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On 21st November 2023, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership held it's annual Safeguarding Adults Conference, which was attended by approximately 150 colleagues.
Keynote speakers and topics included
- Self-Neglect and Safeguarding by David Orr, University of Sussex
- Mental Capacity Act by Ian Brownhill, 39 Essex Chambers
- Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking by Chris Acourt, Cambridgeshire Constabulary
- Cuckooing by Claire Thatcher, Change Grow Live
On the 13th December 2023, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership held it's annual Safeguarding Childrens Conference, which was attended by approximately 120 colleagues.
Topics and speakers included
- The scale and nature of child sexual abuse: Overcoming the challenges in practice by Dr Natasha Sabin, Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse
- How new technologies and remote connections are influencing online child sexual abuse by Emma Hardy, Internet Watch Foundation
- Lived Experience - Understanding Child Exploitation from a Parental Perspective facilitated by Dave Sargent, C&P Safeguarding Partnership Board
- Understanding CSA – to include lived experience and launch of our local Partnership CSA Strategy facilitated by Dr Emilia Wawrzkowicz, Designated Doctor
 Copies of the presentations for those who attended are available via the melearning booking system by logging in to your account. Access the annual conference courses in 'my completions' and selecting 'useful links'.
The Department for Education has published it's revised statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023.
This revision to the guidance focuses on strengthening multi-agency working across the whole system of help, support and protection for children and their families, keeping a child-centred approach while bringing a whole-family focus, and embedding strong, effective and consistent multi-agency child protection practice.
The update includes:
- principles for working with parents and carers that centre around the importance of building positive, trusting and co-operative relationships to deliver tailored support to families
- expectations for multi-agency working that apply to all individuals, agencies and organisations working with children and their families, across a range of roles and activities
- new national multi-agency child protection standards that set out actions, considerations and behaviours for improved child protection practice and better outcomes for children
Click here to access the revised guidance Working together to safeguard children - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
With thanks to Jane Bellamy, Janet Farr, and all of the practitioners who helped develop and provided feedback on our new Child Protection resources available.
One is a briefing sheet, intended for practitioners who work with children who are new to children’s safeguarding Resources For Practitioners | Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership Board (safeguardingcambspeterborough.org.uk)
We also have a Sway (virtual briefing) about Child Protection Steps | Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership Board (safeguardingcambspeterborough.org.uk). This sway has been designed to assist practitioners when thinking about their collective responsibilities to safeguarding children and to also to support practitioners in understanding what to expect when attending a child protection conference.
We hope you find both the Sway and the briefing sheet helpful.
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To support young people under 18 to remove sexual images of themselves online, the Internet Watch Foundation and NSPCC have developed the Report Remove tool, in partnership with age verification app, Yoti.
Report Remove can support a young person in reporting sexual images or videos shared online and enables them to get the image removed if it is illegal.
Visit Report Remove on the IWF website here.
Visit Report Remove on the Childline website here.
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 This platform was launched in December 2022 and in the first 11 months there have been 200 referrals made either directly from victims of serious sexual assault, persons reporting on behalf of the victim (friend or family member) or a witness to a sexual assault such as a member of the public.
Reports can also be made anonymously. A number of sexual offences can be reported through this portal including rape, sexual assault, indecent exposure and upskirting. Sexual harassment can also be reported using this service. The report takes 20-30 minutes to complete.
Following completion of the report, there is the option of removing a visit to this portal from a person’s web history. The use of this portal is a safe and secure way of reporting sexual assaults or harassment to the police and is another channel enabling the police to be more accessible and responsive to victims of sexual offences who may be reluctant to speak to the police direct either in person or by phone.
There is a whole host of other useful resources and advice available through this portal to support victims of sexual abuse. Once reported via this portal, police will make contact with the person reporting to investigate further and provide or signpost the victim or person reporting to any other support that may be required.
Visit Report rape, sexual assault and other sexual offences | Cambridgeshire Constabulary (cambs.police.uk)
 A new mental health free text messaging support service has launched in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to help those who are struggling to cope.
Launched by NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and in partnership with the national service SHOUT, the free to use text service HEAR 85258 provides real-time support to people of all ages who are struggling with their mental health.
When texting the word HEAR to 85258, the person will be connected to a trained volunteer who will take them from a place of crisis to a place of calm. During the confidential and anonymous conversation, the texter will be supported and signposted to local and national mental health services.
Texting HEAR to 85258 is free, discreet and runs 24/7. It won’t appear on any bills and requires no app, data, password, or registration. It is available for anybody who lives, works, or studies in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
For more information about what mental health services are available in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, visit www.keep-your-head.com.
If you feel your or somebody’s life is at risk due to their mental health, dial 111 and listen for the option for the mental health crisis team.
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Children Partnership have updated and refreshed its Child Sexual Abuse Strategy for 2023 - 2025.
The strategy is now live and can be accessed here:
https://www.safeguardingcambspeterborough.org.uk/children-board/professionals/procedures/child-sexual-abuse-strategy/
Over the last few months, the Partnership Board's Child Exploitation Strategic Group has been seeking partnership feedback regarding the current Child Exploitation Risk Management Tool.
The partners were clear that they would like to see the form simplified and more user friendly, with an emphasis on wider Contextual Safeguarding rather than just exploitation.
A working group was set up involving all partners and a Contextual Risk Screening Tool was developed.
At the latest Strategic Group meeting the new form was signed off and ratified by the Chair of the Safeguarding Children Partnership Board.
The form is now on the Safeguarding Partnership Board's website and has replaced the existing risk management tool and can be used by partners immediately.
If you work in an adult safeguarding role, the Partnership Board would like to hear your views about your work.
The board has designed a quick survey to give you the opportunity to share your thoughts and experiences surrounding your work in the field of adult safeguarding.
This is an anonymous survey that should only take 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
By answering this short survey, the board hopes to find out what adult safeguarding means to you as a professional, as well as what your experiences are of working with adults at risk and their families/carers.
The findings will be used by the board to:
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Identify any gaps in understanding
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Identify training needs
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Assess where to aim future resources for safeguarding awareness events
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Help to further inform the self-assessment tool, which is currently being completed by safeguarding leads within each agency to highlight areas of strength and areas of development for adult safeguarding duties and responsibilities.
Once all the data has been analysed there will be briefings for professionals on what we have found and discussion within the Safeguarding Adult Partnership Board groups as to how to take any recommendations forward.
The survey monkey link can be found below, and the survey will be open until Friday 1 March 2024.
Adult Safeguarding Professionals Survey 2023- 2024 (surveymonkey.com)
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