Welcome to the 9th edition of the SSCP Business Unit communication update! We thought it would be better, rather than sending several separate e-mails that we try and combine them all together into an easily digestible update. Please take a moment once you have finished reading to share this update with your colleagues and that you can sign up to the SSCP mailing list through the website.
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- Alcohol Awareness Week 2025
- The Working with Risk document has been reviewed and updated
- Shropshire Safeguarding Adult Review – Patrick
- The new Safeguarding Children Procedures website
- Neglect Learning Briefings
- Shropshire Council Elective Home Education Policy
- Shropshire Early Help Newsletter
- Sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) Campaign toolkit
- Upcoming training dates from Joint Training
- Professional Curiosity Webinar
- Compass Newsletter Issue 7 – Quarter 4 2025
- ‘It’s Silent’: Race, Racism and Child Safeguarding briefing note
- Child Sexual Abuse Response Pathway and 1-day course for health professionals communicating with children where there are concerns of child sexual abuse
- Maternity and Neonatal Advocates
- Assessing and Determining Best Interests & Mental Capacity
- Free toothbrush and toothpaste packs for families
- Multi-Agency Case File Audit Learning – Children of Parents where the Trigger Trio is present
- West Midlands Directors of Adult Social Services – Directory for Safeguarding and Well-being Services
- Free Webinars – National Domestic Abuse Commissioners Office: Victims in their own right? Babies, children and young people’s experiences of domestic abuse
- Lived Experience Advisory Group
- Have you got something you want to share?
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Alcohol Awareness Week 2025
Alcohol Awareness Week is co-ordinated by Alcohol Change UK this year’s theme is ‘Understanding Alcohol Harm’. We have developed a programme of brief events for you to attend to raise your awareness of alcohol related issues here in Shropshire.
There are events being run in July, the details of which you can find below:
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The Working with Risk document has been reviewed and updated
The Working with Risk Document has been reviewed and updated, this document clarifies how to apply the key principles of working with risk in a way which promotes an adult’s individual wellbeing and ability to work positively with risk, in order to prevent the risk or experience of abuse or neglect. It has been developed so that there is a common multi-agency approach to working with risk to promote the well-being of adults with care and support needs.
You can find the updated document on the SSCP website.
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Shropshire Safeguarding Adult Review – Patrick
Shropshire Safeguarding Community Partnership has published a Safeguarding Adult Review regarding Patrick a 69-year-old man who died in hospital of Sarcopenia and alcoholic liver disease. Patrick’s review makes a number of recommendations as well as highlighting good practice.
You can find the Safeguarding Adult Review report and the Learning Briefing on the SSCP website.
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The new Safeguarding Children Procedures website
Please note that the West Midlands Safeguarding Children Procedures moved to a new host site on 3rd March 2025.
The link you will need for the new site is https://westmids-shropshire.trixonline.co.uk/
Please ensure that this message is disseminated to all staff using the attached flyer and that any shortcuts and links to the current procedures are changed.
It is very important that all partner agencies take a co-ordinated approach to raising awareness of the change within their organisations. It should be noted that existing shortcuts to the outgoing platform which have been set up on desktops or mobile phones will need to be changed. In addition, arrangements will need to be made to change links currently hosted on staff intranets and other websites.
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Neglect Learning Briefings
The SSCP Neglect Sub-Group would like to remind Partners that the following Learning Briefings are available on the SSCP website:
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Shropshire Early Help Newsletter
For the latest edition of the Early Help Newsletter, please follow this link: Early Help Newsletter March 2025
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Shropshire Council Elective Home Education Policy
Shropshire Council have now updated the Elective Home Education Policy and wish to offer their thanks to all colleagues who have contributed to the policy. We would ask that you familiarise yourself with the Policy, share with your own teams and embed it into practice.
You can find the policy by following this link.
There is also a 45-minute briefing session being held on the 23rd of April 2025 which provides an opportunity to build on existing professional expertise and curiosity in this field, including time for questions. The Webinar will be delivered by the Head of the Virtual School and Access to Education, with the Lead Education Officer for the Inclusion team which supports families with elective home education.
You can book your place on the webinar by following this link.
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Sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) Campaign toolkit
On 3 February 2025, the NHS in England launched a national campaign to raise awareness of sexual assault referral centres (SARCs), which marks the beginning of Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week 2025 (3-9 February 2025). The campaign reused some previous assets, as well as introducing new material for colleagues to use.
SARCs provide free, specialist care and support to anyone who has been raped, sexually assaulted or abused, at any time in their life. This includes crisis care, medical and forensic examinations, emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections. They can also arrange access to an independent sexual violence advisor, as well as referrals to mental health services and emotional and psychological support, such as counselling.
SARCs are available 24/7 across England for people of all ages, whatever their sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. Many sexual assault and abuse survivors, however, do not know where to go or who to turn to for help and support. This campaign is here to help promote the important work they do.
Whilst these services are co-commissioned by NHS England and police and crime commissioners, individuals can get help from a SARC without having to talk to the police or report what happened to them.
The campaign ran in England for two weeks supported by social / media activity and stakeholder engagement.
A range of digital resources are available on the campaign resource centre, including video content, posters, and social media assets. New assets for the 2025 campaign include SARC staff posters and supporting social media creative, as well as a new SARC animation aimed at young people and those supporting them.
You can find the rest of the toolkit by following this link
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Upcoming training dates from Joint Training
The following courses have been announced by Joint Training – follow the links for more information and to book your place:
- Safeguarding Adults Awareness
- Coercive Control and Trauma Informed Practice
- Domestic Abuse Briefing
- Domestic Abuse: Assessing Risk
- Domestic Abuse: The Impact on Children and Young People
- Domestic Abuse: Empower and protect
- Raising Awareness in Safeguarding and Protecting Children
- Parental Conflict Module 1 – Introduction to reducing parental conflict
- Parental Conflict Module 2 – using tools to support healthy parental relationships
- Parental Conflict Module 3 – building confidence in delivering an intervention
- Parental Conflict Module 4 – Complex Co-parenting part A
- Mental Health First Aid Aware – Adults
- Mental Health First Aid Aware – Youth
- Child Exploitation Pathway
- Substance Misuse and Young People
- Supporting Adult who Hoard: An Introduction
- Professional Curiosity: Putting into practice
- Safeguarding Adults for Provider Managers
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Professional Curiosity Webinar
A Professional Curiosity webinar which was presented by the SAB Manager Network has now been released for free on YouTube – you can find it here
You can also find the National Guidance which has been produced on Professional Curiosity by following the link here.
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Compass Newsletter Issue 7 – Quarter 4 2025
The latest Compass newsletter is now available – you can find it on the SSCP website
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‘It’s Silent’: Race, Racism and Child Safeguarding briefing note
This short briefing note summarises the key learning points from the independent Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s report on race, racism and child safeguarding. You can find the full report on the SSCP website.
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Child Sexual Abuse Response Pathway
The Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) works to protect children from the threat and harm of sexual abuse – their aim is to reduce its impact through better prevention and response. They have produced a briefing for voluntary and community sector partners and you can find it in full on the SSCP website.
Also, due to demand, the CSA Centre have set up a 1-day course for health professionals on communicating with children where there are concerns of child sexual abuse. They have asked if it could be shared with your colleagues.
This is a course where you can book an individual place
Date: Wednesday 17th September
Time: 9.30-4.30
Cost: £87
Questions/queries: natasha.sabin@csacentre.org.uk
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Maternity and Neonatal Advocates
The Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senior Advocate (MNISA) service is new to Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senior Advocates are here to support women, birthing people and families to be listened to and heard after a distressing experience (an adverse outcome) during their maternity and/or neonatal care.
Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senior Advocate - NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
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Assessing and Determining Best Interests & Mental Capacity
The following documents have been produced by Alex Ruck Keene and colleagues at the Essex Chambers in relation to the Mental Capacity Act.
Mental Capacity Guidance Note Best Interests May 2025_0.pdf
Mental Capacity Guidance Note Capacity Assessment May 2025_0.pdf
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Free toothbrush and toothpaste packs for families
Free toothbrushes and toothpaste packs are available from Shropshire libraries to share with family’s professionals work with for both adults and children. Please get in touch with Annabel.gittins@shropshire.gov.uk to find out how to get hold of some boxes of packs for your team to give out.
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Multi-Agency Case File Audit Learning – Children of Parents where the Trigger Trio is present
The report for the recent Multi-Agency Case File Audit (MACFA) into Children of Parent were the Trigger Trio is present has now been released – you can find it on the SSCP website
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West Midlands Directors of Adult Social Services – Directory for Safeguarding and Well-being Services
West Midlands ADASS is pleased to announce the launch of our new Directory for Safeguarding and Wellbeing Services, featuring key national services and councils in the West Midlands.
This provides information about a range of services from preventing ill health, to getting information about abuse and crime. There are also organisations that provide support to people directly, including those whose behaviour may be causing harm to others. It will help anyone who needs to find support for others (or themselves) particularly if they have been affected by any type of crime.
It is designed to provide quick access to help and advice because safeguarding is a shared responsibility, and we may also need these services ourselves.
You can access the Directory via WM-ADASS here
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Free Webinars – National Domestic Abuse Commissioners Office: Victims in their own right? Babies, children and young people’s experiences of domestic abuse
The Office of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner is holding a series of webinars following the publication of her first policy report on babies, children and young people.
Centred around children's voices, the report brings together policy, practice and research to turn the spotlight on the legal status of children as victims in their own right, as enshrined in Section 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The reports are supported by a suite of recommendations aimed to improve statutory and multiagency responses to children, including prevention, early intervention and recovery.
These webinars are aimed at policymakers and professionals to understand the overarching/thematic findings in the report and the recommendations that the Commissioner makes, including a call for action to create guidance, invest in specialist services and put in place training for every frontline professional who works with children, to enable child victims of domestic abuse to access the support they need, when they need it. Please see below for information on all webinars hosted by the Commissioner’s office on this report and to register for the most relevant one’s for you according to theme. All webinars have separate codes and registration links. You can register for more than one webinar depending on your interest and availability; however, we would expect that most people will only need to attend one or two webinars.
The webinars will broadly include:
- Aims and methodology used for the report: centring children’s voices
- An overview of the findings from the Commissioner’s research into the provision of services for children relevant to the theme of the webinar
- Sections from the report’s suite of policy and practice recommendations, with spotlight on the ones most relevant to the theme of the webinar
We will also hold a webinar specifically for survivors and those with lived experience in early July.
You can read the Commissioner's reports here.
We look forward to your participation in the webinar/s. Please register on the links provided in the information below.
Office of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner
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THEMATIC AND SECTOR-SPECIFIC |
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MA-HOU |
Mon 23 Jun, |
MHCLG, housing officers, DAHA, safe accommodation/refuge providers/ commissioned services, housing sector |
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MA-EI |
Tue 24 Jun, |
Family Hub teams, RPC practitioners and managers, co-located teams, social care, Early Intervention staff |
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MA-COMM |
Thu 26 Jun, |
Funders, commissioners, civil servants in cross-govt depts, CYP targeted funders, ICBs, PCCs |
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Lived Experience Advisory Group
The Trust are looking to build long-term, trusted relationships with individuals, groups, and organisations who are passionate about shaping the future of health and care. Their invite is to join them so that they can share a little bit about what they do, to give partners an opportunity to tell them about your work, explore if there are opportunities for Partners to work together and support each other in their efforts.
They will be holding the first of their Community Engagement Workshops on Thursday 3rd July 2025 from 2pm to 4pm which will be held on-line on Microsoft Teams. You can find further information via the SSCP website.
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Have you got something you want to share?
If there is anything that you would like included the Business Unit newsletter going forward, or something you think should be linked to or shared on the website, then please let us know by e-mailing SSCPBusinessunit@shropshire.gov.uk and please include “Newsletter” or “Website” in the subject of the e-mail.
Thank you for reading and please take a moment to complete the below form on how we can improve both the newsletter, the website or how we communicate with Partners.
Or you can follow the link here.
Please also consider taking a moment to give us any feedback you can on the SSCP website and remember that you can join the SSCP mailing list via the website.
The SSCP Business Unit