Quick Guide

Manual Version, September 2011

Welcome to the Pan Lancashire Policy and Procedures for Safeguarding Children Manual.

This is the second edition of the manual. The manual update incorporates a number of additions and amendments, which are summarised in the table below in section 3. The Contents List also highlights where additions and changes have been made.

Display and Browser Options
Structure of the Manual
Amendments
How to find a Chapter
Terminology
Keywords
Compliance
Contact us
Copyright
Printing and Retaining Copies

1. Display and Browser Options

People with a visual impairment may have difficulty accessing this Manual.

To change the size of the text/layout - please use these accessibility buttons

which are on menu bar on the left side of every screen. Click a larger button to increase your text size, the very largest being high visibility mode.

2. Structure of the Manual

This manual contains the policies, procedures and guidance for the Pan Lancashire Consortium:

Blackburn with Darwen Local Safeguarding Children Board

Blackpool Safeguarding Children Board

Lancashire Safeguarding Children Board

In this manual, all the Consortium’s Policies, Values and Principles are located in one Chapter, which users are required to familiarise themselves with before proceeding to the main body of the Manual. This chapter is - available from the left hand side of the screen, by clicking on the button, “Values”.

Procedures and Guidance: 'Procedures' summarise how Managers and Staff must act in given circumstances. 'Guidance' provides direction or advice to a decision or course of action.

3. Amendments

This manual will be regularly updated. The next update will be issued in March 2012. There will be a planning meeting for the next update in January 2012. If you have any changes or additions which you wish to be included in the next update please send them by the beginning of January 2012 to:

Blackburn with Darwen: info@blackburn.gov.uk

Lancashire: Richard.Matthews@lancashire.gov.uk

Blackpool: Sara.holland@blackpool.gov.uk

Amendments made to this version of the manual:

Making a Referral to Children's Social Care	Two documents for Blackpool SCB have been added
Initial Child Protection Conferences	Changes have been made to clarify the different practice in each area. Changes are in italics.
Developing the Child Protection Plan	Changes have been made to clarify the different practice in each area. Changes are in italics.
Child Protection Review Conferences	Changes have been made to clarify the different practice in each area. Changes are in italics.
Domestic Abuse	Changes have been made to contact details
Working with Children who Self-Harm or have the Potential for Suicide	This is a new chapter and has a new document attached.
Child Abuse and Communication Technologies	There is a new document attached for Blackpool.
Children and Young People at Risk Arising from Sexual Exploitation	Changes have been made to contact details
Children who Abuse Other Children	There is a new document attached for Blackpool.
Child Death Overview Panel and Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Childhood	This chapter is now in two parts - 9.1 Child Death Overview Panel, and 9.2 Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Childhood, and changes have been made to the content.
Multi-Agency Adult Mental Health and Child Protection Guidance and Protocol	This protocol has been deleted.
Private Fostering	This has been re-numbered
Children with Child Protection Plans Transfer Protocol	This has been re-numbered
Procedures for the Initial Assessment of Children and Young People Who Display Sexually Harmful Behaviour	This document has been added for Blackpool.
Local Contact Details	Local contact details have been updated

4. How to find a chapter

Procedures and guidance are located in individual 'Chapters' which are available from a 'traditional' Contents List - on the left hand side of the screen.

4.1 Using the Contents List

Chapters are categorised or grouped together as follows:

PARTS: The manual contains procedures categorised under a number of Parts, like 'Managing individual Cases where there are concerns about a Child's Safety and Welfare'.

CHAPTERS: Under each Part, you'll find individual Chapters/Procedures e.g. Initial Assessments.

If you are not sure which service or section to look in, try 'Search' which will help you identify specific Chapters and sub headings within Chapters

4.2 You can search for a Chapter

If you aren't sure which service or section to look in, try 'Search' which will help you identify specific Chapters and sub headings within Chapters

5. Terminology

We believe it is crucial to use consistent terminology, which we agree with individual customers, for example:

'Child' or 'Young Person'	both these terms are used to mean any child under the age of 18
'Staff' or 'Carer'	means all Staff and Carers (including) whether employed or not
'Parent'	means person with Parental Responsibility
'Regulatory Authority'	Regulatory Authority is the generic term used in this manual to describe the independent regulatory body responsible for inspecting and regulating services e.g. Ofsted.

6. Keywords

The manual is accessed by practitioners from varying agencies, who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore, a large glossary (Keywords) of terms such as Significant Harm (Try it: click on the highlighted text). We call them 'Keywords'. Once clicked, the definitions will appear in a new window or tab, depending on your browser. You can leave it open for reference, or close it using the "close" button at the bottom.

Many Keywords are highlighted in the body of procedures, but you can search for the Keyword you need: Go to the Keywords Index, on the left hand side of the screen.

7. Compliance

7.1 Regulatory Compliance

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or mistakes, please alert your manager or contact us.

7.2 W3C Compliance

This manual meets the double A Standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), for example, it can be accessed by people with high levels of visual impairment. To find out more, click on 'Display Options' on the left hand side of the screen.

8. Contact us

If you have any comments or suggestions about the format of the manual or you wish to report broken links or other technical issues please contact Tri-x by using the button on the left hand side of the screen, from anywhere within the manual. You can also use this button to register for updates about this manual or policy.

9. Copyright

The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. However any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of Tri-X-Childcare Ltd and members of the Pan Lancashire Consortium.

10. Printing and Retaining Copies

The Manual should normally be viewed on line but can be printed, for reference only.

To print a chapter, click on the icon which is in the top right hand corner of the relevant procedure

Please note, the Manual will be updated regularly, so staff should avoid retaining printed versions - hard copies are only valid for 72 hours.

End