6.1.4 Core Group

The initial Core Group should be convened within 10 working days of the ICPC.

The Core Group should take the outline CP plan and agree the detailed nature of the interventions and outcomes expected, setting out clear timescales and responsibilities. The child’s voice and lived experience must be fully understood and form a basis to decisions made at the Core Group.

The Core Group has a collective responsibility to evaluate the impact on the child’s welfare against the planned outcomes set out in the child protection plan.

The Core Group will meet 4 weekly to analyse the progress of the CP plan and whether the child’s desired outcomes are being achieved.

It is the Chair of the Core Groups responsibility to ensure that a discussion takes place at every Core Group with regard to whether all the agencies who should be in attendance are in attendance.

It is a shared responsibility to take a record of the Core Group using the Core Group minute template.  If the child’s allocated Social Worker is unable to attend, it is the responsibility of the partnership to continue the meeting, take a recording and share this between the partnership and family.  The recording of the Core Group must always be evident on the Child’s Social Care Electronic record.

The final Core Group prior to the Child Protection Review requires each agency to provide a written report. This will form the basis of a multi-agency discussion and recommendation to the Child Protection Review Conference.

If agencies are concerned that the CP plan is not safeguarding the child, agencies can request an early Child Protection Review, or escalate concerns to the IRO.

If any agency has a concern that another agency is not undertaking their role in the CP plan, the concerns should be escalated to the CP Chair, using the Sefton SCP Escalation Procedure.