A Guide to Perth and Kinross Child Protection Committee

This guide has been published by Perth and Kinross Child Protection Committee (CPC) and will provide you with information and advice about its work.

Each council in Scotland has its own CPC and in line with Scottish Government legislation, policy and guidance, each CPC's functions are:

• Continuous improvement
• Public information, engagement and participation
• Strategic planning and connections
• Annual reporting on its work

The Child Protection Committee (CPC) is a strategic, multi-agency, child protection partnership bringing together senior representatives from the public, private and third sectors across Perth and Kinross. This includes our education and learning, children, young people and families, and housing services, NHS Tayside, Police Scotland, the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA); the local voluntary/third sector and other key organisations. 

Membership of the CPC is wide-ranging to reflect the scope of the local children's services landscape across public, private and third sectors in Perth and Kinross. Membership is also kept under constant review. Click for further details of the current CPC membership.

The CPC oversees the creation, development, publication, distribution, delivery, embedding and evaluation (including quality assurance and self-evaluation) of all child protection policy and practice matters across Perth and Kinross.

In practice, this covers a range of partnership work, as outlined below:

Continuous Improvement

• ensure up-to-date single and multi-agency child protection policies; procedures; protocols; guidance; guidelines are in place across services and agencies
• ensure they are widely distributed and understood by staff
• develop key multi-agency practice guidance on new and emerging child protection practice issues
• maintain an overview of key multi-agency child protection performance data to identify activity; trends; patterns; themes and hotspots
• ensure that data is used to inform multi-agency quality assurance and self-evaluation activities
• ensure systematic approaches to quality assurance and self-evaluation are embedded across all services / agencies
• promote and share good practice; undertake Learning Reviews as and when necessary, to identify learning and ensure any learning is widely shared to further improve practice
• provide multi-agency, child protection, learning and development opportunities for staff
• ensure that these opportunities are quality assured and evaluated to identify impact
• ensure the voice of children, young people and families informs the work of the CPC

Public Information, Engagement and Participation

• promote the ethos that child protection is everyone's job and everyone's responsibility
• provide information on keeping children and young people safe from harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation
• raise awareness and provide information on and what do if worried or concerned about a child or young person
• maintain the child protection website and provide a wide range of relevant public information

Strategic Planning and Connections

• ensure the CPC maintains national, regional and local links
• ensure the CPC has strong partnership links with other local public protection partnerships
• ensure the CPC Improvement Plan supports other key Plans

The CPC has developed a public-facing child protection website, which contains a wide range of materials for children, young people and their families and also for practitioners and managers.  It also contains a wide range of national and local practice guidance and information and advice leaflets. Additionally, the Committee annually publishes a Standards & Quality Report, which details its partnership work throughout the year, including key strengths and areas for improvement, and is scrutinised by Chief Officers, Councillors and the Care Inspectorate.

The CPC also provides inter-agency child protection learning and development opportunities for staff - including online modules; webinars; face-to-face learning opportunities; seminars; workshops and other learning events. Click for more information about these learning and development opportunities.

The CPC is chaired by an Independent Chair, and supported in its work by a CPC Lead Officer and a CPC Management Assistant. The CPC meets every 8 weeks or as required, in person or online. All meetings are minuted - see previous minutes for further details.

The work of the CPC and its Improvement Plan and Self-Evaluation Programme are also supported by three Working Groups, each with their own specific and detailed role, remit and responsibility:

CPC Practice Improvement Working Group

This Working Group supports, promotes and empowers good single and multi-agency child protection practice and where necessary, improvement to child protection practice.  

CPC Case Review Working Group

This Working Group receives and initially considers, on behalf of the CPC, all cases (Notifications) referred to it as potential Learning Reviews, determines whether or not there is a need to proceed to a Learning Review and thereafter makes the necessary recommendations to the CPC.

CPC Quality Assurance Working Group

This Working Group promotes continuous improvement through quality assurance and self-evaluation (both single agency and multi-agency), which aims to improve day-to-day child protection practice.  On behalf of the CPC, it also oversees and monitors the CPC Improvement Plan; the CPC Self-Evaluation Programme and CPC Data Reports and reports back to the CPC. 

Visit the CPC Membership page for further details.

If you are concerned or worried about the welfare, care or protection of a child or young person, please share that concern with your Line Manager / Supervisor or Designated Child Protection Officer (CPO) in the first instance.  Local child protection procedures should then be followed as quickly as possible and without any unnecessary delay.

Contact the Perth and Kinross Child Protection and Duty Team, or Police Scotland: 

Across Perth and Kinross, it is still everyone's job and everyone's responsibility to ensure that:

• our children and young people will have the best start in life and Tayside will be the best place in Scotland to grow up
• our children and young people grow up loved; safe and respected; so that they realise their full potential
• our children and young people get the support they need; when they need it and that it is the right support; from the right people; at the right time
• our children and young people are safe; healthy; achieving; nurtured; active; respected; responsible and included
• our children and young people are protected from harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation
• our children and young people are cared for; grow and develop in a safe, protected and comfortable environment at home, on line, at school and in the community
• our children and young people's welfare remains paramount
• our children and young people are listened to; understood and respected
• our children and young people are taken seriously and treated with dignity and respect
• that parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities are encouraged and supported to provide the appropriate emotional and physical care for their children, except in exceptional circumstances

Contact details for the Child Protection Committee, including the CPC Independent Chair, CPC Lead Officer and the CPC Management Assistant:

Perth & Kinross Child Protection Committee
Perth & Kinross Council
2 High Street
PERTH
PH1 5PH

Tel: 01738 476881

Email: childprotectioncommittee@pkc.gov.uk