Consultation on child protection guidance
Tuesday, 01 June 2010 10:48
Children's Minister, Adam Ingram, has launched a consultation paper containing draft guidance to help social workers, police, NHS staff and other professionals improve the protection of children at risk of abuse or neglect.
It will replace outdated guidance from 1998 and cover new areas of practice including online safety and child trafficking, as well as issues which have become more prominent in recent years such as substance misuse.
The key proposed changes in the guidance are:
- introduction of more detailed advice on information sharing
- expanding the range of organisations responsible for child protection
- introduction, for the first time, of national timescales for holding and following up child protection case conferences
- ensuring that unborn babies who are given a child protection plan are placed on the child protection register
- ending the requirement for professionals to identify a specific category of risk when placing a child on the register.
Download the consultation paper and draft guidance from the Scottish Government website
The closing date for this consultation is 17 September 2010.
