Safeguarders - revised practice standards: children's rights and wellbeing impact assessment (CRWIA)

6. How have you consulted with relevant stakeholders, including involving children and young people in the development of the policy/measure?

The development of the revised Practice Standards has been facilitated by Children 1st as part of their contract as operational managers of the Safeguarders Panel. Throughout this development process, they have undertaken extensive consultation with Safeguarders, the Support Managers who monitor and assess their practice and performance, key partner organisations, and children and young people.

In a summary of their engagement and consultation work on the review, the Children 1st Safeguarder Panel Team reported the following:

"There was an overarching view that the standards need to be updated and modernised, as in their current form, they are outdated and are missing important information. Examples of this are our responsibilities to uphold children's human rights, awareness of our use of language in reporting, and confidentiality.

A further criticism was that the impact of the child was absent from much of the original Standards, and that the focus was on the Safeguarder, and not the impact of their practice on the child. With recent developments in the legislative landscape in Scotland since the Care Review, The Promise, and the incorporation of the UNCRC, the Standards need to reflect this change of culture, practice, and everyday accountability of Safeguarders for children's rights. This accountability to children should be a consistent thread throughout the Standards, as well as being specifically referred to in the document."