Safeguarding Practice Reviews (formerly Serious Case Reviews)

Serious child safeguarding cases are those in which:

• abuse or neglect of a child is known or suspected and
• the child has died or been seriously harmed

The criteria which the local safeguarding partners must take into account include whether the case:

• highlights or may highlight improvements needed to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, including where those improvements have been previously identified
• highlights or may highlight recurrent themes in the safeguarding and promotion of the welfare of children
• highlights or may highlight concerns regarding two or more organisations or agencies working together effectively to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
• is one which the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel have considered and concluded a local review may be more appropriate

Safeguarding partners should also have regard to the following circumstances

• where the safeguarding partners have cause for concern about the actions of a single agency
• where there has been no agency involvement and this gives the safeguarding partners cause for concern
• where more than one local authority, police area or clinical commissioning group is involved, including in cases where families have moved around
• where the case may raise issues relating to safeguarding or promoting the welfare of children in institutional settings

Some cases may not meet the definition of a ‘serious child safeguarding case’, but nevertheless raise issues of importance to the local area. That might, for example, include where there has been good practice, poor practice or where there have been ‘near miss’ events. Safeguarding partners may choose to undertake a local child safeguarding practice review in these or other circumstances.