A new team of officials is to be set up after a scathing report on child protection services in Dundee.
Although the inspection of child protection in Dundee last year, did not deal with the case of tragic toddler Brandon Muir who was killed at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend his death prompted Scottish Government minister Adam Ingram to bring forward publication of the findings.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education found almost half the quality indicators to be weak or unsatisfactory.
Major problems with the identification of children who are at risk and the provision of speedy responses to their needs were revealed.
In a report proposing a wide-ranging improvement plan, the council’s then chief executive Alex Stephen acknowledged that the inspectors had not been confident that all children who were at risk of harm, abuse or neglect and in need of protection were identified and received the support they needed.
“The immediate response to concerns about children who may be at risk…did not always lead to a prompt assessment of risk,” he said.
Council social work director Alan Baird, in a report, said a number of improvements had already been made in response to the inspection.
They include taking on additional social work and health visiting staff; establishing regular liaison meetings of the social work and health sectors; and launching a dedicated telephone number 307999 for the public to report concerns they have about child protection.
Outlining further proposed improvements, Mr Baird said a number of services have existing staff who have a child protection function within their own organisation.New teamA new team of officials from the city council, Tayside Police and NHS Tayside is to be set up.
The multi-agency assessment team is intended to ensure a more co-ordinated approach to information sharing and decision making about protection cases.
Mr Baird said the core membership of the team would be drawn from the council’s social work and education departments, the health service and the police.
“However, the benefit of having links to other services such as housing, leisure and communities and the voluntary sector are recognised,” he said.
“Consequently, regular meetings will be held with designated lead officers from these agencies to discuss specific cases.”
Mr Baird said there were multiple routes of access to services, some of which are multi-agency such as the child protection unit and others which are single agency like the access team within the social work department.
“Those dealt with through the child protection team tend to be dealt with jointly with the police whilst referrals to the access team are primarily dealt with by social work,” he said.
There was potential for confusion and so the functions of the access and protection teams should be combined.