Background and Policy Objectives
3.In the early 1990s Area Child Protection Committees (ACPCs) were established in each of the former Health and Social Services Boards. The ACPCs were responsible for promoting inter-agency work to protect children and to monitor and evaluate how well child protection services were working. In 2006, a range of measures were introduced which were designed to strengthen child protection in Northern Ireland. Among these was a proposal to improve interagency co-operation on child protection through the establishment of a regional Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI). This measure is designed to ensure co-operation at the highest level within Government Departments, the Health and Social Care system, local government and in the voluntary and community sectors.
4.The Safeguarding Board will replace the current Regional Child Protection Committee which has been operating since November 2009. The Act will provide the required legislative framework for the creation of a new regional Safeguarding Board (SBNI). It will also provide the legislative framework for the creation of a structure of 5 Safeguarding Panels, one located in each Health and Social Care Trust’s geographical area, to support the SBNI.
