About the SSCP - Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership

Who are the Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership?

The Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP) are responsible for safeguarding children in Somerset. This Partnership is made up of Somerset Council, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Somerset Integrated Care Board, who have joint and equal responsibility to safeguard children and young people.

The key partners are the Chief Executive of Somerset Council, the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police and the Chief Executive of the Somerset Integrated Care Board, and they identify members of their agency to sit on the Executive of the SSCP.

The Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership incorporates working with all ‘relevant agencies’, who have safeguarding responsibilities under Section 11 of ‘The Children Act’ (2004), as described in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2023). This includes education settings, the voluntary sector and specialist services.

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023

Nothing is more important than children’s welfare. Children who need help and protection deserve high quality and effective support as soon as a need is identified.
We want a system that responds to the needs and interests of children and families and not the other way around. In such a system, practitioners will be clear about what is required of them individually, and how they need to work together in partnership with others. Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play.

The legislation relevant to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is valuable information in its own right and should also be read alongside the statutory guidance.

Read Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 HERE

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in Working Together 2023 as:
– providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge
– protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online
– preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
– ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
– promoting the upbringing of children with their birth parents, or otherwise their family network through a kinship care arrangement, whenever possible and where this is in the best interests of the children
– taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes in line with the outcomes set out in the Children’s Social Care National Framework

In December 2023, Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 was published. A number of key provisions have been introduced in the updated guidance, for more information read the document here

Partnership Aims

The strategic aims of partnership are to ensure that effective systems are in place to promote the well-being of children and young people and safeguard them from harm.

These include:
– Focusing on the impact of all forms of child abuse and neglect
– Learning, and the dissemination of learning, from local and national research, including case reviews
– Continued identification of indicators of the prevalence of all forms of child abuse and neglect in Somerset and assessing the effectiveness of progress in tackling these
– Understanding the perspectives of children and young people by asking for their views, listening to them and responding to them so that they know what has happened as a result
– Supporting and scrutinising the effectiveness of arrangements to reduce risk of abuse and neglect
– Improving and integrating performance monitoring for safeguarding arrangements and delivering the Somerset Children and Young People’s Plan
– Supporting communication and information sharing across partners.