Childcare Services Roles and Responsibilities

Working Together to Safeguard Children states that the roles and responsibilities of Childcare Services in relation to safeguarding children are:

Childcare services, family and children's centres, day nurseries,
childminders, pre-schools, playgroups, and holiday and out of school
schemes  play an important part in the lives of large numbers of children.
Many childcare providers have considerable experience of working with
families where a child needs to be safeguarded from harm, and many local
authorities provide, commission or sponsor specific services, including
childminders, to work with children in need and their families.
Childminders and everyone working in day care services should know
how to recognise and respond to the possible abuse or neglect of a child.
Private, voluntary and local authority day care providers caring for children
under the age of 8 must be registered by Ofsted under the Children Act 1989,
and should have a written statement, based on the procedures laid out in the
booklet "What To Do If You're Worried A Child Is Being Abused" Summary.
This statement should clearly set out staff responsibilities for reporting
suspected child abuse or neglect in accordance with LSCB procedures and
should include contact and telephone numbers for the local police and
children' social care. It should also include procedures to be followed in the
event of an allegation being made against a member of staff or volunteer. All
organisations providing group day care must have a designated person who is
responsible for liaison with local child protection agencies and Ofsted on child
protection issues, and other staff should be able to implement child protection
procedures in the absence of that person.

Contact:  safeguardingchildrenboard@barnsley.gov.uk

This page was last updated on the 19th of December 2011 and is scheduled for review on or before the 7th of June 2012