The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
Scrutiny Office By Email
18th November 2022
Scrutiny Review of the Proposed Government Plan 2023-2026 Dear Deputy Curtis ,
Thank you for you letter dated the 9th November 2022 inviting NSPCC Jersey to provide comment on relevant aspects of proposed Government Plan 2023 -2026.
We were asked, in particular, to provide comment on the following projects being examined by the Scrutiny Panel:
• Children's Social Care Reform – p.51 of R.146/2022;
• Social Worker Recruitment and Retention – p.52 of R.146/2022; and
• Upgrade to CYPES Estate – p.57/58 of P.97/2022'
Please find some remarks below. I hope these are of use to the Panel. About the NSPCC
The NSPCC is the leading child protection charity in the UK and Channel Islands. We help children who've been abused to rebuild their lives, we protect children at risk, and we find the best ways of preventing child abuse from ever happening. We are constantly testing the very best intervention models from around the world, alongside our universal services such as Childline, and the NSPCC Helpline. Based on learning from all our services we seek to achieve cultural, social and political change.
In Jersey, the NSPCC offers the following services for children and families:
• Seeking Solutions: this offers children and young people help and support to deal with problems that are affecting their life, happiness or wellbeing. The service is led by the young person, working alongside their support network, where possible, to improve their confidence, skills and strengths, so they are better prepared to cope with any future problems.
| Letting the Future In: is designed to help children and young people who have experienced |
| sexual abuse rebuild their lives. We support children and young people aged between 4-to 17- |
| years-old so that they can recover from the impact abuse has had on their lives. Referrals can |
| also be made for children or young people with learning disabilities up until the age of 19. |
| Parents and carers are critical to the child or young person's recovery, so we work with them to |
| help them support their child throughout the therapeutic process. Siblings who require support |
| may also be provided with a service. This service is recommended by the National Institute for |
| Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (NICE, 2017) and was showcased as an example of |
| commissioning practice in the Home Office's commissioning framework for support services for |
| victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in England (Home Office, 2019). |
• We also offer other campaigns such as Talk PANTS which helps children understand that their body belongs to them, and they should tell someone they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried.
Children's Social Care Reform – p 51 of R.146/2022:
NSPCC Jersey welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Scrutiny Panel's request for comments. We appreciate being a named partner agency within the document and look forward to working with Government to drive improvement and better quality of service outcome.
NSPCC Jersey supports a comprehensive reform of the system of care in Jersey as identified in the Government Plan 2023-2026 plan and welcomes the acknowledgement that the Government sees Children's Social Care as a Priority for Government and the aspirations held within the plan.
There is little detail in the Government Plan about what specifically any reform programme looks like and we have, as yet, not been involved in any detailed discussion. However, NSPCC Jersey feels strongly that any reform should take into account the following key principles:
- NSPCC Jersey support the intention to increase early help support - all early help support given should be evidenced- based, non-stigmatising and preventative. In addition, support for families should be given alongside support for children. Quality family help can foster a safe, nurturing home environment here children can grow up free from abuse and neglect. NSPCC Jersey would also support a refocus in the language used in the plan to not just using the element of cost savings to explicitly state putting Children First and the improvement in outcomes for children in the text.
- In all areas of the plan, NSPCC Jersey would support time and resource given to listen and understand children' s wishes and feelings and offer services and interventions that empower
children and support them to achieve the best possible outcomes. A clear sense of the
respective roles that each of us can play in keeping children safe from expert intervention to all of us recognising signs of abuse and neglect. Ensuring support for recovery is
available and is built around the child.
- Working Better Together: As well as stabilising the work force a focus on working together better with other partners must be strengthened to secure better outcomes for children. The new Children and Young People (Jersey) law 2022 provides the opportunity to work together better supported by clear guidance and procedures.
- Sustainable and Fair funding: All services provided need to be evaluated to measure success and sustainable change. With more and more families struggling to meet the basic needs,
One in four (25%) children were in Relatively Low Income' (Household Income Distribution 2019/220 www.gov.je/statistics) All services must take account of families on Low Incomes
and look at the additional impact this situation has on children and families.
Social Worker Recruitment and Retention – p.52 of R.146/2022
NSPCC Jersey is not immune to the labour shortage in Jersey and recruitment can affect our ability to provide the services to children. However, we would be happy to discuss our experiences and our approach to recruitment and retention with the Jersey Government should that be helpful.
Upgrade to CYPES Estate – p.57/58 of P.97/2022 
Provision of residential care is not currently an area of focus for the NSPCC, however we feel strongly that children should be able to access therapeutic support to recover from abuse and neglect and, again, we would like to point to the general principles above when designing and building such a facility. We would be happy to engage in conversations about how the services we provide may complement any such facility.
For further information, please contact
Claire Farley (Policy and Public Affairs Officer) Claire.Farley@nspcc.org.uk