Southampton Children and Adults Safeguarding Partnership – Local Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements

Foreword

Welcome to the Southampton multi-agency safeguarding arrangements. In December 2024, the safeguarding children partnership and the safeguarding adult board have amalgamated to form the Southampton Children and Adults Safeguarding Partnership (SCASP), providing greater alignment with the Community Safety Partnership and other strategic boards and partnerships.

The local safeguarding arrangements are published in line with requirements of Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) and The Care Act (2014). The safeguarding partnership provides the framework under which multi-agency safeguarding arrangements are co-ordinated and the needs of children, young people and adults in need of care and support are met. The partnership commissions and publishes local child safeguarding practice reviews and safeguarding adult reviews to inform learning across the multi-agency network and to drive forward best practice, with assurance and scrutiny provided to ensure the effectiveness of the arrangements.

The partnership must be clear about how children, young people, their families and adults in need of care and support are safeguarded and their welfare promoted. This is everyone’s responsibility, and the partnership supports the statutory safeguarding partners and relevant agencies to fulfil their responsibilities to ensure the effectiveness of safeguarding practice in Southampton. This cannot be done in isolation and collaborative working is at the heart of the work of the partnership. The partnership also seeks to engage meaningful participation with residents of the city to inform the work.

We believe that the new arrangements will further secure the ethos of working as a whole system for all residents of Southampton, recognising that each are members of the community and working together will promote the safeguarding of all by the multi-agency partnership, employing a whole life pathway approach. By strengthening further the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, the impact for children, young people, their families and adults in need of care and support will be evidenced through embedding effective and innovative practice, developing clear and effective policy all aimed at providing better outcomes for those who live in the city.

Statutory Safeguarding Partners

The statutory safeguarding partners are defined under the Children Act 2004 (as amended by the Children and Social Work Act, 2017) and include the local authority, the integrated care board and police force.

Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) defines the three lead safeguarding partners (LSPs) in relation to a local authority area as:

The lead safeguarding partners have a joint and equal duty to make arrangements to work collaboratively to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in the local area. The Care Act 2014 specifies the duties of a safeguarding adult board. In Southampton, with the amalgamated partnership arrangements, they also have the responsibility for the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements for adults with care and support needs.

The lead safeguarding partners have identified their delegated safeguarding partners who are senior leaders within their own organisations and;

• Speak with authority for the lead safeguarding partner they represent
• Take decisions on behalf of their organisation or agency and commit them on policy, resourcing and practice matters
• Hold each other and their own organisation or agency to account on how effectively they participate and implement the local arrangements.

These are:

The purpose of and key principles of the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements for children, young people and adults with care and support needs

1. There is a clear, shared vision for how to improve outcomes for children and adults locally across all levels of need and all types of harm.
2. When a child is identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm or an adult is at risk, there is a prompt, appropriate and effective response to ensure the protection and support of the child and adult.
3. Organisations and agencies are challenged appropriately, effectively holding one another to account.
4. The voice of children, adults and families combined with the knowledge of experienced practitioners and insights from data, provides a greater understanding of the areas of strength and/or improvement within arrangements and practice.
5. Information is sought, analysed, shared, and broken down by protected characteristics to facilitate more accurate and timely decision-making for children, adults and families, and to understand outcomes for different communities of residents of the local area.
6. Effective collection, sharing and analysis of data, enables early identification of new safeguarding risks, issues, emerging threats, and co-ordinated responses across relevant agencies.
7. Senior leaders promote and embed a learning culture which supports local services to become more reflective and implement changes to practice.
8. Senior leaders have a good knowledge and understanding about the quality of local practice and its impact on children, adults and families.
9. Ensure the learning from local and national child safeguarding practice reviews and safeguarding adult reviews are embedded across the partnership through assurance and scrutiny activity.
10. The lead safeguarding partners to develop an overarching strategy for the partnership and to oversee and review the impact of the priorities identified.

Voices and Engagement

The voice of children, young people, adults with care and support needs and their families is central to the ethos of the partnership to promote the effectiveness of the safeguarding arrangements.

At the start of child safeguarding practice reviews and safeguarding adult reviews consideration is given as to how best engage children, adults and families to enable effective contribution to the review and subsequent learning activity. They are made aware of the findings of the reviews prior to publication.

Multi-agency audits include views and opinions from children and adults (where appropriate) and/or their families and are used to inform recommendations for practice improvement.

Multi-agency learning programmes include collation of the views and experience of children, adults and families in receiving the support and help they need to safeguard children. The SCASP will work to directly engage with young people’s forums, Healthwatch and the Southampton Voluntary Service and use the voice and feedback from these groups to inform products and initiatives as well as receive feedback on the services provided to them, including the co-production of safeguarding events and workshops.

Geography

The area covered by the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements is defined by the Southampton city council local authority boundary.

Some partners may have responsibility for services outside this area. Southampton safeguarding partnership works collaboratively with Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth with the HIPS arrangements (children) and the 4 Local Safeguarding Adults Boards across the region. This enables joint working across a wider geographical footprint. Further details are outlined in appendix 1.

Partnership Structure, Subgroups and Governance

The amalgamated Southampton Children and Adults Safeguarding Partnership and the Community Safety Partnership will be overseen and held accountable by the Executive Group. The Systems Board will ensure that the work of the subgroups is effective and informs the development of best practice for the residents of the city. This Board will feed into the Executive any areas for high level decision making and scrutiny and will share the direction of the Executive to inform the subgroup activity, including and update on the progress of the strategic priorities. The Terms of Reference for each group are below:

The functions of the partnership chair role as defined in Working Together to safeguard Children (2023) and The Care Act (2014) are:

• To develop strategic links, support and hold to account all LSPs in fulfilling their safeguarding duties for children and adults with care and support needs.
• Ensure that local arrangements are designed to work collaboratively and effectively by encouraging and supporting the development of partnership working between the LSPs, DSPs, independent scrutiny role and MASA sub-groups
• Chair the meetings of the DSPs, including any additional meetings convened as a response to specific and exceptional circumstances, with the help of the business manager and independent scrutiny role
• Offer appropriate challenge to ensure that the partners are accountable, and that the local arrangements operate effectively.

The lead safeguarding partners have agreed the partnership chair for the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements is Robert Henderson, Executive Director Community Well-Being for Children & Learning and Adults, Southampton City Council.

Independent Scrutineer

Safeguarding partners must ensure that there are arrangements for effective independent scrutiny in place for their local area.

The functions of the independent scrutiny role are;

• Provide safeguarding partners and relevant agencies with independent, rigorous, and effective support and challenge at both a strategic and operational level.
• Provide assurance to the whole system in judging the effectiveness of the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements through a range of scrutiny methods.
• Ensure that statutory duties are being fulfilled, quality assurance mechanisms are in place, and that local child safeguarding practice reviews and national reviews are analysed, with key learning areas identified and effectively implemented across the safeguarding system.
• Ensure that the voice of children and families is considered as part of scrutiny and that this is at the heart of arrangements through direct feedback, informing policy and practice.
• Be regarded as a ‘critical friend’ and provide opportunities for two-way discussion and reflection between frontline practitioners and leaders. This will encourage and enable strong, clear, strategic leadership.
• Provide independent advice when there are disagreements between agencies and safeguarding partners and facilitate escalation procedures.
• Evaluate and contribute to multi-agency safeguarding published arrangements and the annual report, alongside feeding into the wider accountability systems such as inspections.

The safeguarding partners have appointed Scott MacKechnie as the independent scrutineer for the Southampton Children and Adults Safeguarding Partnership arrangements.

Safeguarding Partnership Executive Group

The Executive Group undertakes the overall statutory safeguarding responsibility and strategic function of the Southampton Children and Adults Safeguarding Partnership and the Community Safety Partnership. It is the key decision-making body of the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASAs) and considers the escalation of risks across the partnership. The group will provide leadership to promote a culture of learning and will also ensure that other local area leaders promote these arrangements.

The Executive Group will:

• Provide strategic leadership for all who work together to safeguard children and adults
• Set, agree and review the strategic priorities of the partnership
• Provide the strategic decision-making function for the partnership
• Track and monitor the progress and impact of the priorities through the provision of quantitative and qualitative auditing and analysis
• Identify priorities and themes for scrutiny
• Agree financial contributions from partner agencies
• Ensure that the relevant agencies / partners can meet their obligations
• Provide the resources required to ensure that objectives are met
• Commission appropriately experienced and high-quality independent scrutineer capacity
• Be responsible for everyone knowing how arrangements work
• Co-ordinate the identification and mitigation of systems risks
• Facilitate the resolution of escalated professional agreement
• Ensure that the voices of adults and children are given equal priority

The executive group will have fixed membership of the three core partners to reflect their decision-making responsibilities. There will be flexibility to include other relevant agencies when appropriate. The Partnership manager and independent scrutineer will also attend. This meeting is chaired by the Chief Executive of the Local Authority, Andrew Travers, who is the lead safeguarding partner.

Membership: Police, health and social care delegated safeguarding partners and independent scrutineer for adults / children

Meeting frequency: Six times a year

Sub Groups

The sub groups act on behalf of the safeguarding partners to assist them to fulfil their responsibilities under:

• Care Act 2014 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Children Act 2004 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Children and Social Work Act 2017 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Working together to safeguard children 2023: statutory guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk)
• Crime and Disorder Act 1998

The safeguarding partners will appoint group chairs who will support the work of the groups and report on plans and progress achieved.

Regular updates will be provided to the safeguarding partners via executive group meetings and the Partnership Manager / Scrutineer updates.

Quoracy will require a representative from the three safeguarding partner organisations ie. Southampton City Council, Integrated Care Board and the Hampshire and IoW Constabulary

Members who are unable to attend will ensure they have a representative to attend on their behalf.

The individual groups determine the frequency they need to meet to progress their work.

Adult and Children Systems Board

The Systems Board will consider activity within the SCASP for that period and any national, regional or local activities that may impact on the SCASP. The group will collectively identify areas of celebration, areas of concern and future focused areas for the following period. This group will also have an evaluation and development function to review and analyse the value of the partnership. The Systems Board will oversee the work of the subgroups and escalate key areas to the Executive for high level decision making and scrutiny of the progression of the strategic priorities.

Membership consists of chairs of subgroups and other key partners.

The Systems Board will:

• Develop the business plan to implement the strategic priorities of the partnership
• Provide recommendations and options for the strategic decision-making, including any resource or financial commitments
• Provide accountability of the subgroup progress through monitoring of the business plan and statutory responsibilities
• Identify the means to track and monitor the progress and impact of the priorities through the provision of quantitative and qualitative auditing and analysis
• Provide recommendations and options of themes for scrutiny
• Ensure that the relevant agencies / partners can meet their obligations
• Escalation of any systems risks to the Executive Group Facilitate the resolution of escalated professional agreement
• Ensure that the voices of adults and children are given equal priority
• Agree highlight messages from SCASP activity for that period
• Contribute to the evaluation and ongoing development of the SCASP
• Incorporate strategic oversight and scrutiny of the Family Safeguarding Model twice a year

Membership: Chairs of subgroups, DSLs and relevant agencies

Meeting frequency: Quarterly

Partnership Review Group

The PRG will ensure SCASP comply with statutory requirements for SARs, Rapid Reviews, CSPRs and DARDRS for children and adults.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure cases are reviewed in line with statutory requirements as set out in Care Act 2014 (legislation.gov.uk) and Working together to safeguard children 2023: statutory guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk) and DHR-Statutory-Guidance-161206.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) (awaiting update following consultation)
• Develop a triage system with the three statutory partners when a referral is received prior to the discussion at PRG
• If a statutory review is agreed, set the terms of reference and methodology.
• Consider the draft report and recommendations and agree any suggested amendments
• Share recommendations with the executive group, National CSPR Panel, DfE, Ofsted and the Home Office (DARDRs)
• Oversee and monitor recommendations and action plans, updating on progress, blockers and impact of the implementation to the system
• Consider cases in which there may have been missed opportunities or potential learning, including examples of good practice. Escalate cases to executive group of it is felt a learning review should be undertaken
• Ensure findings from all reviews are shared with the Learning and Development Group and Practice Improvement Group (QA) to consider the implications upon training and procedures, and ensure assurance activity, including data analysis and audits

Membership: Police, Children and Adult Social Care, NHS foundation trust, UHS, Housing, Midwifery, Independent Domestic Violence Agency, Safe City Partnership, South Coast Ambulance Service, Probation, Education, Primary Care, Southampton Voluntary Service, Change Grow Live, Partnership Team

Meeting Frequency: Monthly, with Rapid Reviews convened as and when required to meet statutory timeframes.

A Rapid Review meeting will be convened following decision to submit a Serious Incident Notification (as set out in LCSPR Framework). All relevant agencies who have (or had) involvement with the subject child or family will be required to contribute to the Rapid Review and attend the meeting.

The Rapid Review Meeting record will be completed and agreed at the meeting. The outcomes/recommendations will be shared with (and agreement sought from) statutory safeguarding partners and the independent scrutineer, before being sent to the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, for consideration (as set out in Chapter 4: WT2023

Learning and Development Group

The purpose of the L&D group is to promote and co-ordinate multi-agency development and learning, through the sharing of good multi-agency practice from a range of sources. The L&D Group is a joint subgroup.

Key Responsibilities:

• Network with all SCASP subgroups as part of the planning and implementation of a development and learning strategy

• Identify lessons learned from national, regional and local reviews, or significant cases, research papers or updated guidance
• Identify learning needs, develop and maintain a shared multi-agency training offer that incorporates the national, regional and local learning
• Support the embedding of a learning loop from safeguarding reviews and partnership activities
• Analyse and evidence the impact of the learning and development strategy
• Benchmarking practice and learning against national and regional trends

Membership: Police, Children and Adult Social Care, NHS foundation trust, UHS, Housing, Midwifery, Independent Domestic Violence Agency, Safe City Partnership, South Coast Ambulance Service, Probation, Education, Primary Care, Southampton Voluntary Service, Change, Grow Live, Partnership Team

Meeting Frequency: Quarterly

Practice and Performance Improvement Group (QA)

The purpose of the Practice Improvement Group is to establish, co-ordinate, implement and monitor performance on a single and multi-agency basis, regarding children and adults, in line with the scope of the partnership. This will enable the partnership to understand the available data and findings of audit activity and how best it can be used.

Practice and Performance Improvement Group (QA)/p>

• To quality assure operational effectiveness of safeguarding policies and procedures through quality of practice activities
• Provide a focus on selected themes or priorities to explore, where a multi-agency response is most needed
• Make suggestions and recommendations to improve multi-agency working within and across partnerships
• Identify local multi-agency practice strengths and areas of celebration, aligned to the priorities
• Benchmarking data, performance and practice against national and regional trends to agree recommendations for improvement across the partnerships
• Leading on multi-agency audits of practice – this will include setting an audit programme, undertaking the audits and monitoring the impact of findings
• Oversight of single agency audits
• Oversight of external inspections – including the dissemination of learning across the partnership and monitoring any action plans / improvement plans on behalf of the SCASP
• Ensure participation of those with lived experience in audit activity
• Consider the impact of protected characteristics on all activity
• Establish the performance information to assist in setting and reviewing the partnership priorities, identifying any data exceptions for exploration.
• Seek assurance each agency is monitoring and evaluating their performance to report into the subgroup

Membership: Police, Children and Adult Social Care, NHS foundation trust, UHS, Housing, Midwifery, Independent Domestic Violence Agency, Safe City Partnership, South Coast Ambulance Service, Probation, Education, Primary Care, Southampton Voluntary Service, Change, Grow Live, Partnership Team

Meeting Frequency: Quarterly

Vulnerable Adolescents Board

The Adolescent Management Board brings together the statutory partner agencies as identified in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and non-statutory partners who make a significant contribution to the delivery of youth justice services in Southampton, as well as wider services for adolescents.

The Boards will incorporate the statutory duties and functions of a youth justice management board while also addressing the wider issues related to adolescents in the city. Taking a child first, restorative and trauma informed response.

The Vulnerable Adolescents Board will:

• Provide strategic direction and governance for services delivered to vulnerable adolescents across the city
• Provide strategic performance oversight and multi-agency support, direction and management to ensure that statutory and non-statutory requirements are met and key plans are developed and delivered effectively
• Manage the performance of adolescent services delivering the principal aim of reducing offending and keeping young people safe, well and in education, employment and training.
• Ensure effective commissioning of services to young people across the city.
• Ensures effective integration into the following bodies:
• Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board
• Safer City Partnership
• Is Sub Group of the Children’s Safeguarding Partnership
• Youth Justice Board/Ministry of Justice
• Ensures adolescents have access to universal, targeted and specialist services delivered by partners and other key agencies
• Determine the strategic direction for Youth Justice Service (YJS) and the development of the YJS strategic plan including performance and financial management
• Determine how the youth justice service is to be composed and funded. Ensuring that the Youth Justice Service is adequately resourced to fulfil its role and function.
• Ensure that aggregated partnership data is used to improve the joint planning and commissioning of services.
• Provide Strategic Governance to the Young People Substance Misuse Services, Responses to Missing, Exploitation and Trafficking, Risk Outside Home Safeguarding Framework, Southampton City Council’s Young People’s Service, Promoting Participation in Education, Employment and Training and Young People’s Commissioning Strategy and Framework.
• Ensure that the needs of young people are reflected in other relevant strategies
• Pursue additional resources for the purpose of reducing youth offending, promoting the health, education and wellbeing of adolescents and allocate them within its remit according to local and national priorities.

Membership: Children and learning, police, probation, health, youth court magistrates, court legal advisors, community safety, education, training and careers providers, voluntary sector, elected councillors, violence reduction / prevention unit, victim services, young people

Meeting Frequency: Every two months

Education Subgroup

The overarching purpose of the group is to safeguard and promote the welfare of children across educational establishments in line with the statutory duty under section 11 of the Children Act (2004).

The SSCP Safeguarding Education Subgroup has been established to enable Southampton school appointed DSL representatives to meet to fulfil their responsibilities to keep children safe within Southampton and contribute to work across Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton (HIPS) and in relevant partnership groups, providing assurance to the SSCP.

The Education Subgroup will:

• To provide a forum for thematic discussion of focussed aspects of child protection and safeguarding relating to educational establishments across the city
• To monitor existing, develop and review new, relevant safeguarding guidance together with Local Authority (LA) School Improvement Officers (SIOs) and disseminate information accordingly through existing networks and where required new formats or groups
• To consider Southampton Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (SSCP) and HIPS decisions and recommendations relating to educational establishments and to assure SSCP that they are implemented through a co-ordinated education response
• To monitor compliance with S175/S157 Education Act 2002 and ‘Keeping children safe in education: for schools and colleges’ (2020) by providing guidance, audit tools and advice where required
• Contribute to the work of the SCCP within education settings through themes and actions within the partnership plans
• Contribute to an annual education report to the SSCP board informed by the knowledge of practice, process, review outcomes and evaluation of audit tools and other relevant aspects such as training
• To authorise decisions of the partnership that are delegated to the group (e.g., review and approval of SSCP policies and procedures)
• To support the SSCP and LA officers in ensuring that there is appropriate discussion and dissemination of lessons emerging from case reviews, audits and best practice and to ensure required actions are completed, reviewed and monitored for impact
• To review local, regional and national guidance relevant to educational establishments in relation to child protection and safeguarding and to make recommendations to the group as appropriate
• To identify and address concerns in relation to the delivery of services and/or interagency working within the educational sector
• To bring a current DSL practice perspective to the group to ensure that training plans and workshops reflect practitioner needs or themes to address

Membership: DSL representatives from secondary schools, primary schools, independent schools and special schools, including academies, SCC education improvement team, SCC Early Years Team, LADO, SCC EWO Service, SCC Inclusion Service, Police, Children’s Social Care, Health, Education Governor

Meeting Frequency: Termly

Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) strategic group

Southampton Children’s Resource Service (CRS) is a single point of contact for children in need of additional support and/or protection. Within CRS is a partnership of professionals from a range of agencies including the police, health, education, children's social care, housing, YOT, adult social care / substance use service who form the MASH. The MASH work together to share, consult and analyse information held on multiple client data systems to build a picture of a child's history, current circumstances, support systems, needs and risks so that proportionate and timely decisions are made about the best intervention and support to safeguard their welfare, meet their needs and improve their outcomes, ensuring those children receive the right service at the right time.

The MASH Strategic Group provides a forum for operational oversight to ensure the partnership arrangements are effective, well understood and accessible to children and their families across the City.

The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) strategic group will:

• Promote and model a culture of effective multi agency collaboration across all colleagues working as part of the MASH. This includes collectively agreeing any expectations regarding office presence for their respective staff groups and any additional mechanisms in place to support this
• Collaboratively develop and maintain oversight and assurance of the CRS Business/Development Plan and work together to resolve any barriers to progress
• Provide oversight of the multi-agency performance information and the operation of the quality assurance programme
• Respond to and work to resolve any barriers to the effective operation of the Children’s Resource Service
• Co-ordinate and collaborate in producing the MASH quarterly performance report for including identification of any issues to be raised to the SCC Executive Director for Children’s Services for resolution. This report should include feedback from the work of the MASH Operational group
• Review and sign off the MASH multi agency operational risk register, identify and action any risks that require consideration by the SCC Executive Director for Children’s Services
• Co-ordinate and collaborate in the production of an annual MASH Business/Development Plan
• Ensure the Strategic provision is effectively monitoring that identifies continual improvement of the effectiveness of the service in achieving timely and proportionate decision making for children in need of help and protection

Membership: Police, Health, Education, Children’s Social Care, Housing, Adult Services, IDVA, Voluntary Service, inc No Limits, Youth Justice Service, Probation, Early Help, SEND

Frequency: Quarterly

Relevant Agencies

• Have a clear understanding of its responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children and adults with care and support needs locally, and how it will discharge them
• Co-operate with safeguarding partners to improve, implement, and monitor effectiveness of the local safeguarding arrangements
• Share information and data about safeguarding issues and concerns affecting the children and adults with care and support needs involved in their organisation to contribute to local priorities
• Ensure local multi-agency safeguarding arrangements are fully understood, and rigorously applied within their organisation
• Have robust safeguarding policies and procedures in place specifically relevant to their organisation
• Work in accordance with the policies and procedures approved by the partnership
• Participate fully in multi-agency audits and assurance activities

• National Probation Service
• No Limits
• Change, Grow, Live (substance and alcohol use service)
• Homelessness and Housing Services
• Public Health
• Primary Care
• Further Education Colleges
• Community Groups and Leaders
• Energise me sports welfare
• Southampton Football Club
• Saints Foundation
• Youth Justice Service
• Adult Social Care
• Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner
• Coroners Office
• Southampton University
• Health Care Providers
• Faith Groups
• South Coast Ambulance Service
• Southampton Voluntary Service
• Youth Commission
• CAMHS
• CMHT
• Violence Reduction Unit
• IDVA
• Early Years Settings
• University Hospital Trust
• Special Schools
• Solent University
• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service

Scrutiny, Audit and Assurance

The SCASP undertakes a range of audit and assurance activity through the work of the subgroups. The themes are identified through the learning from local and national child safeguarding practice reviews, safeguarding adult reviews and local learning reviews, partnership priorities, which are agreed by the Executive Group, data analysis and multi-agency audits which are undertaken on an annual audit programme in the Practice and Performance Improvement Group.

SCASP ensures partner agency submissions are provided in line with Keeping Children Safe Organisation Self Assessment (section 11) and the safeguarding self assessment audit through the Safeguarding Adult Board.

Yearly Reports

The SCASP publishes a yearly report which will include the work of the partnership to ensure compliance with Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) and The Care Act (2014). This report will be scrutinised by the partnership chair, the independent scrutineer, lead / delegated safeguarding partners and the local government scrutiny committee. The report will include:

• A summary of the activities undertaken by the partnership
• Details of child safeguarding practice reviews/, adult safeguarding reviews and local learning events undertaken during the year and action taken to improve practice
• Evidence of the impact of the work of the partnership, including workforce development, on outcomes for children, adults and families
• An analysis of any areas where there has been little or no evidence of progress on agreed priorities
• A record of decisions and actions taken by the partners in the report’s period (or planned to be taken) to implement the recommendations of any local and national child safeguarding practice reviews and safeguarding adult reviews, including any resulting improvements
• Ways in which the partners have sought and utilised feedback from children, young people and adults with care and support needs to inform their work and influence service provision
• The Independent scrutineer’s assessment of the effectiveness of the partnership arrangements over the preceding year
• Any changes to the safeguarding arrangements

Partnerships

The SCASP will be independent and will not be subordinate to, nor subsumed within, other local structures. However, to be effective, the SCASP arrangements will link to other strategic partnership work happening locally to support children, young people, adults with care and support needs and families. This will include other public boards including the Health and Wellbeing Board, Channel Panel and the PREVENT Board, the Local Family Justice Board and the Strategic MAPPA Board (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements).

Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews and Safeguarding Adult Reviews

The SCASP will oversee the Practice Review Group (see above for terms of reference of the PRG) where they must:

• Identify and review serious child safeguarding cases which, in their opinion, raise issues of importance in relation to their area.
• Commission and oversee the review of those cases if they consider it appropriate where abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected or the child has died or been seriously harmed.
• Arrange for there to be a review of a case involving an adult in its area with needs for care and support if there is reasonable cause for concern about how the partnership has worked together to safeguard the adult and the adult has died or abuse or neglect is known or suspected.

Multi-Agency Procedures and Guidance

The Pan-Hampshire and Isle of Wight safeguarding children procedures apply across Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton (HIPS). They provide a clear framework under which organisations will work together to safeguard children. The procedures are updated regularly to take account of local and national learning and any changes in legislation or statutory guidance.

Funding Arrangements

The three safeguarding partners should agree the level of funding contributions to the partnership each year. This includes consideration of business and analytical support, independent scrutiny, infrastructure, and core functions including local child safeguarding practice reviews, safeguarding adult reviews, multi-agency training and learning events. The details of the contributions will be shared in the SCASP Yearly report.

The work of the SCASP is led and coordinated by the SCASP’s Partnership Team. The Team are funded by the financial contributions as set out above. The team work closely with the safeguarding partners, independent scrutineer and partner agencies to ensure the partnership operates effectively and fulfils its statutory requirements.

Appendix 1 - Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth & Southampton (HIPS) Safeguarding Children Partnership Executive Group Arrangements

1. Background Working
   1. Together to safeguard children provides flexibility for safeguarding arrangements to operate across larger areas/multiple local authority boundaries. Each local authority area retains responsibility for their own local safeguarding arrangements, under the auspices of the three safeguarding partners (Local Authority, Police and Health via the ICB).
   2. For many agencies and professionals who work across more than one of the local authority areas, there would is benefit in joined up working on strategic issues and common themes.
   3. Given that each local area retains some degree of local arrangement, the Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton (HIPS) Executive Group, supported by some specific four-area subgroups, works alongside the four local partnerships.
2. Desired outcomes
3. The overarching outcome of these arrangements is that children within the region should be safeguarded from harm, based on the following principles:
4. All work is designed to ensure that services are delivered in the best interests of the child.
5. There is less duplication of existing work, but the arrangement provides strategic direction and challenge to enable enhanced co-ordination of activity and understanding of impact.
6. Provides a clear route for escalation of any system-wide issues and an agreed forum for the Safeguarding Partners to collectively fulfil their statutory duties.
7. We make the best use of collective resources.
8. Work is established within the existing resources (both financial and in people hours terms) and should not incur additional cost to agencies.
9. Local partnerships continue to identify their own priorities in addition to any identified at a strategic level by the HIPS Executive.
10. Local areas will continue to ensure that the voices of children and families are clearly represented in local partnership work.
11. Role of HIPS arrangements and relationship with Local Safeguarding Children Partnership
12. The role of the HIPS Executive Group is to provide strategic direction and coordination of safeguarding activity across the Pan-Hampshire and Isle of Wight area, to promote best practice, implement local and national learning and identify issues requiring strategic intervention by the Safeguarding Partners across the HIPS area.
13. Membership and frequency of the HIPS Executive
14. To support this role and relationship of mutual accountability, the membership of the HIPS Executive will be focussed to the three delegated safeguarding partners across each of the four LSCP areas, namely:
15. Directors of Children’s Services from each of the represented local authorities. Directors of Children’s Services will represent education establishments (those who are maintained by the Local Authority) including Early Years services.
16. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary represented through the Chief Superintendent with lead safeguarding responsibility.
17. Health, represented by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB); representatives will represent the health sector in their local area. They will ensure dialogue with other health commissioning bodies across the HIPS area, namely NHS England (South East) and NHS England Specialist Commissioning.
18. Partnership scrutineer for each of the LSCPs
19. The Safeguarding Partners act as the conduits and facilitate the flow of information and business between the HIPS Executive and the Local Safeguarding Children Partnerships.
20. Chairing of a HIPS Executive
21. The HIPS Executive is chaired by an Independent Chair recruited by the Safeguarding Partners for this role. Related groups The HIPS Executive will convene three standing subgroups where there is a clear benefit to coordinating specific areas of business across the HIPS area:
22. Health Group – This group will coordinate safeguarding business across the health economy across the HIPS area. It will take the lead on the promotion and implementation of any best practice and learning for the health sector.
23. Child Exploitation Group – The purpose of this group is to develop a shared understanding of the threat/need in respect of child exploitation, including patterns of activity that may reflect the organised exploitation of children; identify risks requiring strategic intervention and operational issues that can be dealt with more appropriately through the existing local structures; to drive forward the response to child exploitation through a tasking system that maximises the specialist skills and experience of staff across the Pan-Hampshire and Isle of Wight area; to ensure that the vulnerabilities and risks associated with children who go missing are understood and incorporated within a consistent and robust multi-agency response.
24. Procedures and Strategy Group – This group will develop all common multi-agency policies and procedures that inform single agency policy and practice across the HIPS area and lead on the Section 11 self-assessment audit.
25. Other workstreams, e.g. Quality Assurance, Workforce Development, and specific areas of business will be undertaken via Task and Finish or project focussed groups. The partners remain committed to undertaking the Section 11 Audit process on a Pan-Hampshire and Isle of Wight basis. The arrangements are shown in Figure 1 below:

Appendix 2. List of education settings

Secondary School

• Bitterne Park School
• Cantell School
• Oasis Academy Lord's Hill
• Oasis Academy Mayfield
• Oasis Academy Sholing
• Redbridge Community School
• Regents Park Community College
• St Anne's Catholic School
• St George Catholic College
• Upper Shirley High School
• Weston Secondary School
• Woodlands Community College

All-through School

• St Mark's Church of England School

Special Schools

• Great Oaks School
• Springwell School
• The Cedar School
• The Polygon School
• Vermont School
• Rosewood Free School

School - Pupil Referral Unit

• Compass School
• Southampton Hospital School

School

• Hardmoor Early Years Centre

Infant Schools

• Fairisle Infant & Nursery School
• Glenfield Infant School
• Hollybrook Infant School
• Ludlow Infant Academy
• Maytree Nursery & Infants School
• Shirley Infant School
• Sholing Infant School
• Townhill Infant School
• Weston Shore Infant School
• Woolston Infant School

Junior Schools

• Beechwood Junior School
• Fairisle Junior School
• Hollybrook Junior School
• Ludlow Junior School
• Mount Pleasant Junior School
• Shirley Junior School
• Sholing Junior School
• Townhill Junior School

Primary Schools

• Banister Primary School
• Bassett Green Primary School
• Bevois Town Primary School
• Bitterne CE Primary School
• Bitterne Manor Primary School
• Bitterne Park Primary School
• Foundry Lane Primary School
• Freemantle CE Community Academy
• Harefield Primary School
• Highfield CE Primary School
• Hightown Primary School
• Holy Family Catholic Primary School
• Hope Community School
• Kanes Hill Primary School
• Mansbridge Primary School
• Mansel Park Primary School
• Mason Moor Primary School
• Moorlands Primary School
• Newlands Primary School
• Oakwood Primary School
• Portswood Primary School
• Redbridge Primary School
• Shirley Warren Primary and Nursery School
• Sinclair Primary and Nursery School
• Springhill Catholic Primary School
• St Denys Primary School
• St John's Primary and Nursery School
• St Mary's C of E (VC) Primary School
• St Monica Primary School
• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School
• Swaythling Primary School
• Tanners Brook Primary School
• Thornhill Primary School
• Valentine Primary School
• Weston Park Primary School
• Wordsworth Primary School

FE Colleges

• Itchen College
• City College
• Richard Tauntons Sixth form College
• Bitterne Park Sixth form
• St Annes sixth form

Independent Schools

• Yarrow Heights Independent Special School
• New Avenue School - independent Special
• The Serendipity School - independent special

Early Years Settings

• Barn Owls Pre School
• Bevois Town
• Bitterne Manor Nursery
• Brambles Community Pre-school
• Bright Horizons Portswood Day Nursery &Preschool
• Bright Horizons Southampton Day Nursery and Pre-school
• Bright Horizons Southampton Nursling Day Nursery and Preschool
• Brook Early Years
• Busy Bee Pre School
• Busy Bee Pre School Millbrook
• Charlton House School Limited
• Co-operative Childcare Southampton
• Dingley's Family & Spec Early Years centre
• Early Years Centre (Uni)
• Earlystarts Childcare
• Fairisle Infants & Nursery School, Fairisle
• Munchers bf club and afterschool care club
• Family First TA Woodberry Day Nursery (Peartree)
• Foundry Lane Pre-School
• Freemantle Nursery, BF & ASCC
• Happy Bunnies
• Hardmoor Day Nursery
• Hardmoor Early Years Centre
• Harefield Community Pre-school
• Hightown Primary, Nursery and Breakfast Club
• Holy Family
• Honeybeez Pre-school
• Hopscotch Day Nurseries (Portswood) Ltd
• Hopscotch Day Nurseries (Regents Park) Ltd
• Hopscotch Day Nursery (Sholing) Lted
• Kanes Hill Preschool
• Ladybirds Porchester Road
• Ladybirds Preschool Parkside
• Learningland Day Nursery
• Little Berries
• Little Berries @ Bassett
• Little Caterpillars Pre-school
• Lordswood Community Pre-school
• Mansbridge Community Pre-school
• Mansel Park School, Nursery & breakfast club
• Maytree sch (+bf club)
• Nursery @ Itchen College
• Oasis Academy Pre-school
• Olive Tree Preschool
• Paint Pots 1 Waterloo Road
• Paint Pots 2 Sholing
• Paint Pots 3 Swaythling
• Paint Pots 4 Howard Road
• Paint Pots 9 Spring Crescent
• Paint Pots Bitterne
• Paint Pots Preschool @ Harefield (6)
• Paint Pots Preschool @ St Marks (8)
• Paint Pots Preschool and Nursery (7)
• Pixies Tree
• Play Away Day Nursery Ltd
• Portswood Pre Sch Nursery
• Redbridge Pre-school
• Redroofs Day Nursery
• Riverside Pre-school
• Seedlings Montessori
• Shirley Preschool
• Shirley Warren Primary *& Nursery, bf and ascc.
• Sholing Community Centre Pre-school
• Sinclair Primary and Nursery School
• Squirrels Corner Pre School 2
• St Christophers
• St Francis pre-school
• St James Nursery and Pre-School
• St John's Primary,Nursery, bf and ascc club
• St. Marys Church of England VC Primary School, bf club
• Start Point Northam
• Start Point Sholing
• Sticky Finger Pre-school Tannersbrook
• Sticky Fingers Newlands
• Sticky Fingers Pre-School (Redbridge)
• Sticky Fingers Pre-school Spring Road
• Sunrise Day Nursery
• Sunshine Pre school & Nursery
• Taplins SGH
• The Mulberry Bush
• The Shore Pre-school
• The Shore Woolston
• Tickleford Pre-school Ltd
• Tiny Toes Day Nursery
• Townhill Infants School Nursery & bf and Trust Taplins
• Woodberry Day Nursery & Pre school Sholing
• Woolston Preschool
• Wordworth Primary & Nursery
• YMCA Woolston Day Nursery
• Paint Pots Preschool @ St Joseph's
• Tiny Toes Day Nursery (warren ave)
• Hayfield Forest School
• Mason Moor Primary and Nursery