Dawn Bowden, Minister for Children and Social Care
Today, I am pleased to be launching the Single Unified Safeguarding Review (SUSR) in Wales which is the result of substantial cross-sector collaboration with partners. We are the first country in the UK to take this trailblazing new approach to safeguarding reviews. We have worldwide interest, including nations as far away as New Zealand and Australia engaging in the work being undertaken. Once again Wales is leading the way.
The SUSR will remove the need for multiple reviews when any life is lost or is significantly impacted through abuse, neglect, or violence. It will ensure that collective learning is achieved and acted upon, as public agencies work together to identify what more could have been done to prevent such a tragic incident occurring and what could be done differently in the future.
Historically, devolved, and non-devolved agencies were responsible for reviewing such tragedies, using different processes, procedures, legislation, and guidance. Often resulting in multiple reviews for one incident including Adult and Child Practice Reviews, Mental Health Homicide Reviews and Domestic Homicide Reviews. Now only one Review will take place to ensure that learning is identified as a collective and recommendations implemented as soon as possible.
A SUSR will be instigated by the relevant Safeguarding Board and aided by a national Support Network which includes a Ministerial Board that I will be chairing. This is where difficult and more complex issues can be discussed and solutions sought.
The implementation of recommendations from SUSRs will be monitored by a dedicated Strategy Group, incorporating key partners at a senior level, to ensure that they are progressed, and if necessary, issues or barriers to implementation escalated to the Ministerial Board. This unique innovative approach will ensure no stone is left unturned.
The bespoke Wales Safeguarding Repository, already housing over 130 historic safeguarding reviews will store all future SUSR reports. This digital repository can be interrogated using social science and machine learning to extract emerging themes, learning and good practice arising from SUSRs, and enable us to look at what can be done to address issues at a national level. It will transform the way practitioners, policy makers, public sector leaders and researchers use information contained in reviews to address age-old repeated issues.
The SUSR Co-ordination Hub will maintain a SUSR Dashboard for key partners and stakeholders which will provide live monitoring data including information on current SUSRs and progress in relation to the implementation of recommendations. They will also work in partnership with the Support Network to deliver bi-annual dissemination events to promote good practice and learning across Wales.
The Victim and Family Reference Group will continue their work to ensure focus remains on those individuals at the heart of every SUSR. They will provide advice on relevant issues and develop guidance and literature including:
- a good practice guide on how to engage with the Victim and Family members when undertaking a Review;
- Family Engagement Information leaflet; and
- SUSR Easy to Read guidelines.
The SUSR process will be reviewed after 12 months to ensure that any changes required to improve the process further are made.
A formal launch will take place later in the year with key stakeholders and members of the SUSR Ministerial Board.
Copies of the SUSR Statutory Guidance, SUSR Toolkit and transitional arrangements are available here.