Staying Safe : a consultation on children and young people’s safety

1. Staying Safe: a consultation on children and young people’s safety

2. Staying Safe: a cross-Government strategy • Developed across Government, led by DCSF/DfES, with strong engagement at all levels from wide range of Government departments • Cross-Government safeguarding programme board – including wide range of DCSF and other Government Department colleagues • Domestic Affairs (Children’s Policy) Cabinet Sub-Committee – agreed to publish strategy branded as cross-Government • A consultation document, launched on 18 July 2007 by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families

3. Purpose of strategy • Raise awareness of importance of safeguarding children and young people and encourage wider debate around safeguarding as everyone’s responsibility • Promote better understanding of safeguarding issues, and start to change behaviour towards children and young people, and their safety and welfare • Ensure work in this area is coherent and effectively co-ordinated across Government to maximise the impact on outcomes for children and young people • Reinforce existing activity by proposing new actions in each area of safeguarding framework (universal, targeted and responsive) to plug gaps or improve linkages

4. Key messages • Staying safe is vital for children and young people’s happiness and well-being. Helping children stay safe is everyone’s responsibility • Keeping children safe does not mean wrapping them in cotton wool. We need to help develop children’s understanding of how to be safe • Government wants to support parents in striking the right balance between protecting their children and at the same time allowing them to learn and explore new situations safely • We must also look at how best to protect vulnerable children and how to respond when children and young people have been harmed • Everyone has a role to play in this debate – government, practitioners, parents, and children and young people themselves

5. Framework in Staying Safe 3 levels of protection: • All children and young people should have safe environments to help promote their welfare and well-being • Action need to be targeted at vulnerable groups such as disabled, children in care etc. • Responses to children who have been harmed to minimise lifelong impact

6. Scope and structure • Staying Safe covers full range of stay safe outcome in Every Child Matters – abuse, neglect, prevention of accidents, tackling bullying and discrimination, protection from crime and ensuring children and young people have stable and secure home environments. • Consultation document includes: • Review of current evidence on children’s safety • Chapters on universal, targeted and responsive work – covering existing work, good practice case studies, proposals for new action and open questions for consultation • A short summary version and young people’s version of Staying Safe are also available.

7. Areas for new/additional action (1) Helping all children and young people to stay safe • Play and taking part in positive activities • Understanding and managing risks • Safe workforce • Addressing new threats to children’s safety • Helping Local Safeguarding Children Boards to make a difference

8. Areas for new/additional action (2) Protecting vulnerable children and young people • Improving practice in children’s social care • Reducing numbers of accidents • Addressing parental problems which have a negative impact on children’s safety • Improving safety on the streets Responding when children and young people have been harmed • Highlighting the role of the public in children and young people’s safety • Better safeguards for children coming in/going out of country

9. Main proposals (1) • Staying Safe includes proposals for the areas where new/additional action is identified. Some of the main proposals are: Helping all children and young people to stay safe • Launch a new communications campaign to encourage parents to let their children play outside in safe environments and take part safely in positive activities • Carry out a research study into the best Personal Social and Heath Education materials for teaching about safety, helping teachers to identify which resources will be most helpful for their particular school • Provide information for parents about risks of harm faced by children and through Sure Start Children’s Centres ensure information is given to families of young children

10. Main proposals (2) Protecting vulnerable children and young people • Launch a new national safeguarding awards scheme to celebrate success and highlight individual contributions to improving children and young people’s safety • Extend anti-bullying policies and training used in schools to other settings, including children’s homes, extended school services, further education colleges, youth groups Responding when children and young people have been harmed • Launch a public education campaign to improve the public’s ability to identify and report concerns about children’s safety, and raise awareness of the need to take responsibility for safeguarding children and young people

11. Key consultation questions • How safe do you think children and young people are? How good are we at giving children and young people the opportunity to explore, understand risks for themselves and to learn the skills vital for their development? • If you are a parent, what concerns do you have about your children’s safety and how do you address these? • If you are a child or young person, what concerns do you and your friends have about your safety? • As a member of the public, do you feel a sense of responsibility for protecting children and young people? • If you work with children and young people, do you know what your role is in keeping them safe?

12. Next steps • Consultation period to 31 October 2007: • series of specific events with children, young people, parents and practitioners • written consultation • discuss Staying Safe at planned events and conferences • Cross-Government action plan published as response to consultation • For information, see www.ecm.gov.uk/stayingsafe or contact staying.safe@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk