Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 - GSCE Audit Process
Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 - GSCE Audit Process
Following a review of the section 11 process previously undertaken by the GSCB, the GSCE Delivery Board endorsed a plan in December 2019 to review and revise the section 11 process as part of the local arrangements under Working Together 2018. This proposal was signed off by the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Executive (GSCE) in December for implementation in 2020.
The following procedure sets out the standards from the Children Act 2004 (known as the section 11 audit) carried out bi-annually by the GSCE. Under Working Together 2018 there is a duty on named agencies to meet the requirements of section 11 but there is significant scope for local discretion around how the GSCE obtains all assurance about the effectiveness of agency compliance with their section 11 duties.
Section 11 places duties on a range of organisations, agencies and individuals to ensure their functions, and any services that they contract or commission out to others, are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Section 11 places a duty on:
- Local Authorities that provide children's and other types of services, including
- Children's and Adult Social Care Services (to Include Commissioned services)
- Public Health
- Housing
- Sport, Culture and Leisure Services
- Licensing Authorities
- Youth Services
- Youth Offending Teams/Services
- NHS organisations including
- NHS England
- Clinical Commissioning Groups,
- NHS Trusts
- NHS Foundation Trusts
- The police including
- Police and Crime Commissioners
- Chief Officer of each police force in England
- The British Transport Police
- The National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies
- Governors/Directors of Prisons and Young Offender Institutions
- Directors of Secure Training Centres
- CAFCASS (Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service)
The standards are broken down into four areas: (See Appendix 1 for full details)
1) Leadership and Accountability
2) Safe Recruitment, Induction, Training and Development
3) Safeguarding Policies and Procedures
4) Listening to Children and Young People
Please click here to read the full GSCE Audit Process document