Child protection conference failures

[FuzzyDuck]

Hi,

My children were recently put on a CPP almost 3 months ago. However we have only just received the CP plan this week. Where do I stand with this please?

Professionals have failed to adhere to their side of the plan as well. I've raised my concerns to the chair and manager but I've been subsequently ignored.

Our review is very soon.

Thank you

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear FuzzyDuck

Welcome to the discussion board and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie, I am an online adviser and will be replying to you today.

Your children were made subject to a child protection plan almost three months ago. You have only just received the child protection plan (which is most definitely outside of recommended guidelines). You have raised your concerns with the Chair of the conference and the team manager, but they have not responded to you and feel ignored.

I am sorry to hear this has been your experience when working with children’s services. It must be stressful and frustrating for you.

Government guidance requires social workers to record outcomes from the child protection conference (Working Together 2026, P102) . This should be in the form of a written child protection plan. The parents should receive a copy of the plan. And they can ask for it to be translated into another language if needed.

The outline plan should then be developed into a full child protection plan. But this will be done after the conference by the Core Group. A core group is a group of key practitioners and family members. Their role is to develop the outline plan made at the end of a child protection conference. This is so that it becomes a full child protection plan and includes the day-to-day actions and details.

The core group is responsible for making sure the plan is followed and regularly reviewed. The group should monitor progress and refine the plan if needed.

A first core group meeting must be held within 10 days of the initial child protection conference. The local child protection procedures will say how often the core group should meet thereafter. The social worker or conference Chair can be asked about this.

Every child who is the subject of a child protection plan should have a lead social worker allocated to them. The lead social work is responsible for leading the core group, including arranging meetings and leading the core group as it develops the outline plan into a full child protection plan.

The lead social worker is also responsible for:

 Providing direct support to the child and the family
 Explaining and agreeing (as appropriate) the child protection plan with
the child
 Co-ordinating the work other practitioners to support the family
 Making sure what has been agreed in the plan is being carried out and
on time

Other professionals such as schools and health have a professional responsibility to ensure a child’s child protection plan is being facilitated within their guidelines too. Given this, it would be a good idea to seek their views and support regarding the running of the plan and also to establish whether they have received a copy of child protection plan. They will have their own policy and procedures to follow which includes raising concerns when safeguarding procedures are not being followed.

I suggest you go back to the Chair of the meeting and the allocated team manager in writing to set out your concerns. To ask for written acknowledgement of the correspondence (email) within one working day and a written response withing five working days. If they do not respond, I suggest you consider making a formal complaint. I have added a link
HERE to information and guidance regarding the complaints process. Further, I have added
HERE
a link to child protection plans and information which includes how children’s services should be working with parents, children and other professionals when there is a child protection plan in place.

You may also find this helpful – Working with Social Workers Guidance . We have created this document to support parents and carers who are working with social workers. The document sets out how to work well with social workers, including ‘top tips’ and what you may wish to consider if things are not going so well.

I hope the information provided is of help to you. Please post again if you have any further queries or you can call our free, confidential adviceline on 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 3pm). We also have a webchat which is currently open on Monday and Thursday afternoons.

Best wishes, Suzie