Frequently Asked Questions

What does Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children mean?

• Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
• Protecting children from abuse or neglect
• Preventing impairment of children's health or development
• Ensuring that children grow up in a safe and caring environment
• Enabling children to fulfil their potential and enter adulthood successfully.

What does the structure of the Board look like?

The KSCB has a structure which is consistent with meeting its terms of reference, in that there are a several subgroups, all of which have their own terms of reference, and report their progress to the Board.

What are the Aims of the Kent Safeguarding Children Board?

Kent Safeguarding Children Board is responsible for:

• Co-ordinating what is done by each person or body represented on the Board for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area
• Ensuring the effectiveness of what is done by each person or organisation for that purpose.

These aims are set out in the Children Act 2004 and in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2006).

What are the core functions of the Kent Safeguarding Children Board?

The Kent Safeguarding Children Board is responsible for both pro-active and preventative work to safeguard children and are set out in regulations and include:

• Developing and maintaining a strong and evolving network of effective partnership working between all stakeholders, including the involvement of children, young people and their carers in the work of the Board
• Ensuring that effective interagency policies and procedures are developed and implemented to respond to: children who are vulnerable
• children in need of protection
• Establishing a system for reviewing and investigating child deaths and undertaking case reviews and ensure that lessons are learnt and that families are provided with appropriate support
• Ensuring interagency co-operation in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people who are privately fostered and other vulnerable groups of children
• Raising awareness with the wider community of the need to safeguard children and promote their welfare
• Monitoring the effectiveness of organisation's implementation of their duties under Section 11 of the Children Act 2004.

What is the Board’s Accountability & Power?

 Whilst the Board has a statutory duty to co-ordinate and ensure the effectiveness of work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, it is not accountable for operational work. Each Board partner retains their own existing lines of accountability for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children by their services.The KSCB does not have the power to instruct an agency to make any changes. However, where it is found that a Board partner is not performing effectively in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and the KSCB is not confident that any planned action to improve performance will be sufficient, the KSCB chair will explain these concerns to those individuals and organisations that need to be aware of the weakness and may be able to take action.

For example, to the most senior managers in the partner organisations, to the relevant inspectorate, and, if necessary, to the relevant Government Department. The local inspection framework will play an important role in reinforcing the ongoing monitoring work of the Board. A joint area review of children’s services (JAR) will take place in Kent in January & February 2008. JARs assess how children’s services, taken together, contribute to improving outcomes for children and young people.

Does the Board have a Consitution Document?

Yes, this is available here.

Does the Board report to the Children’s Trust?

The Board does not report to the Children’s Trust Board as it has to have an independent scrutiny role. However, it does have a very close working relationship with the Children’s Trust Board.

How often do the Board Meetings Occur?

The Board meets five times a year. The Board also has a smaller Executive Group and subgroups all of which feed back into and are accountable to the main Board.

This allows for a wider range of people to contribute to and enable the work of the KSCB to improve its safeguarding practice. The KSCB, it’s Executive and subgroups are all coordinated by the KSCB Manager, Penny Davies.

Who Sits On The Board?

The Children Act 2004 specifies that a number of agencies have to be represented on the board to ensure that there is a fair representation of agencies working with children and young people across the county. Agencies include the NHS, Children, Families & Education, Children & Adult Social Services, Kent Police, District Councils, Youth Service, Probation, Connexions and Children & Family Court Advisory and Support Services, 

Why do organisations who work primarily with Adults sit on the Board?

The Local Authority has ensured that those responsible for adult social services functions are represented on the KSCB, because of the importance of adult social care in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Similarly health organisations also need to ensure that adult health services and in particular adult mental health and adult disability services are represented on the Board for the same reason.

Are the Public allowed to attend the Board Meetings?

No. The Board and its subgroups are not public meetings and they can only be attended by its members.

Are there any elected representatives on the board?

Local Authority Elected Members and non-executive directors of other board partners are not members of the KSCB. Their role, through their membership of governance bodies such as the cabinet of the local authority or a scrutiny committee or a governance board, is to hold their organisation and its officers to account for their contribution to the effective functioning of the KSCB.

The Lead Member for Children’s Services within Kent County Council has a particular focus on how the Local Authority is fulfilling its responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and will hold the Director of Children Services to account for the work of the KSCB.

Who funds the Kent Safeguarding Children Board?

The work of the KSCB is jointly funded by all key agencies. The annual budget currently covers the employment of 3.5 full time equivalent staff [the Kent Safeguarding Children Board Manager, the Training and Development Manager and administrative support. A comprehensive training and development programme including the annual conference, safeguarding policies and procedures, Serious Case Reviews and public awareness campaigns are also funded by the KSCB.