Safeguarding Children

Bradford District`s Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements (MASA)  plan for local Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements is published on the SaferBradford website.

The BDSCP operates in line with the requirements of the Children and Social Work Act, 2017 and the statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018.

It covers the geographical area of the Bradford district as defined by Local Authority boundaries. The safeguarding partners and other relevant agencies and organisations included in these arrangements are committed to fulfilling their statutory duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children from the Bradford District who live in or are placed outside the local authority area.

The Partnership continues to seek assurance that all relevant partners meet their duties under Section 11 of the Children Act, 2004 ( via the Organisational Safeguarding Assessment) where this applies or have equivalent standards.

The three safeguarding partners jointly leading the partnership are

• Bradford Local Authority – Represented by the Chief Executive
• West Yorkshire Police – Represented by District Commander
• Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership - Represented  by Director of Quality And Nursing

All three safeguarding partners have equal and joint responsibility for local safeguarding arrangements. These arrangements are discharged through the BDSCP. The governance structure includes subgroups to ensure scrutiny arrangements are in place for core business and addressing priority areas.

"Working together to keep our children safe"

• Keeping children in Bradford safe through effective multi-agency arrangements.

• Delivering a robust and agreed multi-agency approach to the front door.

• Horizon scanning to understand future challenges.

The BDSCP is chaired by an Independent Chair who takes a lead role in providing independent scrutiny of arrangements. The Independent Chair acts as a convener and facilitator of partnership work, on behalf of the statutory partners, and both questions and challenges performance as part of the scrutiny role.

The Independent Chair of the BDSCP and the chairs of other subgroups provide regular reports outlining achievements, challenges and recommendations for continuous improvement.

The three executive partners are responsible for:

• Ensuring that the vision of the Partnership are upheld.
• Signing off the Annual Report and Business Plan.
• Authorising any amendments to the MASA Plan.
• Receiving the reports from the Independent Chair, the chairs of the relevant subgroups and the Safeguarding Partnership Business Unit.
• Ensuring that any recommendations are taken forward.
• Regularly reviewing the scrutiny systems to ensure that it remains effective.

This Partnership Group ensures that the partners continue building on and developing positive working relationships and a forum to exchange information, address gaps and provide innovative solutions. The Partnership Group meets a minimum of four times a year.

If you would like to comment about our website or enquire about the work of the Bradford District Safeguarding Children Partnership please contact us on the details below:

Floor 2,
Britannia House
Broadway
Bradford
BD1 1HX

01274 434361
BDSCP@bradford.gov.uk

Please note – This is NOT an emergency email address. To contact Children's Social Care please go to Report a Concern

Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) provides the public with a general right of access to information held by public bodies, such as local government, the police, the NHS and state schools.

The Bradford District Safeguarding Children Partnership –  (BDSCP) is a statutory partnership in its own right set up under the Children Act 2004 and is not a public authority for the purposes of the FOI. It is therefore exempt from the duty to provide information under the FOI.

Section 3 of the FOI provides that:

(2) For the purposes of this Act, information is held by a public authority if—

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person, or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

A FOI request may be made directly to partner agencies of the BDSCP.  Where a BDSCP partner which is deemed to be a public authority under the FOI holds information for its own purposes, then it does so otherwise than on behalf of another person and the information held will be subject to the FOI. However, partners in possession of BDSCP minutes, documents, reports etc. are holding this information on behalf of ‘another person’ (BDSCP) and it is therefore not liable to disclosure under a FOI request.

Details of how to access information from a public body can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/official-information/

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) provides the public with a general right of access to information held by public bodies, such as local government, the police, the NHS and state schools.

The Bradford District Safeguarding Children Partnership (BDSCP) is a statutory partnership in its own right set up under the Children Act 2004 and is not a public authority for the purposes of the FOI. It is therefore exempt from the duty to provide information under the FOI.

Section 3 of the FOI provides that:

(2) For the purposes of this Act, information is held by a public authority if—

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person, or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

A FOI request may be made directly to partner agencies of the BDSCP.  Where a BDSCP partner which is deemed to be a public authority under the FOI holds information for its own purposes, then it does so otherwise than on behalf of another person and the information held will be subject to the FOI. However, partners in possession of BDSCP minutes, documents, reports etc. are holding this information on behalf of ‘another person’ (BDSCP) and it is therefore not liable to disclosure under a FOI request.

Details of how to access information from a public body can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/official-information/