We will strengthen our safeguarding practices, says West Berkshire Children’s Services

Anyone reading this report will be troubled to learn that agencies missed opportunities to protect some young people from harm.

We really value the learning in this report and have been implementing changes as we identify opportunities for improvement. Safeguarding practices develop over time and are unrecognisable from those in place when the first offences were committed in the 1980s. However, we know that there are always ways to improve further.

We have already taken steps to improve how we work and this includes an immediate review of all the agencies’ safeguarding practices, a move to three-yearly DBS checks, more training and a refreshed toolkit for schools to conduct their own reviews.

We already have robust safeguarding practices in place and this report will help us strengthen them further still.”