5.5 Transfer Child Protection Conference
Last reviewed in Feb 2023
Date of next review April 2025
Contents
- Professional Difference Statement(Jump to)
- Permanent Move(Jump to)
- Temporary moves(Jump to)
- Moving Abroad(Jump to)
Professional Difference Statement
| 5.5.1 | The Pan Sussex Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy and Procedures Group recommend the following statement is read out at all relevant meetings. Professional Difference Statement: It is acknowledged that when working in the arena of safeguarding, it is inevitable that from time to time there will be professional differences. This is a positive activity and a sign of good professional practice and effective multi-agency working. During this meeting practitioners, irrespective of their seniority are encouraged to say if they feel that decisions, practice or actions do not effectively ensure the safety or well-being of the child/children. |
Permanent Move
| 5.5.2 | On the rare occasion where the child has moved abroad permanently while on a Child Protection Plan and all relevant agencies abroad have been notified that it is the view of the Core Group that no further work can be undertaken, the Chair of the Child Protection Conference will notify the Heads of Safeguarding and Children's Social Care and seek their authority for the child’s child protection plan to be closed. The Head of Safeguarding will notify local partner agencies of the decision. |
| 5.5.3 | When Children's Social Care is notified that a child with a Child Protection Plan moves into the authority's area, the responsibility for the Child Protection Plan rests with the Originating Authority, until the Transfer Conference. Local staff should co-operate with the Lead Social Worker from the Originating Authority to implement the Child Protection Plan. |
| 5.5.4 | If a situation arises where the worker in the Receiving Authority is unable to make contact with the child/family, this should be a cause for concern. Advice should be sought from the designated safeguarding lead in the worker’s organisation without delay. |
| 5.5.5 | Actions to be taken in the child’s Originating Authority If anyone becomes aware of a child with a Child Protection Plan moving out of their home area, or a plan for the child to move , they must inform the child’s Lead Social Worker or, if not available, the Lead Social Worker’s line manager. The Lead Social Worker will:
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| 5.5.6 | The Transfer Conference should be treated as an Initial Conference in the Receiving Authority. Only after this event may the Originating Authority discontinue it’s Child Protection Plan for the child. Discontinuation of the Child Protection Plan should only be agreed following a full risk assessment of the child and family in their new situation. |
| 5.5.7 | The Lead Social Worker from the Originating Authority must be invited to the Transfer Conference and is expected to submit a report that has been shared with the child and family at least five working days before the Conference. The Receiving Authority must provide a copy of the Conference Record for the child’s record in the Originating Authority. |
Temporary moves
| 5.5.8 | A temporary move could cover a range of situations from holiday stays to short stay placement moves to relatives or residential units; the circumstances should always be checked with the child’s Lead Social Worker.
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| 5.5.9 | Whenever a child with a Child Protection Plan moves out of their Local Authority area for a temporary period, however long or short, the Receiving Authority, where the child is temporarily staying, must be advised and provided with all relevant information, including personal details and the current Child Protection Plan, along with necessary contact numbers.
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| 5.5.10 | The Lead Social Worker should contact the Safeguarding Unit in the area the child is temporarily residing in and request that the Receiving Authority records the child as having a temporary Child Protection Plan with their Authority for the duration of the child’s stay. |
| 5.5.11 | It is good practice for the Lead Social Worker’s Manager to contact the relevant Manager in the Receiving Authority’s Children’s Social Care Service. |
| 5.5.12 | It is the Originating Authority's responsibility to ensure the Child Protection Plan continues to be implemented until the formal transfer has been agreed at a Transfer Conference, as this would only occur following a permanent move. |
Moving Abroad
| 5.5.13 | Whenever professionals are working with a family for whom there are outstanding concerns about a child or unborn baby’s safety or welfare and they suspect that a family may have moved overseas, Children's Social Care Services and the Police should be informed immediately.
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| 5.5.14 | Where a child with a Child Protection Plan moves abroad (whether planned or unplanned) the Lead Social Worker and Conference Chair should consider whether to reconvene a Review Conference or Core Group to determine what action to take. Appropriate steps should be taken to inform the relevant local and overseas authorities in the country to which the child has moved of any concerns.
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| 5.5.15 | Consideration needs to be given to appropriate legal interventions if it appears that a child, who has outstanding concerns in relation to their safety and welfare, may be removed from the UK by their family in order to avoid the involvement of agencies with safeguarding responsibilities. This also applies when a child on a Care Order has been removed from the UK. Children's Social Care Services, the Police Child Abuse Investigation Team and the International Child Abduction and Contact Unit at the Ministry of Justice should be informed immediately. |
| 5.5.16 | In the case of children taken overseas, it may be appropriate to contact the Consular Directorate at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which offers assistance to British nationals in distress overseas (020 7008 1500). They may be able to follow up a case through their consular post(s) in the country concerned. |