Quick Guide |
Manual Version August 2011
Welcome to the West Yorkshire Consortium Safeguarding Children Boards Procedures Manual.
This is the first edition of the manual in which Bradford Safeguarding Children Board has joined the West Yorkshire Consortium.
Primarily as a result of Bradford SCB joining the Consortium, this manual update incorporates a number of additions and amendments, which are summarised in the table below. The Contents List also highlights where additions and changes have been made.
| Chapter Title | Nature of Amendment |
| All relevant chapters | Links to the Bradford Safeguarding Children Board website and local CAF procedures, as well as the relevant local contact details have been incorporated. |
| Referrals Procedure | This chapter now includes links to the referrals forms in use in Bradford and Wakefield. |
| Strategy Discussions in Bradford | This chapter applies to Bradford only. The existing procedure on Strategy Discussions still applies to the other members of the Consortium. |
| Bradford Protocol for the Review of Children on a Child Protection Plan for 2+ Years | This chapter has been added but has not been adopted by all members of the Consortium; it therefore applies to Bradford only. |
| Safeguarding Children and Young People from Sexual Exploitation - Bradford | This chapter applies to Bradford only. The existing procedure: Safeguarding Children and Young People from Child Sexual Exploitation - West Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Boards' Protocol and Practitioner Guidance still applies to the other members of the Consortium. |
| Bradford Education Welfare Service Guidance - Children Missing Education | This chapter has been added but has not been adopted by all members of the Consortium; it therefore applies to Bradford only. |
| Fabricated or Induced Illness | References to the Specialist Operations Centre, Covert Advice Team have replaced the National Centre for Policing Excellence which no longer exists. |
| Female Genital Mutilation | A link to the non-statutory government Multi-Agency Guidelines on Female Genital Mutilation (issued in February 2011) has been added. |
| Forced Marriages | The Flowchart: Warning Signs of Victim of Forced Marriage has been added. |
| Male Circumcision - Bradford | This chapter has been added but has not been adopted by all members of the Consortium; it therefore applies to Bradford only. |
| Safeguarding Children who may have been Trafficked | Links have been added to the following publications: |
| Children Visiting Custodial Settings - Bradford | This chapter has been added but has not been adopted by all members of the Consortium; it therefore applies to Bradford only. |
| Children Visiting Psychiatric Units and Special Hospitals - Bradford | This chapter has been added but has not been adopted by all members of the Consortium; it therefore applies to Bradford only. |
| Children who Pose a Risk - Bradford | This chapter has been added but has not been adopted by all members of the Consortium; it therefore applies to Bradford only. |
| Bradford Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership – Information Sharing Protocol | This chapter has been added and applies to Bradford only. The other members of the Consortium still have their own information sharing protocols. |
| Guidance for Doctors 0 to 18 years (issued by the General Medical Council in October 2007) | This has been added as an appendix to the manual. |
This 'Quick Guide' must be read before accessing the body of the manual.
Contents
- 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 West Yorkshire Consortium of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield District Safeguarding Children Boards.
In this manual, The Consortium’s Underlying Policies, Values and Principles are located in a Chapter called 'Values' - available from the left hand side of the screen.
Procedures and Guidance: In an attempt to keep procedures succinct, procedures and more detailed guidance are separated - with links provided as appropriate. 'Procedures' summarise how Managers and Staff must act in given circumstances. 'Guidance' provides direction or advice to a decision or course of action.
3. Amendments
The manual is regularly updated and after this update, the next planned update will be published in or around December 2011.
If any user wishes to include any changes in the next planned update, they should contact their local Safeguarding and Reviewing Unit who attend regular meetings with colleagues from the other Boards which form the Consortium to discuss and agree what should be included in the updates.
Where this manual has been updated, chapters which are new or have been amended significantly will be indicated in the Contents List and at the top of the relevant Chapter.
The changes to the latest version of the manual are also listed at the top of this Quick Guide.
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 'Managing individual Cases where there are concerns about a Child's Safety and Welfare'.
CHAPTERS: Under each Part, you'll find individual Chapters/Procedures e.g. Initial Assessments
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 |
| 'Staff' or 'Carer' | means all Staff and Carers (including) whether employed or not |
| '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. |
| Children’s Social Care | This generic term is used to describe the service with responsibility to carry out the child protection and safeguarding duties of the local authority under the Children Acts 1989 and 2004, and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010. See Local Contact details. |
| Safeguarding and Reviewing Unit | This generic term is used to describe where the responsibility lies for holding the List of Children with a Child Protection. See Local Contact details. |
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.
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 Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield Safeguarding Children Boards.
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.
End