All newly appointed staff, coming from within or from outside the agency, or newly qualified or new to the workforce, should receive personalised induction and support, training and appraisal with respect to their new role.
In relation to safeguarding, the programme of induction should include:
- a full explanation of their role, responsibilities and accountability and the standard of conduct and behaviour expected;
- information about safe practice and the arrangements in place to support staff in their work;
- an introduction to the agency’s and the LSCB’s safeguarding policies and procedures;
- an introduction to the agency’s designated safeguarding adviser and an explanation of their role;
- safeguarding training at a level appropriate to the member of staff’s contact with children or adults who may be parents/carers (as required by the LSCB)
Individual agencies are responsible for ensuring that their staff are competent and confident in carrying out their responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare. This should include training in child development, how to recognise and act on signs of abuse and neglect, risk assessment and the making and management of referrals.
The Local Safeguarding Children Board is responsible for ensuring that single agency and inter agency training on safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is provided to meet local needs. This may involve:
- setting the priorities and learning outcomes for such training and feeding those priorities into the local workforce strategy;
- monitoring the scope of the provision of training;
- evaluating the quality and impact of training.
The purpose of inter-agency training is to help develop and foster the following in order to achieve better outcomes for children and young people:
- a shared understanding of the tasks, processes, principles, and roles and responsibilities outlined in national guidance and local arrangements for safeguarding children and promoting their welfare;
- more effective and integrated services at both the strategic and individual case level;
- improved communication between professionals including a common understanding of key terms, definitions, and thresholds for action;
- effective working relationships, including an ability to work in multidisciplinary groups or teams;
- sound decision making based on information sharing, thorough assessment, critical analysis, and professional judgement;
- learning from Serious Case Reviews and reviews of child deaths.
