Timescale: Where a Section 47 Enquiry determines that an Initial Child Protection Conference should be held, the Conference must be held within a maximum of 15 working days of the Strategy Discussion/Meeting or the last Strategy Discussion/Meeting where more than one has taken place.
The urgency of the situation, however, may dictate that the
timescale is shorter.
In the time between the conclusion of the Section 47 Enquiry and the Initial Child Protection Conference, services must be in place to ensure that the child is protected until the Conference is held.
The Initial Child Protection Conference brings together family members, the child (where appropriate), supporters/advocates and those professionals most involved with the child and family to share information, assess risks and to formulate an agreed plan of management and services, with the child’s safety and welfare as its paramount aim.
Within this, there are the following tasks:
An Initial Child Protection Conference must be convened following a Section 47 Enquiry where it is believed that a child may continue to suffer, or to be at risk of suffering, Significant Harm. This includes the following:
The conference must consider all the children in the household, even if concerns are only being expressed about one child.
The Children’s Social Care Services team manager and Area Manager is responsible for authorising the decision to convene an Initial Child Protection Conference and the reasons for calling the conference must be recorded.
Where a senior manager from another agency requests that an Initial Child Protection Conference is convened, this request will be given serious consideration by the Operations Manager of the Review and Child Protection Unit and a response will be given in writing. Any request that is supported by a senior manager or a Named Professional or Designated Professional, should normally be agreed. Where any issue of professional difference is not resolved, see Resolving Professional Disagreements Procedure.
The initial Child Protection Conference should take place within 15 working days of the:
The Initial Child Protection Conference should, where possible, be held before the expiry of an Emergency Protection Order, if further legal action is planned.
Where a Child Assessment Order has been made, the conference should be held immediately on conclusion of examinations and assessments.
In the exceptional circumstance of complex enquiries or pre-birth assessments, the Initial Child Protection Conference may be delayed.
Any such delay must have written authorisation from the Operations Manager in the Children’s Social Care Services (including reasons for the delay) who must arrange to notify all relevant agencies of the delay and ensure that risks to the child are monitored and services in place to safeguard the child until the conference is held.
See also Section 6, Enabling Parental Participation and Section 8, Children's Participation
The conference should consist of the smallest number of people consistent with effective case management, but the following should normally be invited:
In addition, attendees may include those whose contribution relates to their professional expertise and/or knowledge of the family and/or responsibility for relevant services, and should be limited to those with a need to know or who have a contribution to make to the assessment of the child and family.
These may include:
A professional observer can only attend with the prior consent of the Conference Chair and the family, and must not take part in discussions or decision-making. There will only be one observer at any conference. It is the responsibility of the professional requesting the attendance of the observer to seek the permission of the family at least one day before the conference.
Professionals who are invited but unable to attend for unavoidable reasons should:
The time of day at which a conference is convened should be determined to facilitate attendance of the family and key contributors.
The primary principle for determining quoracy is that there should be sufficient agencies present to enable safe decisions to be made in the individual circumstances.
Normally, minimum representation is the social worker and at least two other agencies or professional groups which have had direct contact with the child and family or those whose contribution relates to their professional expertise or responsibility for relevant services. This should always include representation from Children’s Social Care Services (excluding the Conference Chair). It is acceptable to have two representatives from the same agency as long as they represent two distinct service areas.
In exceptional circumstances, and having regard to the impact upon the child and family of a postponement, the Conference Chair may decide to proceed with the conference by obtaining written or verbal reports in order to achieve sufficient agency representation. This would be relevant:
The Conference Chair can also decide that a conference can proceed where the child has not had relevant contact with 3 professional groups or agencies – e.g. pre-birth conferences.
All parents and persons with Parental Responsibility must be invited to conferences (unless exclusion is justified as described below). Parents will be encouraged to contribute to conferences; usually by attending, unless it is likely to prejudice the welfare of the child.
See Section 7, Criteria for Excluding Parents or Restricting their Participation.
Invitations for the parent(s) to attend the conference should be conveyed verbally by the social worker and will be confirmed in writing by the Review and Child Protection Unit.
The social worker must explain to parents/carers the purpose of the meeting, who will attend, the way in which it will operate, the purpose and meaning if their child is deemed to require a Child Protection Plan and the complaints process.
Provision should be made to ensure that visually or hearing impaired or otherwise disabled parents/carers are enabled to participate, including whether they need assistance with transport to enable their attendance.
Preparation should also include consideration of childcare arrangements to enable the attendance of parents.
Those for whom English is not a first language must be provided with an interpreter, if required. A family member cannot be expected to act as an interpreter.
The parents should be provided with a copy of the leaflet “What is Child Protection – a guide for parents?”, which includes information regarding the right to bring a friend, supporter (including an advocate) or solicitor (in the role of supporter), details of any local advice and advocacy services (see Contacts Appendix) and the conference Complaints Procedure.
If parents do not wish to attend the conference they must be provided with full opportunities to contribute their views. The social worker must facilitate this by:
The level and manner of the advocate’s involvement in the conference will be negotiated beforehand with the Conference Chair. Advocates may seek clarification of information given by a conference member through the Conference Chair, but they will not be allowed to question conference members directly.
Explicit consideration should be given to the potential of conflict between family members and possible need for children or adults to speak without other family members present.
The Review and Child Protection Unit provide the Chair for all conferences. The Conference Chair will ensure that the conference is conducted in line with the procedures and guidance set out by the Walsall Safeguarding Children Board in this Manual.
Immediately prior to the conference, the Conference Chair should meet with any family members and the child to ensure they understand the process. This may, where the potential for conflict exists, involve separate meetings with the different parties.
In circumstances where it may be necessary to exclude one or more family members from part or all of a conference the request to exclude or restrict a parent’s participation should be discussed with the Conference Chair and confirmed in writing if possible at least 3 days in advance.
The agency concerned must indicate which of the grounds it believes is met and the information or evidence the request is based on. The Conference Chair must consider the representation carefully and may need legal advice.
Before making a decision, the Conference Chair should obtain and consider the views of all professionals invited.
The decision should be made according to the following criteria:
Exclusion at one conference is not reason enough in itself for exclusion at further conferences.
The possibility that the parent may be prosecuted for an offence against a child is not in itself a reason for exclusion although in these circumstances, the Conference Chair may take advice from the Police and, if criminal proceedings have been initiated, the Crown Prosecution Service, about the implications arising from an alleged perpetrator’s attendance.
If the Conference Chair makes a decision to exclude or restrict the participation of a parent, the decision should be communicated to:
The communication should set out
Any exclusion period should be for the minimum duration necessary and the decision to exclude must be clearly recorded in the conference minutes.
Those excluded should usually be provided with a copy of the social worker’s report to the conference or an edited version that reflects the reason for their exclusion from the conference. Anyone excluded should be provided with the opportunity to have their views recorded and presented to the conference.
If, in planning a conference, it becomes clear to the Conference Chair that there may be conflict of interests between the children and parents, the conference should be planned so that the welfare of the child can remain paramount.
This may mean arranging for the child and parents to participate in separate parts of the conference and make separate waiting arrangements.
It may also become clear in the course of a conference, that its effectiveness will be seriously impaired by the presence of the parent/s. In these circumstances, the Conference Chair may ask them to leave.
Where a parent is on bail, or subject to an active police investigation, it is the responsibility of the Conference Chair to ensure that the Police can fully present their information and views and also that the parents participate as fully as circumstances allow.
The decision of the Conference Chair over matters of exclusion is final.
Where a parent/carer attends only part of a conference as a result of exclusion, s/he will receive the record of the conference. The Conference Chair should decide if the entire record is provided or only that part attended by the excluded parent/carer.
The key considerations are:
The test of ‘sufficient understanding’, is partly a function of age and partly the child’s capacity to understand. A guiding principle is that usually a child under 10 should not be invited.
In order to establish her/his wish with respect to attendance the child must be first provided with a full and clear explanation of the purpose, conduct, membership of the conference and potential provision of an independent advocate – see Section 8.6, The child’s independent advocate.
Written information translated into the appropriate language should be provided to those able to read and an alternative medium e.g. tape, offered those who cannot read.
A declared wish not to attend a conference (having been given such an explanation) must be respected.
Consideration should be given to the views of and impact on parent/s of their child’s proposed attendance; however, where there is a conflict between the wishes of the child and the views of the parents, the child’s interests should be the priority.
Consideration must be given to the impact of the conference on the child e.g. if they have a significant learning difficulty. Where it will be impossible to ensure they are kept apart from a parent who may be hostile and/or attribute responsibility onto them, separate attendance should be considered.
A decision about whether to invite the child should be made in advance of the conference by the Conference Chair, in consultation with the social worker, their manager and any other relevant professional, including the child’s independent advocate where relevant.
In making this decision, the views of the parents and of professionals who know the child should be taken into consideration.
Any decision that a child should not attend conference should be made using the following criteria:
The decision of the Conference Chair should be recorded, with reasons.
If it is decided that the child should not attend or to restrict participation, every effort should be made by the social worker to obtain and present the views and wishes of the child, which can include:
If the decision is that the child is to attend the conference, then the social worker should:
If the child is attending the Conference it is the responsibility of the Conference Chair to:
If the child is attending the conference, it is the responsibility of all professionals to:
It is essential that planning takes place prior to the conference to ensure that the practical arrangements are suitable. The social worker should in discussion with the Conference Chair:
When a conference is being convened, a referral for an independent advocate should automatically be made by the social worker in relation to all eligible children, subject to the child’s consent. The advocate should only be given information which is available to the child.
Where access to the advocacy service is denied, this should be discussed with the Conference Chair in advance of the conference. Where this is because of the lack of parental consent, this should be included in the social worker’s assessment report to the conference.
The advocate will attend the conference with the child, subject to the child’s consent. The advocate will not be present for any part of the conference where information is presented which will not be made available to the child.
The advocate should ensure that immediately after the conference the child has an opportunity to discuss what happened during the conference, the decisions made and, where appropriate the outline Child Protection Plan. If the advocate has concerns about the child these should be discussed immediately with the social worker.
The social worker should meet with the child as soon as possible after the conference to:
See Protocol re Pre-birth Child Protection Conferences.
A pre-birth conference is an Initial Child Protection Conference concerning an unborn child. Such a conference has the same status and purpose and must be conducted in a comparable manner to an Initial Child Protection Conference.
A decision to hold a conference will usually follow from a pre-birth Core Assessment and a conference should be held:
The need for early engagement should be actively considered by all agencies involved who should make a referral to Children’s Social Work Services in accordance with the Referrals Procedure so that assessments are undertaken, a plan of action is agreed and family support services are provided as early as possible in the pregnancy.
Where there is a known likelihood of a premature birth, the conference should be held earlier.
The key agencies involved in the delivery of the child must attend the conference. It is important that this conference makes an informed decision about whether or not the child should remain in the parents’ care and draws up protection plans that link to either decision.
In addition to those who normally attend an Initial Child Protection Conference, midwifery, relevant neo-natal and support services must be invited.
A WSCB4 should be completed at conference and sent to the maternity hospital at the first Core Group.
Parents or carers should be invited as they would be to other Child Protection Conferences and should be fully involved in plans for the child’s future.
If a decision is made that the child requires a Child Protection Plan, the main cause for concern must determine the category of significant harm and a Child Protection Plan must be outlined to commence prior to the birth of the baby.
The Core Group must be established and meet if at all possible prior to the birth, and certainly prior to the baby’s return home after a hospital birth.
If a decision is made for an unborn child to have a Child Protection Plan, the child’s name (or ‘baby’, if not known) and expected date of delivery should be identified on the Review and Child Protection Unit record system pending the birth. The Keyworker must then ensure that the name and correct birth date is notified to the Review and Child Protection Unit Manager and Administrator following the birth.
If the child is resident outside of the area at birth, the local authority in whose area the child is resident must be advised that the child is in their area and the subject of a Child Protection Plan - see also Children Moving Across Boundaries Procedures.
In consultation with the person requesting the conference, the Review and Child Protection Unit will be responsible for:
The social worker is responsible for the following:
The social worker should provide to the conference a typed and dated written report (using the ICS pro forma), which must be endorsed by the team manager.
Information on all children in the household must be provided and the report should be clear about which children are the subjects of the conference.
For an Initial Child Protection Conference, the report should follow the ICS format and should include:
The report should be provided to parents and older children (to the extent that it is believed to be in their interests) at least 24 hours in advance of the Initial Child Protection Conference to enable any factual inaccuracies to be identified, amended and areas of disagreement noted. Comments or suggestions made by the child/parents as a result of seeing the report must be included or conveyed verbally to the conference.
In exceptional circumstances where confidential information cannot be shared with the child or parent(s) beforehand, the social worker should seek guidance from their manager, who may wish to consult the Conference Chair.
The report should be provided to the Conference Chair at least 24 hours prior to the Initial Child Protection Conference with copies for all those invited.
At the discretion of the Conference Chair, the report will be attached to the minutes for circulation.
All participants are responsible for the following:
All agencies which have participated in a Section 47 Enquiry or have relevant information about the child and/or family members should make this information available to the conference in a written report following the format of Form WSCB 3 (Agency's Report for Initial Child Protection Conference)..
The report should include details of the agency’s involvement with the child and family, and information concerning the agency’s knowledge of the child’s developmental needs, the capacity of the parents to meet the needs of their child within their family and environmental context.
Agency representatives attending conferences should confer with their colleagues before preparing their contribution to a conference, to make sure it contains all relevant and available information and, where a written report is prepared, bring sufficient copies of the report (legible and signed) to the conference.
The reports must make it clear which child/ren are the subject of the conference, but address any known circumstances of all children in the household.
Where necessary, reports should be translated into the relevant language or medium, taking account of the language and any sensory or learning difficulties of the child/parents.
The reports should be shared with the parents and the child (if old enough) before the conference, in the same way as described for social workers.
Such reports should also be made available to the Conference Chair, where possible, 24 hours in advance of the conference.
Where agency representatives are unable to attend the conference, they must ensure that their report is made available to the conference, preferably in writing, through the Review and Child Protection Unit, and that a colleague attends in their place.
At the discretion of the Conference Chair, the reports will be attached to, or summarised within the minutes, for circulation.
The Conference Chair must not have any operational or line management responsibility for the case.
The Conference Chair must ensure that at least three professional groups are represented at the conference unless agreed otherwise - see quorum for conference in Section 5, Quoracy.
The Conference Chair is responsible for ensuring that conferences are conducted in an anti-discriminatory manner, ensuring that everyone uses unambiguous respectful language.
The responsibilities of the Conference Chair in relation to decision-making about restricting parents’ participation and not inviting children are set out in Section 6, Enabling Parental Participation and Section 8 Enabling Children’s Participation.
Before the conference begins, the Conference Chair should meet the parents, child and child’s advocate, if they have attended, to ensure that they understand the purpose of the conference and how it will be conducted. Where necessary, interpreters or translators should be made available to facilitate family participation.
At the start of the conference the Conference Chair will:
If the parent(s) or the child brings an advocate, the Conference Chair will need to clarify the advocate’s role, ensuring that any solicitor who attends in this role is clear that he/she may support parent(s), clarify information but may not cross-examine any contributor.
The Conference Chair will ensure that:
Is the child at continuing risk of Significant Harm?
The test should be either that:
If the child is at continuing risk of Significant Harm it will therefore be the case that safeguarding the child requires inter-agency help and intervention delivered through a Child Protection Plan.
The Conference Chair must ensure that the decision about the need for a Child Protection Plan is based on the views of all agencies represented at the conference and also takes into account any written contributions that have been made. This discussion will normally take place with the parents/carers present.
The decision will be taken by the Walsall Safeguarding Children Board member agencies attending the conference; this will not include the child, parents, carers, foster carers, childminders, voluntary playgroups, although they may be asked to comment on the strengths, concerns, risks, future plans and protection.
The Conference Chair must ensure that all members of the conference are clear about the conclusions reached, the decision taken and recommendations made, and that the conference minutes accurately reflect the discussions and decision.
Any dissent must be recorded in the conference minutes (see Section 14, Dissent from the Conference Decision).
If parents/carers disagree with the decision, the Conference Chair must discuss the issue with them and explain their right to and the process for challenge
If the decision is that the child is at continuing risk of Significant Harm and in need of a Child Protection Plan, the Conference Chair should determine the Category of Significant Harm – Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Sexual Abuse or Neglect - which the child has suffered or is at risk of suffering.
The category used must indicate to those consulting the Children’s Social Care Services’ or the Review and Child Protection Unit’s record systems the primary presenting concerns at the time the child was made the subject of a Child Protection Plan.
The presumption should be made that any child presented to conference will have suffered a degree of emotional harm. On this basis the Emotional Abuse category should only be used as a single category where there is clear presenting evidence of emotional harm as the primary concern.
Multiple categories should also be avoided; however, the Child Protection Plan should take account of all the factors considered at conference.
The need for a Child Protection Plan should be considered separately in respect of each child in the family or household.
The Conference Chair must also ensure that the Review and Child Protection Unit Administrator or, if out of hours, the Emergency Response Team, is informed of the decision.
If it is considered that the Significant Harm threshold (see Section 13.4, The Decision Making Process) has not been reached, but the child is in need of help to promote her/his health or development, the Conference Chair must ensure that the conference draws up a Child’s Plan and makes recommendations as appropriate to the relevant agencies:
In cases where there is disagreement regarding the threshold for Significant Harm being met or not being met (see Section 13.4, The Decision Making Process), the Conference Chair will attempt to facilitate the conference to reach a consensus by drawing the conference members’ attention to the threshold and considering this in the light of the information which has been shared and the child’s assessed needs.
Where a consensus is not reached, the decision will be based on a majority view, including the view of the Conference Chair.
If an agency does not agree with a decision or recommendation made at a conference, the dissent will be recorded in the minutes of the conference.
When this occurs, the social worker must involve that agency in future decision-making and in the Child Protection Plan or Child’s Plan.
If a professional concludes that a conference decision places a child at risk, s/he must seek advice from her/his Designated Professional or Named Professional or line manager.
Where the issue is not resolved, the procedure provided in Resolving Professional Disagreements Procedure must be followed.
If parents/carers disagree with the conference decision, the Conference Chair must further discuss their concerns and explain the Complaints Procedure.
The record of the conference is a crucial working document for all relevant professionals and the family.
All conferences will be minuted by a person from the Review and Child Protection Unit whose sole task within the conference is to provide a written record of proceedings in a consistent format. The Conference Chair is responsible for ensuring that the minutes accurately reflect the discussion held and decisions and recommendations made.
Conference minutes should include:
At the Conference Chair’s discretion, all written reports submitted to the conference will be appended to the minutes unless the authors request otherwise.
The decision of the conference and details of the Category of Significant Harm, the name of the Keyworker and Core Group membership should be recorded and circulated to all those invited to attend the conference within ONE working day.
The minutes of the conference, signed by the Conference Chair, will be sent to all professionals who attended, or were invited, and to relevant family members (except for any part of the conference from which they were excluded) within 28 days of the conference.
Copies of the minutes should be given to the parents, child (if old enough) and the child’s advocate by the Key worker in person.
Where parents and/or the child/ren have a sensory disability or where English is not their first language, steps must be taken to ensure that they can understand and make full use of the minutes.
Where a parent or child has been fully excluded from the conference, the decision on what information they should receive will be taken by the Conference Chair in consultation with other conference members.
Where an advocate, solicitor, other family member or observer has attended a conference, the minutes will not be distributed to them unless they have a role in the Child Protection Plan and the conference agrees it appropriate.
Where a child has attended a Child Protection Conference, the social worker must arrange to see her/him and arrange to discuss relevant sections of the minutes.
Conference minutes are confidential and should not be passed to third parties without the consent of the Conference Chair, the Review and Child Protection Unit Manager or by a Court Order.
Where there are ongoing criminal proceedings, there should be consultation between the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to the sharing of the minutes.
The recipient agencies and professionals should retain the minutes of the Child Protection Conference in a manner which ensures their confidentiality and in accordance with their agency’s record retention policy. Agencies should determine who it is appropriate to be given access to the minutes – usually this will be restricted to relevant staff, their manager and any person who has a role in the Child Protection Plan.
Subsequent requests for access to the minutes by professionals who do not have a legal or direct role in the case should be referred to the Review and Child Protection Unit Manager.
The central copy of the minutes will be retained on the child’s file for the period set out in the local authority’s policy in relation to the retention and destruction of records.
Children (if of sufficient age and understanding) and/or parents on their behalf may have the right of access to their records held by Children’s Social Care Services. Access can be refused on specific grounds – this is dealt with in the local authority’s Access to Records procedures, which is included in the Children's Social Care Services Procedures Manual.
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