Quick Guide

Manual Version: November 2009

The changes in this update are as follows:

The Principles and Values chapter was amended to make explicit in Section 1.3 that any plan for support services for children should include a clearly stated objective, how the success or otherwise of the plan will be measured and a contingency plan, all of which should be properly explained to the child and the parents/carers, as well as a new Section 1.12 that all agencies should have in place clear procedures as to the way in which actions and plans are to be recorded by staff and clearly understood policies regarding confidential file management.
Chapter 1.1.7, Information Sharing and Confidentiality was updated to reflect the Information sharing practice guidance for practitioners and managers which was published by the DCSF in October 2008 and includes seven golden rules for information sharing
Chapter 2.1.5, Guidance on Safer Working Practices for Adults who Work with Children and Young People in Education Settings, was updated to provide a link to the 2009 Guidance on this issue.
Chapter 4.1.1, Managing Allegations Against Adult who Work with Children and Young People was updated to include references to the role of the Independent Safeguarding Authority
Chapter 4.1.7, Forced Marriage was updated to include a link to the Multi Agency Practice Guidance: Handling Cases of Forced Marriage (published by the Forced Marriage Unit in June 2009) and additional guidance to Local Authorities on the use of the Forced Marriage Civil Protection Order (published by the Ministry of Justice in November 2009)
Chapter 4.1.8, Children and Families who go Missing has been updated to include a link to the revised statutory guidance on young runaways and children missing from home and care
Chapter 5.1.2, Persons Posing a Risk to Children - West Midlands Multi Agency Regional Guidance Manual has been updated
Chapter 6.1.2, Anti-Bullying Guidance has been updated
Chapter 6.1.4, Safeguarding Children from Abroad has been updated
Chapter 6.1.5, Safeguarding Children who may have been Trafficked is new
Chapter 6.1.6, Children Abused Through Commercial Sexual Exploitation has been updated to include a link to the government guidance issued in June 2009
Chapter 6.1.10, Inter Agency Guidance on Working with Young People who Use and Misuse Substances has been adopted by the Safeguarding Children Boards of Herefordshire and Shropshire (this was previously guidance local to Worcestershire)
Chapter 6.1.14, Safeguarding Around the Time of Birth has been updated to reflect the recommendations of a Serious Case Review in Worcestershire
Part 9 on Child Deaths has been updated to incorporate the up to date Notification Forms
Chapter 10.1.2, Joint Protocol for Missing Young People for the West Mercia Area has been updated

This 'Quick Guide' must be read before accessing the body of the manual.

Display and Browser Options
Structure of the Manual
Amendments
How to find a Chapter
Terminology
Keywords
Compliance
Contact us
Copyright
Printing and Retaining Copies

1. Display and Browser Options

People with a visual impairment may have difficulty accessing this Manual.

To change the size of the text/layout - please use these accessibility buttons

which are on menu bar on the left side of every screen. Click a larger button to increase your text size, the very largest being high visibility mode.

2. Structure of the Manual

This manual contains the policies, procedures and guidance for the Safeguarding Children Boards of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire; these three Boards form the West Mercia Consortium.

In this manual, the underpinning Principles and Values of the West Mercia Consortium are located in one Chapter, which users are required to familiarise themselves with before proceeding to the main body of the Manual. They are located in a Chapter called 'Values' - available from the left hand side of the screen.

3. Amendments

Where the manual has been updated, if a Chapter has been significantly amended or is new, it will be indicated in the Contents List and at the top of the relevant Chapter.

A list of the changes included in this update is at the top of this quick guide. The manual is updated on a regular basis. The next update will be published in March 2010 and a planning meeting will take place on 22 January 2010.

The second update in 2010 will be in September 2010 and a planning meeting will be held on 8 July 2010.

If you wish any amendments or additions to be included in an update, please send the information to the following:

If in Herefordshire, to Ruby Thomas - rthomas2@herefordshire.gov.uk

If in Shropshire, to Adam Scott - adam.scott@shropshire.gov.uk

If in Worcestershire, to Adrienne Plunkett - APlunkett@worcestershire.gov.uk

4. How to find a chapter

Procedures and guidance are located in individual 'Chapters' which are available from a 'traditional' Contents List - on the left hand side of the screen.

4.1 Using the Contents List

Chapters are categorised or grouped together as follows:

PARTS: The manual contains procedures categorised under a number of Parts, like 'Children in Specific Circumstances - Additional Procedures',

CHAPTERS: Under each Part, you'll find individual Chapters/Procedures e.g. 'Anti Bullying

4.2 You can search for a Chapter

If you aren't sure which service or section to look in, try 'Search' which will help you identify specific Chapters and sub headings within Chapters

5.Terminology

We believe it is crucial to use consistent terminology, which we agree with individual customers, for example:

'Child' or 'Young Person'	both these terms are used to mean any child under the age of 18
'Parent'	includes any person with Parental Responsibility
'Regulatory Authority'	Regulatory Authority is the generic term used in this manual to describe the independent regulatory body responsible for inspecting and regulating services e.g. Ofsted.

6. Keywords

The manual is accessed by practitioners from varying agencies, who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore, a large glossary (Keywords) of terms such as Significant Harm (Try it: click on the highlighted text). We call them 'Keywords'. Once clicked, the definitions will appear in a new window or tab, depending on your browser. You can leave it open for reference, or close it using the "close" button at the bottom.

Many Keywords are highlighted in the body of procedures, but you can search for the Keyword you need: Go to the Keywords Index, on the left hand side of the screen. Or, use 'Search' .

7.Compliance

7.1 Regulatory Compliance

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or mistakes, please alert your manager or contact us.

7.2 W3C Compliance

This manual meets the double A Standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), for example, it can be accessed by people with high levels of visual impairment. To find out more, click on 'Display Options' on the left hand side of the screen.

8.Contact us

If you have any comments or suggestions to make about this manual please contact us by using the button on the left hand side of the screen, from anywhere within the manual.

9.Copyright

The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. However any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of Tri-X-Childcare Ltd and the three constituent Safeguarding Children Boards of the West Mercia Consortium.

10. Printing and Retaining Copies

The Manual should normally be viewed on line but can be printed, for reference only.

To print a chapter, click on the icon which is in the top right hand corner of the relevant procedure

Please note, the Manual will be updated regularly, so staff should avoid retaining printed versions - hard copies are only valid for 72 hours.

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