Welcome to Harrow Safeguarding Children Partnership
The Children and Social Work Act 2017 changed the way that partners act together to promote child welfare and protect them from harm. This legal requirement provided the opportunity to review ways of working while building on existing strengths. Harrow considered these changes and adopted a Think Whole Family approach to safeguarding in 2019. The Harrow Strategic Safeguarding Partnership (HSSP) was created up to jointly support and oversee Strategic Priorities for both Harrow Safeguarding Children Board (HSCB) and Harrow Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB).
Following review of multi-agency safeguarding arrangements in Harrow in late 2023 (as outlined in our Annual Report 2023-24), the HSSP was dissolved, with the Harrow Safeguarding Children Board and Harrow Safeguarding Adult Board both being supported with their own, separate executive group and subgroups going forward.
In June 2024, the Harrow Safeguarding Children Board became the Harrow Safeguarding Children Partnership (HSCP). As directed within Working Together 2023 Statutory Guidance, the HSCP is developing its Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements for publication by the end of 2024, whilst continuing to co-ordinate and enhance multi-agency safeguarding responses to safeguard children and young people in Harrow.
HSCP Strategic Priorities – 2024/25
The HSCP continues to embody a ‘Think Whole Family’ approach and maintains strong working links with the Harrow Safeguarding Adults Board (HSAB). For 2024-25, three Strategic Priorities have been identified for multi-agency safeguarding focus:
- Early Help – The HSCP continues to support development and implementation of Harrow’s Early Help offer to ensure children, young people and their parents receive help from services best equipped to meet a child’s needs or provide parenting support to enable effective early intervention.
- Contextual Safeguarding – The HSCP continues its operational and strategic commitment to identifying and responding collaboratively to risks faced by individuals and their families outside of the home environment such as Child (Criminal and Sexual) Exploitation. This includes developing strategic approaches with the HSAB to support effective transitions for young people into adulthood that that are co-ordinated and effectively identify and respond to transitional safeguarding risks.
- Domestic Abuse – The HSCP will develop and implement strategic action to address safeguarding risks arising for children and families from domestic abuse, working closely with Safer Harrow Community Safety Partnership to develop strategic action that will enhance the safety of children and young people and support effective provision of support for parents who are victim/survivors of domestic abuse.
