The Torbay Safeguarding Children Board

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The Torbay Safeguarding Children Board (TSCB) is made up of senior representatives from:

Torbay Council
Devon & Cornwall Police
Torbay Primary Care Trust
South Devon Healthcare Trust
Strategic Health Authority
Youth Offending Team
Children’s Society
Exeter Diocese
Education
Connexions
Devon & Cornwall Probation Service
The Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service
NSPCC

The TSCB has been set up under Section 13 of the Children's Act 2004.

What it does

It agrees how local services and professionals working with children should co-operate to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Guidance on how agencies should work together is set out in Chapter 3 of Working Together to Safeguard Children. All agencies have a duty to comply with the South West Child Protection Procedures (SWCPP) opens in a new window

Its main functions are to:

develop policies and procedures for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
communicate and raise awareness of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of work done
participate in planning and commissioning services of children
collect and analyse information relating to child deaths
undertake Serious Case Reviews (SCRs)
scrutinise safeguarding activities undertaken by Children’s Services and Board Members and partnership agencies.

Lord Laming said thatsafeguarding and promoting the welfare of children may be described as "two sides of the same coin". First, it means to take all reasonable means to prevent harm to children by avoiding the circumstances in which they may be harmed;

Secondly, when their welfare is being undermined, it means to take action together, according to clear procedures and protocols, to take that child out of harm's way.

"...the best protection for children is an environment of overall excellence."