At any point during an inspection, inspectors may have cause to believe that a child or adult is at risk of harm as a result of abuse or poor practice. In these circumstances, inspectors have a responsibility to report their concerns and ensure that services with a responsibility to investigate and take the necessary actions to protect the child or adult at risk are able to do so.

Addressing matters of concern during a joint inspection

  1. Each CPP will have identified a lead member of staff that the inspection lead will liaise with when a concern is raised. This will normally be a senior manager in children’s social work.
  2. The inspection lead will ensure that inspectors, local file readers and associate assessors know what to do when they are significantly concerned about an issue and they will be guided to complete a concern form.
  3. Concerns will be discussed with the inspection lead who will decide if the concern needs to be brought to the attention of the local lead member of staff in the CPP.
  4. The local lead member of staff will take action in line with the relevant inter-agency procedures to report all instances where it is believed that a child or adult is at immediate risk of harm, or, may have experienced abuse which has hitherto not been the subject of a satisfactory investigation.
  5. The referral from the Care Inspectorate will be recorded on the local case management system. They will also be recorded on a record.

 

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