December 2023

The November 2023 news page and previous news items are available by month of publication from the News tab.

Salford Safeguarding Children Partnership circulate monthly E-Bulletins; if you would like to be included on the distribution list, please email sscp@salford.gov.uk.

All enquiries concerning the welfare or safety of a child or requests for information MUST BE SENT DIRECTLY to the Bridge Partnership.   

The Bridge Partnership can be contacted on 0161 603 4500. All referrals and requests for support must be completed on the online referral form. The Bridge Partnership is available Monday to Friday 8.30am - 4.30pm.  If you need to speak to someone outside these times, please contact the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) on 0161 794 8888. If a child is in immediate danger of being harmed or is home alone, call the police on 999.  

If you are worried about an adult - Report abuse or neglect by telephone on: 0161 206 0604.  For further information visit https://www.salford.gov.uk/adult-safeguarding

Working Together to Safeguarding Children 2023

The Department for Education (DfE) has recently published the updated 'Working Together to Safeguard Children'.  This is statutory guidance for multi-agency working to help keep children safe in England.  This guidance applies to all agencies with functions that relate to children, education, and childcare settings. 

Access the full guidance here: Working Together to Safeguard Children

For a concise summary of the changes please see the NSPCC CASPAR briefing 'Working together to safeguarding children 2023: summary of changes.'

Working with Fathers / Father figures QA Panel

A recent multi-agency Quality Assurance (QA) Panel co-ordinated by the SSCP found that key learning about the importance of involving fathers in safeguarding and child protection work is being implemented across the multi-agency workforce.

Five cases were looked at in detail and discussed with the practitioners who had worked with the families at a QA Panel event in September. The findings highlighted that there is good practice in terms of engaging or attempting to engage fathers / father figures, but in some cases there were barriers to contacting the biological father and more professional curiosity could have been exercised.

The report acknowledges there can be a delicate balance between managing risk and exploring the protective factors that a father may bring. Some key themes were apparent e.g., Professional Curiosity, Cultural Consciousness, and the use of Domestic Abuse Tools.

The SSCP has developed resources to encourage practitioners to engage with fathers – you can access the Working with Fathers training course and read the Unknown male carers and risk 7 Minute Briefing and Positive Fatherhood 7 Minute Briefing.

If you would like a copy of the QA Panel report please email jane.maguire@salford.gov.uk

DADLY DOES IT! (Press release)

Positive fatherhood improves the happiness and life chances of children. That is the key message of a new resource launched in Greater Manchester.

Unlimited Potential, a community benefit society, has been exploring the impact of positive fatherhood in different neighbourhoods for more than ten years.  It has now launched a new resource for both communities and organisations. The Dadly Does It website shares the key learning, and also offers free resources for local people and professionals to use.

“Most dads love their kids. We know that actively engaging dads in positive fatherhood improves the happiness and well-being of children.” said Chris Dabbs, Chief Executive of Unlimited Potential. “We have also learned that it improves the quality of family relationships and the well-being of partners and ex-partners.”

The project also saw dads working ‘shoulder to shoulder’ and supporting each other improves their well-being and that of their children. “Creating masculine environments in which dads can safely share their real feelings leads to major benefits for children, but also for the dads themselves.” added Mr. Dabbs.

The Dadly Does It resources at www.dadlydoesit.org.uk include an animation about children’s speech and language, a briefing for staff in children’s services, and templates for posters and publicity.

“We are continuing to work to spread positive fatherhood”, said Mr. Dabbs “When parents are supported as teams, the life chances of their children increase.”

Dadly Does It has been funded by the NHS in Salford, the Lankelly Chase Foundation and Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

New Online Safety Bill

The Online Safety Act received Royal Assent in October 2023.  It is said that the new laws take a zero-tolerance approach to protecting children from online harm, while empowering adults with more choices over what they see online. 

The Act places legal responsibility on tech companies to prevent and rapidly remove illegal content, like terrorism and revenge pornography. They will also have to stop children seeing material that is harmful to them such as bullying, content promoting self-harm and eating disorders, and pornography.

For all the details see the article:  UK children and adults to be safer online as world-leading bill becomes law - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

You also with to read The Guardian article: TechScape: How the UK’s online safety bill aims to clean up the internet | Internet safety | The Guardian

Language that cares

The SSCP continues to promote 'language that cares'.  As part of the NSPCC 'Why language matters' series, see the article: Not using 'LAC' to refer to looked after children in care | NSPCC Learning

Stop Loan Sharks 

Christmas can be hard, and for those struggling to meet the cost of Christmas there is a risk they may turn to loan sharks.  If you or someone you know is involved with a loan shark there is help and support out there, @StopLoanSharksEngland can help get you back to financial freedom. Contact them today on 0300 555 2222 or visit www.stoploansharks.co.uk.

Equality and Diversity Statement

Our vision is to make Salford a fair and inclusive city where everyone has an equal voice, access to services and opportunities, and are included and represented in decisions that affect them, irrespective of their age, disability status, ethnicity, faith, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation or socio-economic background. Salford has a strong commitment to tackling inequality which is reflected in The Salford Way, a city-wide approach to ensure partners work together to build a fairer and more inclusive Salford for all. A key part of this approach is the Salford Equality Strategy our catalyst for change to ensure we work together to build a fairer and more inclusive Salford for all.

All partners of the SSCP are required to ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion are a thread through all our priorities/activity, as are the views and voices of young people.