Safeguarding Practice Review

A Child Safeguarding Practice Review (previously known as a Serious Case Review) is undertaken when a child dies or the child has been seriously harmed and there is cause for concern as to the way organisations worked together. The purpose of a child safeguarding practice review is for agencies and individuals to learn lessons that improve the way in which they work, both individually and collectively, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

The trigger for this is a notifiable incident.

There is a duty on local authorities to notify incidents to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel (this is a national panel). Working Together 2018 states that where a local authority in England knows or suspects that a child has been abused or neglected, the local authority must notify the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel if -

• the child dies or is seriously harmed in the local authority’s area
• while normally resident in the local authority’s area, the child dies or is seriously harmed outside England

Initially a rapid review will be undertaken in order to ascertain whether a local child safeguarding practice review is appropriate, or whether the case may raise issues which are complex or of national importance such that a national review may be appropriate. The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel has published practice guidance for those involved in local reviews.

The Hull Safeguarding Children Partnership (HCSP) has a sub committee which oversees and quality assures all the child safeguarding practice reviews undertaken locally, and provides advice on whether the criteria for conducting a review have been met.

In addition to child safeguarding practice reviews, the HSCP will also undertake multi-agency learning reviews which do not meet the criteria for a child safeguarding practice review, but are considered to offer good opportunities to identify lessons for learning and ways in which multi-agency practice to safeguard children and young people can be improved locally.