Strategy Meetings and Child Protection Enquiries (Section 47)

1. Initiating Section 47 Enquiries

Introduction

Where information gathered during a referral or an assessment results in the social worker suspecting that the child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, a strategy discussion should be held to decide whether to initiate enquiries under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989. Refer to all as a meetings.

The majority of strategy meetings/ discussions should take place face to face with the appropriate professionals present. Where this is not possible or where the immediacy (i.e. there are urgent safeguarding concerns) of the situation takes precedence, an initial telephone strategy discussion can take place between the police and Children Social Care add health involvement. In this case, a multi-agency follow up Strategy Meeting must take place within 5 working days.

In complex cases, a face to face strategy meeting should be held, as it is likely to be the most effective way of discussing the child's welfare and the planning of future action.

A multi-agency assessment (see Assessments Procedure) is the means by which Section 47 Enquiries are carried out. The assessment will have commenced at the point of referral and must continue whenever the criteria for Section 47 Enquiries are satisfied. While the timescale within which the assessment must be completed is a maximum 45 working days (a shortened timescale may be agreed by a manager) the outcome of enquiries under Section 47 must be available in time for an Initial Child Protection Conference which (if required) must be held within 15 working days of the Strategy meeting / discussion where the enquiries were initiated.

A section 47 enquiry is carried out by undertaking or continuing with an assessment in accordance with the guidance set out in this chapter and following the principles and parameters of a good assessment as set out in the Assessments Procedure.

Local authority social workers have a statutory duty to lead Section 47 Enquiries. The police, health professionals, teachers and other relevant professionals should support the local authority in undertaking its enquiries. The Children's Social Care Manager has responsibility for authorising a Section 47 Enquiry following a Strategy Meeting (see Section 2, Strategy Meetings/Discussions).

The Section 47 Enquiry and assessment must be led by a qualified social worker from Children's social care, who will be responsible for its coordination and completion. A section 47 enquiry may run concurrently with a police investigation. When a joint enquiry takes place, the police have the lead for the criminal investigation and Local Authority children's social care have the lead for the section 47 enquiries and the child's welfare.

The police and children's social care must co-ordinate their activities to ensure the parallel process of a section 47 enquiry and a criminal investigation is undertaken in the best interests of the child. This should primarily be achieved through joint activity and planning at strategy meetings / discussions.

The social worker must consult with other agencies involved with the child and family to obtain a fuller picture of the circumstances of all children in the household, identifying parenting strengths and any risk factors. Enquiries also need to cover children in other households with whom the alleged offender may have had contact. All agencies consulted are responsible for providing information to assist.

Whenever there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm, there should be a strategy meeting / discussion. See section 47 thresholds and the multi-agency assessment.

2. Strategy Meeting/Discussions

The forum to decide whether a child will be subject to section 47 enquiries is a strategy meeting / discussion.

The purpose of a strategy discussion or meeting is to decide whether the threshold has been met for a single or joint agency (Children Social Care and Police) child protection investigation, and to plan that investigation. Strategy meetings are held when it is suspected a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, serious harm.

A strategy meeting / discussion should be used to:

• Share available information;
• Agree the conduct and timing of any criminal investigation;
• Decide whether an assessment under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 (section 47 enquiries) should be initiated or continued if it has already begun;
• Consider the assessment and the action points, if already in place;
• Plan how the section 47 enquiry should be undertaken (if one is to be initiated), including the need for medical treatment or assessment, who will carry out what actions, by when and for what purpose and whether a social media search should be conducted;
• Agree what action is required immediately to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child, and / or provide interim services and support. If the child is in hospital, decisions should also be made about how to secure the safe discharge of the child;
• Determine what information from the strategy meeting / discussion will be shared with the family, unless such information sharing may place a child at increased risk of significant harm or jeopardise police investigations into any alleged offence/s;
• Determine if legal action or other urgent safety planning is required;

Relevant matters to be discussed include:

• Agreeing, or reviewing how the assessment under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 will be carried out - what further information is required about the child/ren and family and how it should be obtained and recorded;
• Agreeing who should be interviewed, by whom, for what purpose and when. The way in which interviews are conducted can play a significant part in minimising any distress caused to children, and in trying to maintain a constructive working relationship with families when a criminal offence may have been committed against a child, the timing and handling of interviews with victims, their families and witnesses can have important implications for the collection and preservation of evidence;
• Agreeing, when the child will be seen alone (unless to do so would be inappropriate for the child) by the social worker and or police during the course of these enquiries; and
• The methods by which the child's wishes and feelings will be ascertained so that they can be taken into account when making decisions under section 47 of the Children Act 1989.
• Identifying parents/ and or carers who have Parental Responsibility for the child;
• The process for obtaining parental consent must be discussed and recorded in the strategy meeting. In exceptional circumstances where consent is not being sought or is being overridden, these should be recorded and authorised by the manager;
• Considering how issues of diversity e.g., race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender etc should be undertaken into account;
• Considering and establishing whether an interpreter will be required; and
• Considering the needs of other children who may be affected (e.g., siblings and other children, such as those living in the same establishment, or in contact with alleged abusers).

Face to face Strategy Meetings should always be held when:

• There is concern that the child is suffering complex types of neglect or maltreatment (e.g. Fabricated or Induced Illness, Organised and Complex Abuse);
• There is an allegation that a child has abused another child – there should be separate strategy meetings held for both children;
• There are ongoing, cumulative concerns about the child's welfare and a need to share concerns and agree a course of action;
• There are concerns about the future risk of harm to an unborn child.

N.B. This list is not exhaustive and there will be other circumstances where a face to face meeting will be of optimum value to gather information and plan the section 47 enquiries.

The strategy meeting / discussion should be convened by LA children's social care. In addition to Local Authority children's social care, the police and relevant health professionals, the meeting / discussion may need to involve the other agencies (e.g., schools and nurseries) which hold information relevant to the concerns about the child.

More than one strategy meeting / discussion may be required. When more than one strategy meeting / discussion is necessary, the subsequent meeting / discussion should take place in a timely manner. Attendance requirements are the same as for the first strategy discussion. It is important to keep all parties involved in the progress of the section 47 child protection enquiry.

Where it is decided that there are grounds to initiate a section 47 enquiry, decisions should be made about whether this is a single (Children Social Care only) or joint (Children Social Care and police) investigation.

For sharing information between the local authority and criminal justice professionals, see the Protocol and Good Practice Model: Disclosure of Information in Cases of Alleged Child Abuse and Linked Criminal and Care Direction Hearings (October 2013). (CPS, ACPO, DfE, LGA, ADCSS et al).

Co-ordination of the strategy meeting / discussion

The strategy meeting / discussion should be co-ordinated and chaired by the Local Authority children's social care first line manager.

The strategy meeting / discussion must involve Local Authority children's social care, the police and relevant health professionals. The referring agency should be included, as may other agencies which are likely to include the child's nursery / school.

As a minimum they should include:

• A first line manager from Children's Services;
• A detective sergeant from the police;
• The referring agency;
• Health and education representatives.

The discussion should have information available from the referring agency and all other relevant agencies. Representatives at the strategy meeting/discussion should be those who are in contact with the family and know the child.

Professionals participating in strategy meetings / discussions must have all their agency's information relating to the child to be able to contribute it to the meeting / discussion and must be sufficiently senior to make decisions on behalf of their agencies.

Where issues have significant medical implications, or a paediatric examination has taken place or may be necessary, a paediatrician should always be included. If the child is receiving services from a hospital or child development team, the meeting / discussion should involve the responsible medical consultant and, in the case of in-patient treatment, a senior ward nurse.

A professional may need to be included in the strategy meeting / discussion who is not involved with the child, but who can contribute expertise relevant to the particular form of abuse or neglect in the case.

Strategy meeting / discussion record

It is the responsibility of the chair of the strategy meeting / discussion to ensure that the decisions and agreed actions are fully recorded using an appropriate form / record. All agencies attending should take notes of the actions agreed at the time of the meeting/discussion.

A copy of the record should be made available for all those, who had been invited, as soon as practicable by Local Authority children's social care.

Timing of strategy meeting / discussion

(From London Safeguarding Children Procedures, Child Protection s47 Enquiries Procedure, Timescales)

Strategy meetings / discussions should be convened within three working days of child protection concerns being identified, except in the following circumstances:

• For allegations / concerns indicating a serious risk of harm to the child (e.g. serious physical injury or serious neglect) the strategy meeting / discussion should be held on the same day as the receipt of the referral;
• For allegations of penetrative sexual abuse, the strategy meeting / discussion should be held on the same day as the receipt of the referral if this is required to ensure forensic evidence;
• Where immediate action was required by either agency, the strategy meeting / discussion must be held within one working day;
• Where the concerns are particularly complex (e.g. organised abuse / allegations against staff) the strategy meeting / discussion must be held within a maximum of five working days, but sooner if there is a need to provide immediate protection to a child.

The plan made at the strategy meeting / discussion should reflect the requirement to convene an initial child protection conference within 15 working days of the strategy meeting / discussion at which it was decided to initiate the enquiry (if there were more than one strategy meetings). In exceptional circumstances, such as Fabricated and induced illness for example, enquiries will be more complicated and may require more than one strategy discussion. If the strategy meeting / discussion concludes that a further strategy meeting / discussion is required, then a clear timescale should be set and be subject to regular review by the social work manager bearing in mind the safety of the child at all times.

If the conclusion of the strategy discussion is that there is no cause to pursue the s47 enquiry then consideration should be given to continuing the multi agency assessment to establish the needs of the child for any early help or family support services as a child in need.

Strategy meetings / discussions should be convened within three working days of child protection concerns being identified, except in the following circumstances:

For allegations / concerns indicating a serious risk of harm to the child (e.g. serious physical injury or serious neglect) the strategy meeting / discussion should be held on the same day as the receipt of the referral.

For allegations of penetrative sexual abuse, the strategy meeting / discussion should be held on the same day as the receipt of the referral if this is required to ensure the collection and preservation of forensic evidence.

Where immediate action is required by any agency, the strategy meeting / discussion must be held within one working day.

Where the concerns are particularly complex (e.g., organised abuse / allegations against staff) the strategy meeting / discussion must be held within a maximum of five working days, but sooner if there is a need to provide immediate protection to a child.

The plan made at the strategy meeting / discussion should reflect the requirement to convene an initial child protection conference within 15 working days of the strategy meeting / discussion at which it was decided to initiate the enquiry (if there were more than one strategy meetings). In exceptional circumstances, such as Fabricated and induced illness for example, enquiries will be more complicated and may require more than one strategy meeting/discussion. If the strategy meeting / discussion concludes that a further strategy meeting / discussion is required, then a clear timescale should be set and be subject to regular review by the social work manager, bearing in mind the safety of the child at all times.

If the conclusion of the strategy discussion is that there is no cause to pursue the s47 enquiry, then consideration should be given to continuing the multi-agency assessment to establish the needs of the child for any early help or family support services as a child in need.

3. Purpose of Section 47 Enquiries

Once the strategy meeting/discussion has made a decision to initiate a Section 47 Enquiry its purpose is to decide whether and what type of action is required to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child who is suspected of, or likely to be, suffering significant harm. The enquiry is carried out by undertaking or continuing with an assessment in accordance with the guidelines set out in this chapter and following the principles and parameters of a good assessment (see Assessments Procedure for further details).

4. Conducting Section 47 Enquiries

• Lead the Assessment in accordance with this guidance;
• Carry out enquiries in a way that minimises distress for the child and family;
• See the child who is the subject of concern to ascertain their wishes and feelings; assess their understanding of their situation; assess their relationships and circumstances more broadly;
• Interview parents and/or caregivers and determine the wider social and environmental factors that might impact on them and their child;
• Seek consent from the parents to gather and share information from other agencies to conduct the enquiries. If parental consent is not gained or consent is overridden the manager must record the reasons and rationale for this decision;
• Systematically gather information about the child's and family's history;
• Analyse the findings of the Assessment and evidence about what interventions are likely to be most effective with other relevant professionals to determine the child's needs and the level of risk of harm faced by the child to inform what help should be provided and act to provide that help; and
• Follow the guidance set out in Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guidance on interviewing victims and witnesses, and guidance on using special measures, where a decision has been made to undertake a joint interview of the child as part of any criminal investigation.

The social worker, when conducting a Section 47 Enquiry, must assess the potential needs and safety of all children in the household of the child in question. In addition, Section 47 Enquiries will be required concerning any children in other households with whom the alleged abuser may have contact.

In all cases where there is a known propensity to violence within the family household, consideration should be given to the strategy to be adopted, with Police advice or assistance if appropriate, about how to reduce the risks before any visits take place.

During a Section 47 Enquiry the child must always be seen alone (if of an appropriate age) unless it is contrary to their interests to do so. If the child is not seen alone the reasons or rationale for this should be clearly recorded. The strategy discussion /meeting will plan any interview with the child. The Record of Section 47 Enquiry and Reports to Child Protection Conferences should include the date(s) when the child was seen alone by the Social Worker and, if not seen alone, who was present and the reasons for their presence.

Before a child is seen or interviewed parental permission must be gained unless there are exceptional circumstances that demonstrate that it would not be in the child's interests and to do so may jeopardise the child's safety and welfare. Relevant exceptional circumstances would include:

• The possibility that a child would be threatened or otherwise coerced into silence;
• A strong likelihood that important evidence would be destroyed; or
• That the child in question did not wish the parent to be involved at that stage, and is competent to take that decision.

In such circumstances, the social worker must take legal advice about how to proceed and whether legal action may be required, for example through an application for an emergency protection order or a child assessment order.

The police should:

• Help other agencies understand the reasons for concerns about the child's safety and welfare;
• Decide whether or not police investigations reveal grounds for instigating criminal proceedings;
• Make available to other professionals any evidence gathered to inform discussions about the child's welfare; and
• Follow the guidance set out in Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guidance on interviewing victims and witnesses, and guidance on using special measures, where a decision has been made to undertake a joint interview with the child as part of the criminal investigations.

Health professionals should:

• Undertake appropriate medical tests, examinations or observations, to determine how the child's health or development may be being impaired;
• Provide any of a range of specialist assessments. For example, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and child psychologists may be involved in specific assessments relating to the child's developmental progress. The lead health practitioner (probably a consultant paediatrician, or possibly the child's GP) may need to request and coordinate these assessments; and
• Ensure appropriate treatment and follow up health concerns.

All involved professionals should:

• Contribute to the Assessment as required, providing information about the child and family; and
• Consider whether a joint enquiry or investigation team may need to speak to a child without the knowledge of the parent or caregiver.

5. Decisions of a Section 47 Enquiry

Local authority social workers are responsible for deciding what action to take and how to proceed following Section 47 Enquiries. The decision of a Section 47 Enquiry must be endorsed by the team manager.

A Section 47 Enquiry may conclude that the original concerns are:

• Not substantiated; although consideration should be given to whether the child may need services as a Child in Need;
• Substantiated and the child is judged to be suffering, or likely to suffer, Significant Harm and an Initial Child Protection Conference should be convened;
• Substantiated but the child is assessed as not being at risk of future harm; consideration should be given to whether the child may need services as a Child in Need.

5.1 Concerns not substantiated

Social workers with their managers should:

• Discuss the case with the child, parents and other professionals;
• Determine whether support from any services may be helpful and help secure it; and
• Consider whether the child's health and development should be re-assessed regularly against specific objectives and decide who has responsibility for doing this.

All involved professionals should:

• Participate in further discussions as necessary;
• Contribute to the development of any Plan as appropriate;
• Provide services as specified in the Plan for the child; and
• Review the impact of services delivered as agreed in the Plan.

Outcomes may be:

1. No Further Action
   Enquiries have revealed that there are no causes for concern. The child may be a child in need but the family do not wish for services to be provided, in which case the case will be closed;
2. Family Support to be provided
   Enquiries have revealed that there is no evidence that the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm but there are needs that could be met by the provision of services either under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 or by signposting the family to another agency. The family are willing for a package of support to be provided, or continue to be provided.
   
   Where services are to be provided under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, the social worker/team manager should convene a Child in Need Planning Meeting within 7 working days to agree a Child in Need Plan – see Child in Need Policy;

5.2 Concerns of Significant Harm Are Substantiated and The Child Is Judged to Be Suffering, Or Likely to Suffer, Significant Harm

N.B. Where immediate protective action is required, the advice of Legal Services should be sought.

Social workers with their managers should:

• Convene an Initial Child Protection Conference. The timing of the conference should depend on the urgency of the case and respond to the needs of the child and the nature and severity of the harm they may be facing. It should take place within 15 working days of the Strategy Meeting/ Discussion, at which section 47 enquiries were initiated. The request to convene the conference must be supported by a team manager;
• Consider whether any professionals with specialist knowledge should be invited to participate;
• Ensure that the child and their parents understand the purpose of the conference and who will attend; and
• Help prepare the parents/carers and the child if they are attending or making representations through a third party to the conference. Give information about advocacy agencies and explain that the family may bring an advocate, friend or supporter.

All involved professionals should:

• Contribute to the information their agency provides ahead of the conference, setting out the nature of the agency's involvement with the child and family;
• Share their report with the child's parents or carers;
• Attend the conference and take part in decision-making when invited.

6. Recording Section 47 Enquiries

The social worker should record the information gathered and actions during the course of the enquiry and its outcomes on a Record of Section 47 Enquiries, which should be approved by the team manager.

The specific LCS outcomes for Lewisham will be one of the following:

• Initial Child Protection Conference;
• Provision of Services (section 17);
• Provision of Short Break Care (section 17);
• Other agency to monitor child's welfare;
• No Further action – continue with Children & Family Assessment;
• Initiate Legal Action;
• No Further Action.

7. Dispute Resolution

If the local authority decides not to proceed with a Child Protection Conference and other professionals involved with the child and family have serious concerns that a child's welfare may not be adequately safeguarded, they have right to request that a conference be convened.

In the event of a continued difference of opinion, about thresholds internally at any stage e.g. between teams, the Threshold Dispute and Internal Escalation Protocol should be consulted and followed. For differences of opinion about thresholds within the Partnership Lewisham Safeguarding Children Partnership, Escalation Policy - Resolving Professional Differences / Escalation (updated in April 2020) should be consulted and followed.