1.1.1 Foreword and Introduction |
Welcome to the September 2011 update of the electronic procedures manual, which contains changes in relation to fostering and care leavers made as a result of the Fostering Services Regulations 2011, Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 and Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010, together with the associated guidance and the National Minimum Standards for Fostering 2011.
The other changes in relation to looked after children which also became effective on 1 April 2011 are not yet included and users should refer to the yellow button in the left hand menu for a summary of these.The manual is in electronic form only and is permanently available on our Intranet site to facilitate ready access by all staff and permit regular updating. The electronic format allows you to skip readily between linked sections via the installed hyperlinks.
The manual includes the London Child Protection Procedures, which have been formatted so that the hyperlinks will take you to the relevant section within them. We believe that this makes them much more accessible and user friendly so as to enable required information to be found quickly when dealing with safeguarding issues. You can now also have access to a web-based version of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010, which you can navigate in the same way.
The manual also incorporates all the procedures of the Youth Offending Service.
The manual is updated every 6 months and when updates are issued, attention will be drawn to where changes have been made - both on the Contents List and at the top of the chapter.
There is now a print icon on each chapter. This is for use where hard copies of chapters are required, for example to take to a Court hearing or meeting. However, printed versions will only be valid for 72 hours from the date of printing and should be shredded as soon as the meeting or court hearing has taken place. Please do not print and keep copies of the manual or parts thereof as these are likely to become out of date.
If you do come across any errors or omissions, please e-mail Meng Pocock (Mpocock@hillingdon.gov.uk) who will be collating the information for updates.Finally, I would ask you to familiarise yourself with Policy Framework, Values and Underlying Principles of Recording, Confidentiality and Consultation which summarises the key policies, values and principles, which must be adopted when implementing procedures throughout the manual.
Chris Spencer
Director of Education and Children's Services
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