Funding to help keep children safe in city

A new approach to keeping children safe will be piloted in Peterborough thanks to a successful bid for £2.8 million from the Department for Education.

The money will allow Peterborough City Council to create a new Family Safeguarding Service, bringing staff from a number of agencies who work with children under 13 and their families into one team.

Together they will tackle domestic abuse, substance misuse and mental health issues which place children at risk of significant harm. The aim is to reduce the number of children needing to be subject to child protection, and to avoid care proceedings and children coming into care wherever possible.

It follows an initial pilot scheme by Hertfordshire Council which has achieved a 40 percent reduction in child protection numbers and a 6.5 per cent reduction on children coming into care as a result of significant harm.

Councillor Sam Smith, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “This is excellent news and will have a significant impact on the future of children’s social care in Peterborough. The new Family Safeguarding Service will allow us to develop child protection and enable more children to be brought up safely in their own families.”