Learning and Improvement Framework

This framework is designed to underpin and facilitate the development of a culture of continuous learning and improvement across the whole children’s safeguarding system in Leeds. It is based on:

• locally agreed priorities set out in the Annual report
• knowing our strengths, what we do well and do more of it
• knowing what children and young people say 
• learning from national research
• an outcomes based accountability methodology which asks:
• how much did we do?
• how well did we do it?
• what difference did it make to outcomes for children and young people?
• a shared commitment to implementing and embedding improvement actions
• a shared commitment to focus and learn from good practice as well as those cases meeting statutory criteria.
   

Operation of the framework requires trust between partners that:

• provides a high level of mutual support, sets ambitious expectations and enables effective, constructive challenge
• fully involves professionals to contribute their perspectives without fear of being blamed for actions they took in good faith
• avoids the development of a ‘blame culture’.
   

Learning and improvement activity must be able to assure partners about the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements and demonstrate improvements in:

• safeguarding arrangements and multi-agency working 
• ensuring children and young people receive ‘the right service at the right time’
• outcomes for vulnerable children and young people. 

In order to ensure transparency and public accountability learning and improvement activity should include:

• the involvement of children, young people and their families in improving the work of the LSCP 
• publication of learning and improvement activity and its impact on outcomes for vulnerable children and young people
• production and publication of the LSCP Annual report evaluating the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements in Leeds. 

Partner agencies should contribute, and respond, to learning and improvement activity in a timely manner. This will include support to:

Learning and development activity:

• provision of a  learning and development link who will liaise with the LSCP Business Unit on behalf of their organisation, represent their organisations learning and development needs and cascade learning and development opportunities and information (see Appendix A for details of learning and development link role 
• Provision of appropriate representation on the LSCP learning and Development group and relevant Task and Delivery groups.
• Provision of multiagency training relevant to their expertise if a learning need is identified. 

The LSCP Audit and Review processes :

• provision of information for LSCP Review and Audit activity, including case focused information and findings from internal reviews, audits and inspections.  
• engagement in the LSCP Review and Audit activity as required 
• cascade learning from any LSCP Review and Audit activity within their own organisation 

Effective member agency involvement in Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, Learning Lesson Reviews, Child Death Reviews, Appreciative Inquiries through:

• the timely provision of high quality information and analysis through the appropriately identified route 
• attendance of agency personnel at all levels in reviews
• a commitment to knowledge transfer, dissemination of learning and changes in practice which promote improved safeguarding outcomes for children and young people.
• Implementing actions identified to improve multi-agency working and outcomes for children and young people
• Ensuring the voice of the children and young people is central throughout all the work of the LSCP.

Learning will be drawn from a range of sources (see Appendix B) and all LSCP member organisations have an obligation to provide the LSCP with relevant, detailed and up to date information.  

Learning will be used to understand what we do well and do more of it.  It will also be used to challenge the Partnership and partner agencies to make improvements, through implementing action plans from inspections, reviews, audits etc. Learning will be used to make real, sustainable improvements to services to reduce the risk of future harm.

As part of the LSCP Learning and Improvement Framework, Leeds SCP recognise that Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews, audits, Appreciative Inquiry events and other review processes are a valuable resource for identifying learning from practice

The LSCP also recognises that it has responsibility for disseminating lessons to its partner agencies, and ensuring that those lessons are further disseminated within the agencies and  are embedded in practice to improve outcomes.

The cascading of learning, through the partnership will be undertaken through:

• reviews appropriately published on the LSCP website
• LSCP newsletter
• learning sheets
• practitioner briefings
• briefing sheets and associated resources
• embedded into training
• provision of learning and development opportunities
• information cascaded to practitioners through single agency communication processes
• policies and procedures appropriately reviewed and updated
• learning incorporated within in partner agency safeguarding training.

The embedding of learning will be monitored through appropriate action plans, LSCP subgroups and audit activity, as well as engagement with young people and families, the LSCP Organisational Self-Assessment and “Deep Dive” activity.

In order to ensure that changes are embedded, sustainable over time and have the desired effect, monitoring will be undertaken through the following processes:

• LSCP Review and Audit Activity 
• Partner agencies performance systems
• Partner agency review and audit activity 
• survey activity, including with children, young people and families, practitioners and managers
• Gaining feedback from children, young people and families, practitioners and managers, using a variety of methods to engage.

The LSCP are committed to ensuring that all learning is disseminated and embedded across all partner agencies. To support this a learning and development link role as been developed.  

The Learning and Development Link will liaise with the LSCP Business Unit  in relation to:

• identifying their organisations training needs
• provide assurance that appropriate safeguarding training is available (and provided)
• disseminate training information throughout their agency
• disseminate learning and development information throughout their agency
• Support the identification of experts within their organisation who could develop or facilitate multiagency training relevant to their expertise.  

In order for this to be an effective partnership the Learning and Development link is requested to:

• ensure that the section regarding training and development within the LSCP organisational self-assessment (Section 11)  is representative of their current organisational offer and oversight.
• respond timely to requests for assurance (and provide evidence if requested) that in-house training is updated, in line with changes in policies, procedures, key safeguarding messages and lessons learnt
• disseminate training information throughout their agency (for example the LSCP training calendar, dates of briefings and conferences, LSCP safeguarding newsletter, internal recommendations and messages from reviews).