Safeguarding review recommendations

Friday 17 February 2023

Four recommendations have been made after a Serious Case Review found both a boy and the public were failed after his worrying behaviour was not properly managed.

The boy displayed "sexualised behaviour" and was considered to be on a "harmful pathway" from a young age, but despite numerous agencies being involved he was not prevented from going to on to commit offences.

Faults were found with the way concerns over his behaviour were managed with different agencies not liaising adequately.

Sarah Elliott, the Pan Island Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Partnership Boards, said training will now be offered to staff to ensure such behaviours are managed at the earliest stage possible in any other cases like this in the future.

"We publish the findings of Serious Case Reviews to demonstrate how the ISCP meets its statutory responsibilities for reviewing serious safeguarding incidents but also to raise awareness of the learnings identified," she said.

"Managing the impact of children and young people exhibiting harmful sexual behaviour is an incredibly challenging area of work for agencies across Health and Care, Justice, the Police and Education. It is important that they are not immediately criminalised prior to their behaviour escalating, yet agencies must consistently – and rightly – focus on the impact of such behaviour on potential victims. As the learning has emerged from this case, the  Safeguarding Partnership has led work on the development of a Harmful Sexual Behaviour to ensure all frontline staff are trained and equipped to identify and manage these behaviours at the earliest stage possible."

The four recommendations made by the Serious Case Review are Amed at strengthening and improving working arrangements to 'safeguard and promote the welfare of children'.

The recommendations are: 

1. The Partnership’s 2019 Information Sharing Guidance for practitioners providing services to children, young people, parents and carers should be reviewed and strengthened. Once revised, it should be disseminated to all relevant agencies and briefing sessions provided to front-line practitioners and managers.

2. The Partnership’s online procedures should be reviewed and, where necessary, strengthened to reflect practice relating to harmful sexual behaviours and specifically the practice challenges for professionals when responding to those children and young people who are victims of abuse but also pose a risk to others.

3. The use of professional challenge and escalation guidance should be further promoted to all professionals.

4. The Partnership should continue to oversee the implementation of the action plan arising from the NSPCC audit on harmful sexual behaviours, and should work together to identify, and where possible remove, any barriers to implementation.

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Authorities failed boy, and public