About Essex Safeguarding Children Board (ESCB)
The Children Act 2004 required every local authority to set up a Local Safeguarding Children Board. The ESCB is Essex's response to this. The aim of the Board is to improve outcomes for children by coordinating the work of local agencies to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and ensuring the effectiveness of that work.
The work of the Board includes:
- Developing multi-agency policies and procedures for safeguarding
- Participating in the strategic planning of children’s services
- Communicating the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children to professionals and the public
- Conducting Serious Case Reviews when a child dies or is seriously harmed and abuse or neglect is suspected
- Ensuring procedures to ensure a coordinated response to unexpected child deaths
- Collecting and analysing information about all child deaths that occur in the area to identify issues of concern
- Providing multi-agency training and development to staff on safeguarding children
