Welcome to Haringey Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements
Message on behalf of the three statutory partners
- Ann Graham - Director of Children Services for Haringey Council
- Jenny Goodridge - Director of Quality and Chief Nurse, North Central London CCG
- Sebastian Adjei-Addoh - Detective Superintendent Enfield and Haringey
We are committed to an ongoing journey that will help and protect children, young people and families in Haringey. Everyone who comes into contact with children and young people has a role to play in identifying welfare and safeguarding concerns. Prompt action should be taken to share concerns and relevant information with the appropriate Safeguarding agencies via the Haringey Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub.
We have now confirmed our new Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements for children in Haringey and fulfilled our statutory obligations as laid out in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018.
All three partners have equal and joint responsibility for our local safeguarding arrangements, and we are committed to the principles that support these arrangements. The new arrangements will be referred to as the ‘Haringey Safeguarding Children’s Partnership’ (HSCP). Our approach has been to build on the strengths of the current local partnerships, while seeking to further improve practice, partnerships, and outcomes for children and young people. Our new governance arrangements will enable us to listen and respond to the voice of children and young people. It will also ensure that our workforce can develop the knowledge and expertise needed to provide the right support at the right time.
As part of new safeguarding arrangements, Child Death Review (CDR) processes are also required to transform. In October 2018 the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education released new Child Death Review Statutory and Operational Guidance. It builds on statutory requirements set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children and clarifies how professionals and organisations across all sectors involved in a child death should contribute to the child death review process. Oversight for CDR processes will move from the Department of Education to the Department for Health and Social Care recognising that most child deaths are due to medical factors rather than safeguarding.
The new guidance aims to:
- Improve the experience of bereaved families
- Ensure that information from the child death review process is systematically captured in every case to enable learning and to prevent future deaths
One requirement of the new guidance is the CDR processes must review at least 60 deaths per year. Within North Central London there are currently an average of 80 deaths (under 18 year olds) per year. Based on the last three years’ data the average number of deaths across the five boroughs is 80 (Barnet, 20, Camden 11, Enfield 20, Haringey 20 and Islington 13). CDR partners in North Central London have agreed that a single North Central London Child Death Review process is established across Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington.
We hope you find our Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements for children and child death review arrangements easy to understand, clear and concise. We look forward to working with you to ensure that our children and their families in Haringey receive the best possible start in life and the best possible care and help when they need it.