Sunderland Local Safeguarding Children Board is now known as Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board.

Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board has undertaken a review that addressed the following areas:

• Membership and Partnership engagement
• Accountability and Scrutiny
• Structure and Governance Arrangements
• Chairing Arrangements for sub group and the Board

The Board has appointed Jan Van Wagtendonk as Independent Chair. Paula Telford, Children's Services Manager for NSPCC and Meg Boustead, Head of Safeguarding Children's Services (starting in November 2009) are the Interim Deputy Chairs of the Board.

Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board (SSCB) was established in Sunderland in October 2004. It was formed as a statutory requirement of the Children Act 2004. The SSCB has a main board with Strategic Heads of agencies within Sunderland and a number of groups who carry out specific functions in relation to the SSCB’s responsibilities.

The SSCB function is to coordinate local work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and to ensure the effectiveness of that work.

Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board Role

The work of the SSCB is part of the wider context of Children’s Trust arrangements that aim to improve the overall well being of all children in the city.

Whilst the work of the SSCB contributes to the wider goals of improving the well being of all children, it has a particular focus on aspects of the ‘Staying Safe’ outcome from the 5 Every Child Matters outcomes .

Whereas the Children’s Trust has a wider role in planning and delivery of services the SSCB objectives are about coordinating and ensuring the effectiveness of what the member organisations do individually and together. The SSCB contributes to delivery and commissioning through the Children and Young People’s Plan and the Children’s Trust arrangements.

Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board Vision

Effective partnership working to ensure good outcomes for the most vulnerable children achieved through quality services, which place children and young people at the centre.

Sunderland SCB will ensure that agencies work together effectively

• To safeguard children and promote their well being with a particular focus on children who are in need of protection.
• To enhance the life chances of the most vulnerable children in relation to their health, safety, achievements, contributions to society and economic well being.

Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board Objectives

The core objectives of the SSCB are set out in section 14(1) of the Children Act 2004

• to coordinate what is done by each person or body represented on the Board for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area of the authority and
• to ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each such person or body for that purpose

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006 as

• Protecting children from maltreatment
• Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
• and undertaking that role so as to enable those children to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully.

The SSCB will therefore ensure that the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children will be carried out to improve all five outcomes for children.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children includes protecting children from harm. Ensuring that work to protect children is properly coordinated and effective remains a key goal of the SSCB and the Board must not extend its remit unless high standards are attained in this area. When this core business is secure the SSCB should go beyond it to work to the wider remit, which includes preventative work to avoid harm being suffered in the first place.

Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board Aims

Sunderland SCB will ensure that agencies work together effectively

• To safeguard children and promote their well being with a particular focus on children who are in need of protection
• To enhance the life chances of the most vulnerable children in relation to their health, safety, achievements, contribution to society and economic well being

Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board Priorities

• To develop a shared understanding across agencies of the concept of safeguarding to provide a clear focus of work with the most vulnerable children and their families.
• To ensure that systems are in place to support effective multi agency working in individual cases.
• To ensure that systems that are developed across agencies for information sharing and early identification of children who will require additional support to achieve good outcomes, are able to identify children who are at risk and/or neglected.
• To improve the delivery and quality of services particularly for those children who are the most vulnerable.
• To put in place systems to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of multi agency working particularly in relation to the protection of children form harm.
• To ensure that children, young people and their carers are heard and have opportunities to contribute to shaping service design and delivery.