Important Update:  As colleagues will be aware, the Children’s Safeguarding Assurance Partnership (CSAP) has replaced the 3 x former Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) arrangements across the Pan-Lancashire region.  As part of our transition, a new single CSAP website (www.safeguardingpartnership.org.uk) covering the Blackpool, Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen areas has been developed and replaces the previous LSCB websites**.

Whilst no longer updated, the previous websites have remained in place throughout this time to support colleagues during the transition period.  However, we can now confirm that the Blackburn with Darwen LSCB website will formally cease on Friday 1^st July 2022 and will no longer be available after this point.

**Please note that Local Safeguarding Adult Board website arrangements remain unchanged and continue to be available at: https://www.lsab.org.uk/

As part of our continued transition from the former LSCB arrangements to the new Children’s Safeguarding Assurance Partnership (CSAP), we are currently reviewing and developing our related online content.  Feedback continues to inform us that practitioners across the children’s workforce value and place high regard on the information and resources we provide.  As such, in reviewing our online presence, our aim is to ensure that we continue to provide advice, guidance and content for partners and related agencies that is high-quality, up-to-date and can be used to ensure best practice and improved outcomes for children and young people across the Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool and Lancashire region.

Dr Victoria Gibson FCMI

Senior Business Manager

Children’s Safeguarding Assurance Partnership

On this site you will find information about Blackburn with Darwen Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), multi-agency safeguarding policies and procedures, training opportunities, access to e-learning, local agency details and the latest news.

The overarching purpose of the LSCB is to ensure that local agencies co-ordinate their work to safeguard children and young people, and that safeguarding work is effective.

From the 29th of September 2019 the LSCB arrangements will cease to exist and in their place will be implemented the new ‘Safeguarding Children Partnership Arrangements for Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool and Lancashire’.

As required by the Children and Social Work Act (2017) the new arrangements have been published and in the home page tab ‘Our Role’ please find the full document setting out the role of the new Safeguarding Children Partnership and the new Child Death Review Arrangements.

Are you concerned that a child is being abused or neglected?

If you are concerned about a child and you feel they are being abused, neglected or at risk of abuse/neglect, then you should consider making a safeguarding child referral.

Contact Blackburn with Darwen Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) for confidential advice and consultation. Monday to Friday 08.45-17.00 please call:

01254 666400

If you are calling outside these hours please contact our Emergency Duty Team on 01254 587547.

Safeguarding Children

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in statutory guidance as:

• protecting children from maltreatment;

• preventing impairment of children’s health and development;

• ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and

• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Statutory guidance outlines that safeguarding arrangements must be underpinned by two key principles:

• safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility – all organisations working with children, young people and their parents/carers have a role to play both individually, and collectively across organisations, to: identify safeguarding concerns; provide children and young people with the help they need; share information about these concerns; and work together with organisations to ensure children and young people have the best outcomes;

• a child-centred approach – for help provided to children, young people and their parents/carers to be effective, help should be based on a clear understanding of their developmental needs and views of children and young people. A child-centred approach is supported by a number of laws like the Children Act, Equality Act and United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The role of Blackburn with Darwen LSCB is:

• to co-ordinate what is done by each organisation that works with children, young people and parents/carers for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting welfare; and

• to ensure the effectiveness of what is done by each organisation for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting welfare.

The work of the LSCB includes bringing different local organisations together to look at whether:

• children, young people and their families get the help they need;

• local organisations are doing what the law and guidance say they should be doing to help keep children and young people safe;

• the quality of services organisations provide and the work their staff do is of the highest standard;

• lessons are learnt for the future following incidents when children or young people are seriously harmed or die; and

• local training is helping different professionals to keep children and young people safe.

Safeguarding Children Partnership and Child Death Review Arrangements for Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool and Lancashire

How the new arrangements will be organised and the work they will cover is detailed in the linked document. In these new arrangements the new Independent Scrutineer will be Mr Stephen Ashley.

BwD_BP_Lancs Safeguarding_CDR Arrangements 29 June 2019