emerging threats
• learning is promoted and embedded in a way that local services for children and families can become more reflective and implement changes to practice
• information is shared effectively to facilitate more accurate and timely decision making for children and families

Governance and Structure

The Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Executive has been established to lead the local Multi-Agency Safeguarding Children arrangements required by government guidance Working Together 2018.

The diagram below illustrates the governance arrangements for the Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership.

GOVERNANACE MAP HERE

The Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership will work closely with other partnerships and Boards in the city which include:

• Children, Young People and Familes Strategic Partnership Board
• Stoke-on-Trent Early Help and Prevention Board
• Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Adult Safeguarding Board
• Stoke-on-Trent Health and Wellbeing Board
• Stoke-on-Trent Community Safety Partnership
• Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Domestic Abuse Commissioning Board

Safeguarding Arrangements

Stoke-on-Trent has always been a city with a strong identity and one that our residents are rightly proud of. In 2022-23 we are now strengthening our partnership arrangements to safeguard children.

Following on from the 2016 Wood Review, the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 introduced a duty to be placed on three agencies: Local Authorities, the Chief Constable and Clinical Commissioning Groups to make arrangements for the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in their area. Integrated Care Boards, from 1 July 2022, have replaced clinical commissioning groups as a result of the Health and Care Act 2022.

In Stoke-on-Trent we have come together as a single Safeguarding Children Partnership to deliver a system that protects children, especially the most vulnerable. Protecting, safeguarding and ensuring the wellbeing of children are complex tasks that can only be successfully achieved by agencies working together in a coherent and effective manner.

Below is the link to our multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.Stoke-on-Trent Published Arrangements

Annual Reports

Local Safeguarding Children Partnerships are required to publish a report at least once in every 12-month period. This is an annual report for the first year of the Stoke-on-Trent Partnership

Below is the link to the latest annual report from when the joint arrangements with Staffordshire were in place.https://www.staffsscb.org.uk/about-us/annual-reports/