Quality and Assurance Performance Group / Audits
NOTE: In December 2023, new Working Together guidance was published and we are working to update our website and partnership documents ahead of the implementation date of December 2024.
For example, Working Together 2023 states that "safeguarding partners must ensure that there are arrangements for effective independent scrutiny in place for their local area" and in particular we must ensure that statutory duties are being fulfilled, quality assurance mechanisms are in place, and that local child safeguarding practice reviews and national reviews are analysed, with key learning areas identified and effectively implemented across the safeguarding system.
This is a summary of the changes outlined in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023.
In the meantime, these are our current arrangements -
Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018) states that "the safeguarding partners should be clear how they will assure themselves that relevant agencies have appropriate, robust safeguarding policies and procedures in place and how information will be shared amongst all relevant agencies and the safeguarding partners".
The role of the Quality Assurance and Performance Group (QA&P) is to provide, on behalf of Our Safeguarding Children Partnership, an objective overview of the effectiveness of child safeguarding across individual organisations and multi-agency partnership working.
The Quality Assurance and Performance Group:
- Monitors multi-agency data to assess the effectiveness of help being provided to children and families
- Oversees a multi-agency audit process and Section 11 reviews
- Monitors issues identified through Quality Assurance and Scrutiny Panels
- Develops new ways of determining and commenting on effectiveness
Audits provide an opportunity to:
- reflect on the quality of multi-agency working practice
- learn from and build on existing good practice and identify lessons learned.
It is important that the learning arising from audits is shared across the partnership and audit findings are presented to the Practice Review Sub-group. Quality assured audit reports are shared with the Learning Group and other relevant work-streams. QA&P group members are responsible for the monitoring the implementation of the recommendations to ensure lessons learnt are embedded into practice to improve outcomes for children.
Completed audit reports are available on request.