Improvement action

Serious Case Review Quality MarkersĀ 

Quality statement

Robust, informed discussion by agencies underpins agreements about what action should be taken in response to the Serious Case Review (SCR) report.

Rationale

For an SCR to support improvements, the response of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and member agencies is as important as the report. The response of the LSCB may entail actions in relation to each of its broad statutory functions: to coordinate what is done to safeguard to children and to monitor and challenge the work of member agencies.

The actions of the LSCB can range from the strategic to the immediate and practical. Working out what to do is not necessarily self-evident or straightforward and so requires discussion. Judgements need to be made in light of the urgency of addressing the problems identified, relative to improvement activity already underway. Therefore discussion is required before informed agreement can be reached.

Some improvements require agencies to act collaboratively to achieve them. This will be facilitated by joint discussion of the issues and shared prioritisation of the response. Some improvements will require national action.

How might you know if you are meeting this quality marker?

  1. Does the LSCB have a coherent mechanism for managing discussion about the actions needed to respond to the SCR?
  2. Is there clear leadership from the chair and key agencies about the need for an open and mutually challenging discussion about what is said in the report about the effectiveness of the safeguarding system and its component parts?
  3. Is appropriate time been given to receive and respond to the report (e.g. holding an extraordinary board meeting or other mechanisms)?
  4. Is the LSCB being supported to link discussions about the SCR response to the learning and improvement framework and LSCB business plan? For example, is the board being provided with relevant information already identified through its learning and improvement framework?
  5. Has the LSCB prioritised its response by linking to the learning and improvement framework and LSCB business plan (note that it can be legitimate to delay, given the priority areas already identified)?
     

Knowledge base

Link to statutory guidance & inspection criteria

Tackling some common obstacles