Using this Manual

1. About this Manual

This is the Telford and Wrekin Children's Services manual, which contains amended and new procedures.

Note: Telford and Wrekin are focused on the importance of the use of language especially with our partners and the children, young people and families that we work alongside. We have generated our own language guide in line with our work within the Family Safeguarding Model. If you are a practitioner, you can access this on the internal resource bank or contact the principle social worker for more information.

The manuals toolbar has the following links:

Contents - contains the main policies and procedures that ensures we comply with the law and statutory guidance.

Telford Practice Guidance - is maintained by Telford & Wrekin Children Services. It contains a range of resources including forms, local information and additional local guidance. If you have a resource, which you think should be added to the Telford Practice Guidance, speak to your manager in the first instance. The Telford Practice Guidance can be accessed from the menu bar at the top of the manual and from the home page.

We are currently developing a Children's Services Resource Bank to support you with additional resources.

The Regional Child Protection Procedures for West Midlands can be accessed from the menu at the top of the home page and should be read alongside this manual as they will contain the guidance on a range of topics including CSE, Missing, FGM. It is important that you read these procedures too as they contain guidance to support you in the assessment process and in working with other agencies where there are child protection concerns.

Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership has a range of local guidance on safeguarding topics in addition to those in the Regional Child Protection Procedures for West Midlands.

There is also a section in the manual - Telford & Wrekin Social Work Learning Resource that contains links to Information and Resources to help you in your role.

To report any issues or suggest improvements to the procedures or Telford Practice Guidance, please contact the Hub Project Team (HubProjectTeam@telford.gov.uk)

2. Amendments

This manual will continue to be updated on a regular basis and a summary of the changes can be accessed via the 'Amendments' button on the Home page. The next planned update of this manual is in April 2025.

If you would like to suggest a change to the procedures manual discuss your suggestion with your line manager in the first instance.

3. Glossary and National Contacts

The manual is accessed by readers who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore, a glossary of definitions is available under the resource tab.

There is also a National Contacts resource populated with details of key national agencies and organisations likely to be relevant to procedures user.

4. Regulatory Compliance

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or omissions, please alert your manager.

These procedures use the word ‘must’ where the provision is a legal requirement. The word ‘should’ is used where the provision should be complied with but is not a legal requirement, such as where it is taken from non-statutory government guidance or accepted good practice.

5. Register for Updates

We recommend that you register with us to automatically receive notification when this manual is updated, and to receive a monthly newsletter containing articles which may be of interest. Click on the 'Register for Updates' button on the home screen, to complete and send your details to us.

We will manage your data respectfully and in accordance with your preferences and we will never share your data with other organisations for marketing or other purposes.

The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. Content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of tri.x and Telford and Wrekin Borough Council.

7. Accessibility

This website aims to achieve Double-A conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in accordance with government guidelines. In order to change font size or manual colour use the highlighted 'Accessibility' button at the top right hand corner of any page.

8. Printing and Retaining Copies

The Manual is intended to be viewed on line to ensure only the most up-to-date version of procedures are being used. It will be updated regularly so, in the unlikely event there is a requirement for hard copies they should be destroyed after 72 hours.

9. Browser Recommendations

It is recommended that this manual is viewed with the latest browsers, with Java Script and cookies enabled for maximum compatibility and functionality.

Recommended browsers are:

10. Mobile/Tablet Compatibility

This manual has been tested on a variety of mobile devices to ensure that it displays correctly. If you are using an older mobile device it is possible that the manual will not display correctly.

If you would like the text to be larger, resize the text under the accessibility options, alternatively if you would also like the buttons and the rest of the layout to be enlarged you can use the zoom function within your browser.

The majority of devices have the functionality to allow a shortcut to be downloaded to the homescreen by loading the site using the 'url' and using the upload function and tapping 'Add to Home Screen'. The functionality may vary between devices, please refer to the manufacturer's instructions.