Child protection on track for opening

A NEW joint child protection unit for Moray is on track to open next month.

The centre at Hamilton Drive in Elgin will be occupied by social work, health and police staff. Staff are set to move in some time in October.

The new centre, which will have its official opening on December 1, is part of ongoing improvements to the child protection service in Moray, councillors have been told.

A damning report by inspectors three years ago criticised the lack of information sharing and integrated working between all the agencies involved in child protection in Moray.

In an updated report to members of Moray Council’s audit and performance review committee, Sandy Riddell, the authority’s head of education and social care, said great strides had been made in the last two years to implement improvements.

These have included substance misuse training for staff dealing with children affected by parents with a drug or alcohol problem. More detailed risk asssessments, closer links between social work and health staff and the creation of a public protection forum are other measures.

Mr Riddell said that while agencies involved in child protection had carried out sound practice, they had been poor at evidencing the work done locally, so when reporters came to inspect, they could find little evidence of procedures.

"There are far more robust procedures in place now to capture evidence of what we do," he added.

He said child protection was much more than a social work issue, and involved education, health and the police.

The committee heard that there were 44 children on the child protection register in the fourth quarter of 2010-11, mostly relating to emotional abuse, with a number of physical neglect and sexual abuse cases.

A follow up report by inspectors in June last year concluded that progress had been made in improvements to the service.

The next inspection of joint child protection services in Moray is due in January 2012.

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