Need to report abuse?

If you wish to talk to someone about any concerns or worries about a child or young person, then please contact:

Duty Team
Referral and Assessment Service
Children's Specialist Services
Welbeck House
43-51 Wandsworth High Street
London
SW18 2PU
Telephone: 020 8871 6622

Outside of normal office hours (after 5pm weekdays or on weekends): 020 8871 6000

In an emergency call the Police on telephone number 999.

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About Us

Welcome to the Wandsworth Safeguarding Children Board Website. We are a group of people who are responsible for keeping children and young people safe. We do this by making sure everyone who work for/with children and young people work together and listen to what children have to say. 

What is safeguarding?

Children and young people can only be safeguarded properly if everyone involved

with them work effectively together. It is therefore everyone's responsibility to 

safeguard a child or young person and promote his/her welfare.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:

• protecting children from maltreatment;
• preventing impairment of children's health or development;
• ensuring children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
• undertaking that role so to enable those children to have optimum life chances and to enter adulthood successfully.

Child protection is part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm. (Working Together to Safeguard Children, Chapter 1, p. 35)

'Safeguarding' includes all children and it is EVERYONE's responsibility to safeguarding children and young people. We all have a safeguarding responsibility, whether you work directly or indirectly with children and young people or with adults who are parents or carers of children and young people.

Role of Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB)

The Board leads on developing policies and procedures in relation to:

• Actions to be taken where there are concerns about a child's safety or welfare;
• Training people who either work with child/young person or are in services affecting the safety and welfare of child/young person;
• The recruitment and supervision of people who work with child/young person;
• Investigation of allegations made against people who work with child/young person
• The safety and welfare of child/young person who are privately fostered.

Therefore we all have an individual responsibility to ensure the safety of the children and young people we work with, irrespective of our specific role and day-to-day duties. Children can only be safeguarded properly if the key agencies and staff and volunteers within them work effectively together. This includes anyone who has contact with a child/young person, in whatever way, this may be through work, volunteering or in a personal capacity, i.e. friends, parents, carers, neighbours, teachers, preachers, etc. to ensure that all children/young people are kept safe and all their needs fully met. Examples of provision include:

• Adequate and appropriate housing;
• An opportunity to attend education;
• All their health needs appropriately met;
• Being protected from any form of abuse, i.e. physical, emotional, sexual abuse, bullying, etc;
• Sufficient support for their parents receive to meet their child/young person's needs.  For example, a parent with some form of disability or misusing drugs or alcohol having access to the necessary support systems;
• Access to necessary support systems; for those children/young people with some form of disability or misusing drugs or alcohol.
• Protection from domestic violence; racism and other forms of social isolation

Flowchart of WSCB Structure

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