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Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the New
Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCB)
The Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP), in partnership with the Centre for Child and Family Research (CCFR), undertook an evaluation of the effectiveness of Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) in England. They explored the structures and processes adopted by LSCBs to fulfil their core functions. They also examined whether these new structures and processes had overcome identified weaknesses of Area Child Protection Committees (ACPCs) and promoted inter-agency co-operation. The research is designed to contribute to the development of LSCBs by ensuring learning is fed back to national, regional and local policy-makers and implementers. It examined the effectiveness by assessing practice against an evidence base that already exists in the social sciences about strategic partnership working. A mixed method approach was adopted and included: national mapping of LSCBs (web based survey to identify models of practice and organisational structure); interviews with LSCB chairs, strategic partners and practitioners in six case study areas; and social network analysis in two areas in order to explore in detail how partnerships operate at strategic and operational levels and how procedures are put into practice.
The issues covered by this study are central to the current government agenda for children’s services, underpinned by the Children Act 2004, to ensure an integrated approach to service provision and that children are safeguarded and their welfare promoted.
Project Team
Alan France, Emily Munro (CCFR), Amanda Waring, Adriana Sandu, Jacqueline Beckhelling, Joanne Meredith, Esmeranda Manful, Matt Padley, Viet-Hai Phung and Rebecca Hand.
Sponsor
Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health
Project Duration: January 2008 – March 2010
Relevant Publications:
The Lord Laming Report. The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report, 12 March 2009.
France, A., Munro, E. R., Meredith, J., Manful, E. and Beckhelling, J. (2009) Effectiveness of the New Local Safeguarding Children Board in England: Interim Report. DCSF Report Report RR126.
France, A., Munro, E. R. and Waring, A. (2010) The Evaluation of Arrangements for Effective Operation of the New Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England. DCSF Research Brief DCSF-RBX-10-03.
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