The Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership is overseen by the Executive Board. Members include the chief officers from Police, Health, and the Local Authority. This board holds the statutory responsibilities for safeguarding children and adults in Suffolk, sets and monitors annual priorities, approves the Annual Report, and holds partners accountable. It evaluates safeguarding arrangements across the authority and allocates resources, funding, and Partnership budgets.

There are separate Safeguarding Adults and Children’s Boards here in Suffolk.

Each Board monitors effectiveness of member agencies' safeguarding activities, ensures development and implementation of policies and procedures, and raises public awareness about safeguarding children, families, and adults at risk in Suffolk. It oversees training standards and Safeguarding Practice Reviews to support service improvements while promoting every person's right to a life free from abuse and neglect. The Board develops links with other partnerships and escalates significant issues to the Executive Board.

Minutes for both Boards are published and can be views on our minutes page.

This Board monitors progress against children's safeguarding priorities and provides a regular forum for Delegated Safeguarding Partners (as outlined in Working Together 2023) to discuss real-time safeguarding updates and concerns. It maintains oversight of all Subgroup activities through rotation of highlight reports, addresses high-level safeguarding issues requiring urgent response, and ensures national guidance is considered locally.

The Safeguarding Adults Review Panel (SARP), is responsible for commissioning the undertaking of Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs), on behalf of the Partnership as and when required under No Secrets (2000) and the Care Act 2014.

The group commissions and oversees the completion of the SAR process, working with involved professionals from start to finish, communicating with people and families, and commissioning the author of the final SAR report before developing action plans as a result of recommendations made by the SAR author.

The group will also identify and manage reviews of cases which do not meet the statutory criteria for a SAR but can provide valuable information about how organisations are working together and identify improvements. This learning will always be disseminated amongst members of the Partnership.

SARP is also responsible for gathering of shared learning from practice nationwide, including developing action plans as a result of SARs that have been undertaken elsewhere in the country, and sharing learning, both positive and negative, with board members as a result of these incidents and the resultant reports

The Children’s Case Review Panel, is responsible for commissioning the undertaking of Local Children’s Safeguarding Practice Reviews (LCSPR), on behalf of the Partnership as and when required under No Secrets (2000) and the Working together to Safeguard Children (2013).

The group commission and oversee the completion of the LCSPR process, working with involved professionals from start to finish, communicating with people and their families, and commissioning the author of the final report before developing action plans as a result of recommendations by the author.

The group will also identify and manage reviews of cases which do not meet the statutory criteria for a LCSPR but can provide valuable information about how organisations are working together and identify improvements. This learning will always be disseminated amongst members of the Partnership.

Case Review Panel is also responsible for gathering of shared learning from practice nationwide, including developing action plans as a result of LCSPRs that have been undertaken elsewhere in the country, and sharing learning, both positive and negative, with board members as a result of these incidents and the resultant reports.

This panel reviews all child deaths (excluding stillbirths and legal terminations) by collecting information from professionals and families to determine preventability and identify modifiable factors. It makes recommendations to prevent future deaths, identifies patterns in local data, refers suspected abuse/neglect cases for potential Safeguarding Practice Reviews, and cooperates with regional and national initiatives.

This group oversees policy development, implements rigorous approaches to monitoring service impact on safeguarding, and supports the dissemination of learning from case reviews. It presents recommendations and audit findings, analyses performance information to identify themes requiring action, and reports significant operational issues to promote timely learning and problem-solving.

This subgroup uses evidence-based insights from other groups to identify training requirements and disseminates learning from case reviews through multiple approaches. It promotes development needs across sectors, utilises partnership skills to enhance multi-agency training, encourages cross-organisational understanding, and supports the development of multi-agency learning packages and the delivery of Learning Hubs.

This subgroup develops rigorous approaches to monitoring services' impact on safeguarding, with emphasis on multi-agency audits focused on outcomes. It collects and analyses performance information to identify themes requiring action, monitors risks to inform business planning, and reports operational issues to promote timely learning and problem-solving.

This subgroup oversees development of multi-agency safeguarding policies and procedures, and promotes high-quality practice. It shares examples of good practice and ensures new policies and guidance are effectively disseminated throughout organisations to become routinely embedded in practice.

This subgroup addresses safeguarding needs of rough sleepers and homeless individuals by establishing clear accountability mechanisms, promoting system-wide change, and ensuring strategic plans reference these populations. It recommends and then implements learning from Safeguarding Adult Reviews involving rough sleeping deaths, holds partners accountable, and collects data on rough sleeping and homelessness.

This subgroup provides scrutiny of care quality issues arising from various boards and reviews, and focuses on applied learning and continuous improvement. It examines system-wide trends, drives improvement in the care sector beyond just commissioned care, highlights provision gaps, and develops a learning culture from various sources including Safeguarding Adult Reviews.

The Health Executive subgroup is divided into a strategic Health Executive for Directors and a Health Safeguarding Operational group for Provider Named Professionals which now includes MASH Specialist Nurses.

The remit of the Health Executive subgroup is to ensure that all Directors are aware of issues raised by the Partnership, and to ensure that safeguarding risks and issues in their organisations are passed on through this group to the Partnership.

The Area Network meetings are facilitated by the Local Authority Safeguarding Leads and used to share information, deal with issues of safeguarding practice, learn from cases and capture good practice in the locality.

The CaRE group element of the meeting aims to support local implementation and compliance with multi-agency policies and procedures for identifying, assessing, and responding to child exploitation and to also facilitate effective local multi-agency coordinated response to safeguarding victims of child exploitation.