Child Protection Guidance 2021

National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 Part 1: The context for child protection 20 Version 1.0 September 2021 1.86 A lead professional will make sure the child is supported through significant points of transition. They will ensure a planned transfer of responsibility when another practitioner becomes the lead professional, for example if the child’s needs change or the family moves away. What is the child protection register? 1.87 All local authorities are responsible for maintaining a central child protection register for all children who are the subject of an inter-agency Child Protection Plan. This includes unborn babies. The register has no legal status. This is an administrative system for alerting practitioners that there is sufficient professional concern about a child to warrant an inter-agency Child Protection Plan. Local authority social work services are responsible for maintaining a register of all children in their area who are subject to a Child Protection Plan. Some authorities may choose to maintain a joint register with other authorities. The decision to place a child’s name on the register should be taken following multi- agency assessment and a Child Protection Planning Meeting , as detailed in Part 3 of this Guidance. 1.88 A child may be placed on the register if there are reasonable grounds to believe or suspect that a child has suffered or will suffer significant harm from abuse or neglect, and that a Child Protection Plan is needed to protect and support the child. When placing a child on the register, it is not necessary to identify a category of registration relating to the primary type of abuse and neglect. The local authority should ensure the child’s name and details are entered on the register, as well as record the areas of concern identified. The local authority should inform the child’s parents or carers verbally and in writing about the information held on the register and who has access to it. 1.89 If a Compulsory Supervision Order is likely to be required to meet the child’s needs for protection, guidance, treatment or control, or to ensure compliance, then a referral must be made to the Principal Reporter to allow consideration as to whether a children’s hearing should be arranged. 1.90 Police Scotland has developed a child protection flag for its interim Vulnerable Persons Database (iVPD). This alerts police call-handling staff and police officers attending incidents (whether physical or not) that there has been sufficient previous professional concern about a child to warrant placing them on the child protection register. It also provides details of the lead local authority contact. Local authorities continue to be responsible for maintaining a child protection register for children in their areas. Removing a child from the child protection register 1.91 If and when the practitioners who are working with the child and family decide that the risk of significant harm to the child has been sufficiently reduced and the child or young person is no longer in need of a Child Protection Plan, the local authority should remove the child’s name from the child protection register. The decision to remove a child’s name will be made through a review CPPM at which all the relevant agencies are represented, as well as the child and their family. When a child’s name is removed from the register, the child and their family must be informed.