Explain The Current Legislation Guidelines Policies And Procedures For Safeguarding The Welfare Of Children

1. Know about legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding the welfare of children and young people, including e-safety.

1.1 Identify the current legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding the welfare of children and young people, including e-safety.
Children Act 1989
This act was bought about to simplify the laws that protect children by bringing private and public law together. It changed the role of the parent to one of responsibility and not a right over the child or young person. This act outlines the duties of people who work with or around children and how they should work with other services or agencies to keep children safe and protected. The welfare of the child or young person must always

• Be told what their rights are.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child 1989
The UK signed up to this treaty in 1991. This sets out the rights of children in a set of 54 articles, some of these are to ensure children are safe and looked after. All the countries who have signed up to this are legally obligated to implement legislation that relates to the articles. Some of the articles that relate to the rights of children include:
• Children need to be shown love and feel secure
• Children have the right to family life
• A child’s right to be protected from all forms of abuse or neglect

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010
This is a guide to how organisations must work with other services and individually to fulfil their duties to safeguard children and promote their welfare.

Children Act 2004
After the death of 8-year-old Victoria Climbie at the hands of her carers, an independent inquiry led to Every Child Matters policy which led to the Children Act 2004. This act includes:
• A duty for key agencies to safeguard children.
• The local authority to set up a Local Safeguarding Children’s

All adults in these settings have a responsibility to safeguard. They must ensure that all staff and volunteers are provided with up to date training in safeguarding. They should know the children on the ‘at risk register’ and offer support. They must put into place policies and security systems, including for e-safety. They are responsible for keeping up to date records and refer any concerns they have that a child may be being abused.
Health services
Health professionals are often the first to notice suspected abuse during medical examinations they have a duty to alert social services if they suspect abuse. If a child is taken to the A&E department they may be able to see if an injury is accidental or not they would be able to flag these injuries and if the child has a lot of injuries that are unexplained then they could refer them for investigation. They may also be asked to examine a child who may have been abused or thought to be at risk of abuse.