Welcome to the Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board (BSCB) website.

The Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board has a statutory duty to co-ordinate how agencies work together to safeguard and promote the well being of children and young people in Birmingham and to ensure the effectiveness of the safeguarding arrangements.

Jane Held, Independent Chair oversees a Board which is made up of senior representatives from the key statutory and voluntary organisations that have responsibility for delivering services to children or have regular contact with children.

Since 1 April 2008, the Board has had a specific mandate to review all child deaths in Birmingham.  In a small number of cases where abuse or neglect is suspected to be a factor in a child’s death, the Board will commission an independent Serious Case Review to identify whether any lessons can be learnt from these tragedies.  The Board works in close partnership with with Ofsted, Department for Education and the Strategic Health Authority to ensure the findings are fully implemented holding agencies to account for their performance.

The Board strives to continuously improve how agencies work together to protect children and young people. There is a desire to develop a shared sense of responsibility across all agencies working with children, their families and communities to keep children safe from harm. The Board believes that “safeguarding is everyone’s business”.

Publication of a Serious Case Review - 26th January 2012 

Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board (BSCB) published today the key learning to emerge from the Serious Case Reviews into case where a child sustained serious injuries in July 2010.  

The Board has consulted and shared the findings with the family concerned; clearly this brings back painful memories for them, the Board respects their wishes for anonymity and the report does not identify the injured child or their family.

Jane Held, Independent Chair of the BSCB, said: “There were a number of missed opportunities for agencies to share information which could have lead to a more holistic assessment of the children’s needs. We are committed to maximising the learning from this tragic case, to improve inter-agency information sharing and assessment processes across the city.”

“The Executive summary, Recommendations and Action Plans for the case have been made public via the BSCB website in line with government requirements. All recommendations have been fully implemented by all the agencies involved.”

This case focuses on enhancing inter-agency working particularly around adults with complex needs, making sure effective information sharing and assessment of parenting capacity is undertaken to protect and promote the well being of children.

Serious Case Review - BSCB/2010-11/1

Local Authority CP Procedures & Guidance for Schools and Education Services