Safeguarding and pupil wellbeing - overview

Detailed overview

The purpose of this detailed overview is to provide answers to queries about Safeguarding that arose during 2017/18. 

Is the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub statutory?

The MASH is not a statutory mechanism for safeguarding referral and assessment. However, there is a statutory duty for Herefordshire Council and partner agencies, to run services that ensure the (effective) assessment of risk and harm to children and to ensure an appropriate response to these. The MASH is a commonly used and effective multi-agency response to our collective, statutory duties to safeguard children. It is an approach that is common in a significant number of local authority areas.

Schools are statutorily obliged to work with the range of agencies to keep children safe, by making appropriate referrals and having due regard to the Herefordshire Safeguarding Children’s Board processes and procedures. The MASH approach enables this to take place and also reduces the burden on school staff in doing so.

The following extracts are from the Home Office Multi Agency Working and Information Sharing Project (Final Report, July 2014).

‘Following a survey of all local authorities, the project team carried out interviews with 37 areas to look at broad issues surrounding the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children. Over two-thirds (26) of the local authorities that were interviewed said that they had multi-agency models in place at the time of interview (between January and April 2013) – around half of these used the term MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) to describe their model. The majority of local authorities had some co-location.’

‘All of the local authorities who had established a MASH or were working towards it, reported that MASH improved outcomes for children and families. It became increasingly clear throughout this project that areas are opting to put in place multi-agency teams to drive improved safeguarding approaches for children and vulnerable adults through better information sharing and high quality and timely safeguarding responses.’

‘There is some promising evidence that serious risks may be assessed more accurately with the involvement of a MASH.’

It is important to note the added value of a MASH for children and families, above and beyond a purely statutory response.

What do the MASH Education Officers do?

• The primary function of the MASH education officers is to advise and assist schools with safeguarding concerns and referrals to the MASH. If the MASH education officers were not in place, the onus would be much more on school staff themselves to make appropriate referrals to MASH, to reflect on and apply the threshold of need criteria and to resolve issues, without this additional and informed advice specifically for schools.
• The MASH education officers keep abreast of national, regional and local developments in safeguarding and ensure that Designated Safeguarding Leads in schools receive regular updates through bulletins, emails and network meetings.
• The MASH education officers provide some essential training for schools. This is not a comprehensive training package - typically it covers mandatory training, such as the ‘Prevent’ agenda, where schools might have otherwise be vulnerable or non-compliant.
• The Education Officers are advocates of schools and the needs of schools in Herefordshire’s safeguarding practice.

The Learning and Achievement Service:

• Provides desk top reviews of safeguarding policies, practice and procedures
• Ensures that schools are compliant with statutory duties (eg Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016) and Ofsted expectations
• Handles complaints about safeguarding in schools made to Ofsted by third parties

What happens if we do not pay for the SLA?

• Plainly, we cannot turn schools away from making a referral to the MASH; the presence and use of MASH officers does make safeguarding more robust in Herefordshire and is specifically in place to benefit schools
• As detailed above, the MASH is the best multi-agency response to safeguarding. It is not an expensive or profit-making service
• There is no surplus from the SLA to cover those schools who chose not to pay. Indeed the SLA did not recover costs 2017/18
• A failure of schools to sign up to our agreed (through schools forum) Herefordshire approach to safeguarding could put the current MASH arrangement and staffing in jeopardy

Herefordshire is a high delegating authority. The Local Authority does not have surplus funds to run safeguarding services gratis for any school. We hope that schools will continue to fund these arrangements as we do not have a readily available or convincing alternative that will support schools in this essential work. It seems unthinkable that Herefordshire schools should not contribute to our shared responsibilities, with partner agencies, towards safeguarding children.

In summary, this is not an exhaustive list of what the MASH and Safeguarding SLA covers. We can collectively pride ourselves on a knowledgeable and supportive working relationship that goes beyond minimum sufficiency and was developed by head teachers, with the local authority, for the benefit of children and families and schools themselves.

Please note that this SLA is for two years, charged annually in order to reduce the administrative burden and ensure stability for these essential services.