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Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership publish THEO Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review February 2024

Source: Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership published on this website Thursday 28 March 2024 by Jill Powell

This Local Safeguarding Practice Review was undertaken in response to the death of Theo on Christmas Day 2022. He had suffered 130 injuries before his death inflicted by his parents who are now in jail for his murder.

The injuries and subsequent death of the baby happened during the Covid 19 pandemic. The review describes opportunities were missed and lessons from many previous reviews were not learned.

A summary of progress report has also been published by the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership has also been published.

Professionals Online Safety Helpline Publishes Online Reputation Guidance

Source: Safer Internet Centre published on this site Wednesday 27 March 2024 BY Jill Powell

The Professionals Online Safety Helpline has released new guidance to support schools with online reputation concerns.

The latest guidance has been published after new data from the Professionals Online Safety Helpline revealed that 46% of contacts to the helpline involved concerns around online reputational issues.

Download Guidance

The newly published guidance issued by the Professionals Online Safety Helpline intends to support school leaders, governors, federations, and trust leaders within schools in England. The guidance helps schools navigate online reputational issues and better understand what resources they have available to help manage these situations. The guidance includes information on:

  • Responding to online posts
  • Online reputational issues that can be successfully reported
  • Other routes to resolution

Support available

The guidance considers multiple situations involving reputational concerns, including dealing with negative online reviews, online community groups and how to address concerns around images published outside of the school. Educators can also find information about reporting trademark violations and accounts involving impersonation attempts.

Further Information

Alongside the latest guidance, the Professionals Online Safety Helpline provides a series of resources to support educators or professionals working with young people. Recent resources include support around sexual harassment, making reports to social media platforms, how to handle impersonation attempts, and what to do following an incident of sexting. These can be found from the SWGfL website, who operate the helpline as part of the UK Safer Internet Centre.

Alongside this, any professional working with young people can get support with their online safety concerns by contacting the Professionals Online Safety Helpline. The helpline can be contacted by emailing  helpline@saferinternet.org.uk or by calling 0344 381 4772.

Shattered lives, stolen futures: The Jay Review of Criminally Exploited Children

Source: Action for Children published on this website Monday 25 March 2024 by Jill Powell

Tens of thousands of children and young people are at risk of being exploited across the UK – groomed, coerced and threatened into a life of violence, criminalisation and abuse the review tells us. The review’s conclusion in that a new approach is needed to end this crisis.

In response to this crisis, Action for Children launched the Jay Review of Criminally Exploited Children in November 2023. The aim was to learn from what’s working well to protect children from exploitation and determine what more can be done.

The Review was chaired by Professor Alexis Jay CBE, chair of the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection and former chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. Professor Jay was supported by Simon Bailey CBE QPM, the former Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary, and a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel from 2021-2024, and Charles Geekie KC, a barrister specialising in areas of the law relating to children and a Trustee of Action for Children.

Key lessons

They Review team listened to those with lived experience, to professionals and to experts from across the four nations of the UK, a number of key lessons stood out:

  • The absence of a clear and consistent definition of the criminal exploitation of children is a barrier to protecting and supporting them.
  • Existing legislation and criminal processes are not fit for purpose and are leading to vulnerable children being failed.
  • Too many exploited children are treated as criminals rather than victims and do not receive a child protection response.
  • The lack of data on exploitation makes it more difficult to identify, prevent and respond to it.
  • School is an essential protective factor in children’s lives, but education providers do not always have the right tools to identify and support children at risk.
  • Local safeguarding arrangements are not always effective in supporting children at risk of extra-familial harm (or harm outside their family home), including exploitation.
  • Early intervention is essential to prevent and disrupt exploitation but a decade of funding cuts in early intervention services has restricted the ability of services to respond.
  • Serious, preventable harm to children is being caused by a lack of national leadership. There is no consistent strategy, leadership and focus from central government on tackling criminal exploitation as an urgent and preventable crisis.

Isle of Man new sexual offence laws came into effect March 25 2024

Source: Isle of Man Government published on this website Tuesday 26 March 2024 by Jill Powell

The new Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications Act will modernise existing legislation, increase maximum penalties and strengthen sentencing powers for offences against children.

The Act, which comes into effect today, will introduce crimes like voyeurism, revenge porn and ‘upskirting’ into Manx law, reflecting changes in technology that have led to new types of offending.

This follows Tynwald approving the regulations and order which are required by the new law.

In addition to the new offences, the Act will outlaw conversion therapy, update child abuse and child exploitation offences, and revise court anonymity rules. Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Sexual Risk Orders will also be introduced, which will allow controls such as curfews and exclusions to be placed on those who pose a sexual risk to others even before a conviction or guilty plea. The Act also contains more stringent notification requirements for convicted sex offenders.

The full Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications Act 2021 is available online.

Minister for Justice and Home Affairs, Jane Poole-Wilson MHK, said:

‘The modernisation and strengthening of these laws is a significant step towards making our communities safer, and making sure that we are dealing with these awful crimes in an appropriate and robust way. The Act will enable our Courts to give stronger punishments, and give the police more flexible powers to keep victims and the public safe from these harms.  I am very grateful to all those who have been involved in the journey of this Act and, in particular, the significant amount of preparation ahead of go-live on 25 March.’

Anyone who believes they have been the victim of a crime outlined in the new Act should contact Douglas Police Headquarters on 631212 or 999 in an emergency.

There has been an extensive training programme across Government and the Police to ensure all parts of the organisation are ready to deal with the new law.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this release, there are details available of local organisations that provide advice on our wellbeing support webpage.

Reform of children's social care in England: A Research Briefing March 2024

Source: Commons Library Parliament UK  published on this website Friday 22 March 2024 by Jill Powell

The research briefing provides up to date information and research to inform the reform of children’s social care in England

On 2 February 2023, the Government published an implementation strategy and consultation on reforming children’s social care in England: Stable Homes, Built on Love.

The strategy is based on, and formed the Government’s response to, three independent reports published in 2022:

The final report of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, published in May 2022.

The final report of the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study into the children’s social care market, published in March 2022.

The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel review into the deaths of Star Hobson and Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, published in May 2022.