Practitioners guide and toolkit - Child Protection Planning Meetings

This guidance has been updated following the implementation of the National Guidance for Child Protection 2021 - updated 2023.  It aims to provide a comprehensive guide for practitioners who have been invited to attend a Child Protection Planning Meeting (CPPM) to ensure that you are as prepared as possible. 

There are two checklists appended to this document - the first is to support social workers who require to plan, arrange and prepare for a CPPM and the second is for practitioners who have been invited to attend. These checklists are aimed at practitioners who may be early in their career and may find the framework beneficial.  We trust that you will find this document helpful to you in your work and would encourage you to send any feedback to ChildProtectionCommittee@pkc.gov.uk.

Introduction

All children and young people (including unborn babies) have the right to be cared for; protected from harm and abuse and to grow up in a safe environment, in which their rights are respected and all their wellbeing needs are met.  Children and young people should get the help they need, when they need it, for as long as they need it. They should also get the right help, at the right time, from the right people and their welfare is always paramount.

Most children and young people get all the help and support they need from their parents, carers and families, in addition to the universal services of education and health.  However, on some occasions, some children and young people may need further help and support in order to safeguard, support and promote their wellbeing and to protect them from harm and abuse.

Within in Perth and Kinross, supporting the wellbeing of all children and young people and protecting them from harm and abuse is everyone's job and everyone's responsibility. We consider this to be a shared responsibility for all practitioners and managers working across the public, private and third sectors.

All practitioners must play their part in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people to ensure they are safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included and protected from harm and abuse.

Purpose

This Practitioner's Guide aims to support the practice of all practitioners and managers working across the public, private and third sectors in Perth and Kinross. 

This guidance should complement, not replace any existing single service and agency guidance relating to Child Protection Planning Meetings (CPPMs). 

As a practitioner or manager, you may be working directly with children and young people or indirectly with them through working with their parents or carers.  It is important that you understand the key role you have to play in keeping all children and young people protected from harm and abuse.

Occasionally you may be invited to attend a CPPM.  You will be asked to prepare and submit a written report and / or assessment or to contribute to one.  You will be asked to present your report and / or assessment and to take part in any decision making at a Child Protection Planning Meeting (CPPM).  

This guidance will help and support you to do so.

Child Protection Planning Meetings (CPPMs)

What is a Child Protection Planning Meeting (CPPM)?

CPPMs are a core feature of inter-agency working to protect children and young people.  Their primary purpose is to consider whether an unborn baby, child or young person) is at risk of significant harm and if so, to add or retain the unborn baby, child or young person's name to the Child Protection Register and develop a Child Protection Plan and/or to review an existing Child's Plan to reduce/mitigate risk.  CPPMs are non-statutory multi-agency meetings, and they have no legal status. 

CPPMs are formal multi-agency meetings that are convened when there is cause to believe that an unborn baby, child or young person has experienced or is at risk of experiencing significant harm.  CPPMs enable families, practitioners, services and agencies to share and exchange information including professional assessments and chronologies regarding the unborn baby, child or young person.  The need for a CPPM should be discussed with other practitioners, services and agencies at an early stage of a child protection investigation.  

Any practitioner, service and agency can request a CPPM.  To avoid any unnecessary drift, timescales are in place for all CPPMs, including the production of Minutes and a Child's Plan.  However, immediate safety planning for the unborn baby, child or young person should be in place from the time of the child protection concern being received.

Who arranges and manages CPPMs?

CPPMs are multi-agency meetings which are arranged and managed by Children and Families Social Work, which is part of the Children, Families and Justice Service. Arrangements are made in partnership with the practitioner, service or agency who has requested a CPPM.  

All CPPMs are chaired by a Senior Officer from Children and Families' Social Work and dedicated administrative support is provided.

Who can ask for a CPPM to be convened?

Any practitioner, service or agency may request that a CPPM be convened if they believe that the threshold is met for this level of intervention into family life. This should follow a multi-agency discussion such as an IRD (Initial Referral Discussion) (PDF, 321 KB).

A child or young person whose name is on the Child Protection Register (CPR) and / or their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities, can ask for a CPPM to be convened at any time. This will be considered, however, the decision to convene a CPPM remains with Children and Families' Social Work.

What is the purpose of a CPPM?

The purpose of all CPPMs is to share and exchange information, to identify risks to an unborn baby, child or young person and to identify the actions by which those risks can be reduced and managed.  As a participant, you should consider the following: 

• ensuring that all relevant information held by you and / or your service or agency is shared and discussed.   
• assessing the degree of existing and likely future risk of harm to the unborn baby, child or young person.
• considering the views of the unborn baby, child or young person and their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities.
• identifying the unborn baby, child or young person's needs and how these can be met by services and agencies.
• supporting and contributing to the development and review of the Child or Young Person's Plan.
• deciding whether to place, or not to place, or to retain the unborn baby, child or young person's name on the CPR; and
• considering whether there might be a need for Compulsory Measures of Supervision and whether a referral should be made to the Children's Reporter for a child or young person (if this has not already been done).  An unborn baby cannot be referred to the Children's Hearing.  However, here is some further information for professionals on Referring to the Children's Hearing.

What types of CPPMs are there?

There are four types of CPPMs - Pre-Birth Child Protection Planning Meeting; Child Protection Planning Meeting; Review Child Protection Planning Meeting, and Transfer Child Protection Planning Meeting. Each CPPM has a discrete and distinct purpose.

Pre-Birth Child Protection Planning Meeting

The purpose of a Pre-Birth CPPM is to decide whether an unborn child is at significant risk of harm both prior to and following their birth. The participants need to prepare a Child's Plan in advance of the child's birth.

An unborn baby may be considered to be at significant risk of harm if one of the following circumstances and/or vulnerability factors exists (this is not considered to be an exhaustive list):

• domestic abuse 
• previous child wellbeing / childcare / child protection issues for older siblings.
• problematic substance uses by parents or others who may be within the parental household.
• significant mental health concerns of parents or others who may be within the parental household.
• homelessness
• parents with significant involvement in the Justice system
• A Pre-Birth CPPM will also need to consider actions that may be required at birth, including (this is not considered to be an exhaustive list):
• whether the child's name should be placed on the CPR.
• whether it is safe for the child to go home at birth.
• whether there is a need to apply for a Child Protection Order (CPO) at birth.
• whether supervised contact is required between the parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities and the child and who will provide this if required.
• whether there should be a discharge meeting from hospital and a handover to community-based supports.

Timescales - A Pre-Birth CPPM should take place by 28 weeks of gestation and in cases of late presentation, always within 28 days of the concern being raised, taking into account the needs of the parents and all the circumstances in each case.

Child Protection Planning Meeting

The purpose of the CPPM is to allow practitioners, services and agencies to share and exchange information about a child or young person for whom there are child protection concerns, jointly assess that information and the risk to the child or young person and to determine whether there is a likelihood of significant harm through abuse or neglect that needs to be addressed through a multi-agency Child Protection Plan.  The focus should always be on keeping the child or young person safe and protected.

A CPPM should also consider whether a child or young person is safe to remain at home and whether a referral to the Children's Reporter is required.  A CPPM normally takes place after a child protection investigation has been carried out and an initial assessment has been made of the situation.

Where it is agreed that a child or young person is at risk of significant harm and that their name should be placed on the CPR, those attending the CPPM are responsible for developing and agreeing a Child Protection Plan and for identifying the Core Group of staff responsible for implementing, monitoring and reviewing the subsequent Child's Plan.

The participants need to take account of all the circumstances leading to the CPPM and the initial risk assessment.  Due to the timescales for calling a CPPM, there is likely to only be time for an interim risk management plan; a more comprehensive risk assessment may still need to be carried out after the CPPM.  In some instances, there will already be a Child's Plan in place, and this will need to be revisited in light of the child protection concerns about the child or young person.

Timescales - A CPPM should take place as soon as possible and no later than 28 calendar days from the start of the child protection investigation. 

Review Child Protection Planning Meeting

The purpose of a Review CPPM is to review the decision to place an unborn baby, child or young person's name on the CPR or where there have been significant changes in the child or young person's family circumstances.  The participants will review the progress of the Child or Young Person's Plan, consider all new information available and decide whether the child or young person's name should remain on, or be removed (de-registered) from, the CPR.

Where an unborn baby, child or young person is no longer considered to be at risk of significant harm and good progress has been made with the Child's Plan, their name should be removed (de-registered) from the CPR by the Review CPPM.  Only a Review CPPM can remove (de-register) a child or young person's names from the CPR.  The child or young person and their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities may still require ongoing support and this should be managed through the Child's Plan.  Support should continue for as long as is necessary, with the consent of the parents or caregivers.

The situation should be constantly reviewed for so long as the unborn baby, child or young person's name remains on the CPR. A Special Review CPPM can also be arranged at the request of any practitioner, service or agency when there has been a significant change in the circumstances of the case, or where there has been a further alleged incident of harm or abuse which requires consideration.

Timescales - The first Review CPPM should take place within 6 months of the CPPM with the exception of reviews that follow a pre-birth CPPM, which are recommended at an earlier juncture, at a time to be set by the CPPM. A Core group can also request an earlier review.  Thereafter, Review CPPMs should take place within a 6-month period, or earlier, if circumstances change.   

Transfer Child Protection Planning Meeting

The purpose of a Transfer CPPM is to specifically cover the transfer of information about an unborn baby, child or young person where a Child or Young Person's Plan is currently in place and the unborn baby, child or young person has moved to another local authority area.    

Permanent Moves

Where an unborn baby, child or young person and their family move permanently from one local authority area to another local authority area, the originating local authority area will notify the receiving local authority area immediately, then follow up that notification in writing.

Where the child or young person moves permanently to another local authority area, the originating local authority area needs to assess this change in circumstances.  If there is felt to be a reduction in risk, the originating local authority area should arrange a Review CPPM to consider whether de-registration is appropriate.  If additional support is required at a lower level, the originating authority should request this from the receiving authority.  

It is best practice for a member of staff from the receiving local authority area to attend the Review CPPM.  Where the originating local authority area considers that the risk is ongoing or even increased by the move, the receiving local authority area is responsible for convening the Transfer CPPM.

Where a child or young person and their family move permanently from one local authority area to another local authority area then  the case records should be transferred to the receiving local authority using secure means.

At the Transfer CPPM, the minimum requirement for attendance will be the originating local authority area's allocated social worker and the receiving local authority area's social worker, plus the appropriate managers as well as representatives from appropriate services and agencies including health, education and police. 

Temporary Moves

Where a child or young person and their family are staying temporarily in another local authority area, the originating local authority area will notify the receiving local authority area immediately, then follow up the notification in writing.  The receiving local authority area should immediately place the child or young person's name temporarily on the receiving local authority area CPR.  Where possible, the originating local authority area should advise how long the child or young person is expected to stay in the receiving local authority area. 

Both the originating and the receiving local authority areas should make each other aware if and when the temporary registration is no longer required and why this is the case, for example, because the child or young person has returned to their home address in the originating local authority area. 

If a child or young person is temporarily residing in another local authority area, arrangements must be agreed for the monitoring / supervision of the child or young person while they are in that local authority area and for the implementation of the Child's Plan. 

Definitions

Originating Authority:

This is the local authority area where the child or young person was initially placed on the CPR.

Receiving Authority:

This is the local authority area into which the child or young person has moved to, whilst placed on the CPR.

Timescales - A maximum of 21 working days is recommended for a Transfer CPPM being convened either within Perth and Kinross or in the receiving authority from the time that permanent residence is confirmed.

Arranging a CPPM - guidance for allocated social workers

When a decision has been made to convene a CPPM, the unborn baby, child or young person's social worker has a range of responsibilities.

Planning and preparation for the CPPM

Prior to the meeting, you are responsible for:

Planning the CPPM's practical arrangements

• Informing the child or young person and their parents or carers as early as possible in the process that a CPPM will be taking place and why.

• Determining whether the CPPM needs to be held in separate parts - for example, where there has been domestic abuse, and it is not psychologically or physically safe for the non-abusive parent to be in the presence of the person who is perpetrating harm.

• Determining if an interpreter will be required for the family members. Remember that a conversational grasp of English is unlikely to be sufficient for a formal meeting where difficult things are going to be discussed.  It is your responsibility to book an interpreter for the CPPM and you should do this at the time of booking the CPPM itself.

• Booking the date of the CPPM with the Child Protection Administration (CP Admin) Team. If separate time slots for parents and carers and/or an interpreter are needed, make the Chair aware of this as early as possible and inform the Child Protection Administration Team at the time of booking of these needs so that a longer slot can be booked for the CPPM.

• Putting together the invite list for the CPPM. If there is anyone that you have serious concerns about in terms of the risks to others in attendance, discuss this without delay with the Chair of the CPPM.

• If the CPPM is being held in two parts and is in person, consider the safety arrangements that might need to be in place to ensure that the child or young person and the non-abusive parent remain safe and protected. This might be arranging for transport for them and for them to leave by a different exit to where the person of concern will enter.

• Consider if the child or young person and/or their parent or carer has any additional support needs such as accessibility or a learning disability that will require a different approach for the meeting. Inform the Chair of these issues as early as possible so that they can make sure enough time is provided to enable the person to participate as fully as possible.

• Informing the family of the date of the CPPM.

• Preparing a Child Protection Assessment Report for the CPPM which must be with the Chair on the date requested.

Preparing the child or young person and their parents or carers for the CPPM by:

• Providing support and reassurance to the child or young person and their parents or carers regarding the process and possible outcomes.  Families will often fear that a CPPM automatically means that their child will be removed from their care.

• Discussing with the child or young person if they wish to attend the CPPM and how this might work for them.
• Referring the child or young person for advocacy to support them at the CPPM.
• Ensuring the parents or carers are aware of their right to bring a support person or an advocate to the meeting.
• Discussing childcare with the parents or carers for very young children and support them to arrange this wherever possible. 
• Seeking the views of the child or young person and their parents or carers for the Child Protection Assessment Report (CPAR) you are writing.
• Letting the child or young person and their parent or carer know who will be at the meeting and why and that everyone has a duty to maintain their privacy.
• Ensuring that you have shared your report or assessment with the child or young person and/or their family prior to the CPPM taking place.  It is important to check that the child or young person and/or their family understand what you have shared and why. 
• Providing advice and guidance for families coming to a CPPM. Leaflets for children and young people, and parents and carers are available on this website, which you should print off and share or email links to the family, dependent on their personal choices.

Good Practice Note: Ensuring that children, young people, parents and carers are fully prepared and able to participate in the CPPM is an essential part of rights-based practice.  An important part of this is ensuring that families know what you are going to be saying at the CPPM - they should not be hearing things for the first time at a CPPM. When this happens, families can become additionally heightened or distressed, reducing their capacity to engage and participate. Rights respecting practice demands transparent conversations take place before CPPMs, so families have a chance to think and reflect on what has been said.

Child Protection Register (CPR)

All local authorities, including Perth and Kinross, are responsible for maintaining a central register of all children and young people - including unborn babies - who are the subject of a Child Protection Plan.  This is called the Child Protection Register or CPR.

At present, the CPR has no legal status, but provides an administrative system for alerting practitioners that there is sufficient professional concern about a child or young person to warrant a Child's Plan.

Local authority social work services are responsible for maintaining the CPR of all children and young people in their area who are subject to a Child's Plan, though the decision to put a child or young person on the CPR will be based on a multi-agency assessment. The CPR provides a central resource for practitioners concerned about a child or young person's safety or care.

Within Perth and Kinross, Children, Families and Justice maintain the CPR on behalf of all services and agencies. 

Placing a child on the Child Protection Register

The decision to place a child or young person's name on the CPR should be taken after a full discussion at a CPPM, where it has been determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe, or suspect, that a child or young person has suffered or will suffer significant harm from abuse or neglect, and that a Child's Plan is needed to protect and support that unborn baby, child or young person.  This decision is always a joint multi-agency responsibility.

The local authority should inform the child or young person (where appropriate), their parent, carer or any other person with parental responsibilities about the information held on the CPR and who has access to it.

Removing a child from the Child Protection Register

The decision to remove a child or young person's name from the CPR will be made by participants at a Review CPPM, at which all the relevant practitioners, services and agencies are represented, as well as the child, young person and their family. When a child or young person's name is removed from the CPR, the child or young person and their family must be informed. This is always a multi-agency decision which should be based on evidence of reduced risk to the unborn baby, child or young person and a strengthening of protective factors.

Removal of a child or young person's name from the CPR should not necessarily lead to a reduction or withdrawal of services or support to the child or young person and family by any or all of the services or agencies. The risk of significant harm to the child or young person may have receded, but the child or young person may continue to require a range of support; this will form part of the single planning process for the child or young person.

At the point of de-registration, consideration should be given to whether a different Lead Professional should be appointed and if so, arrangements made for the transfer to be agreed.

Making use of the Child Protection Register

Within Perth and Kinross, the Keeper of the Child Protection Register is the Team Leader, Perth and Kinross Child Protection Duty Team. Contact number - 01738 476768 (24hrs).

The CPR is held separately from service/agency records or case files and is secure. There is 24-hour access to the CPR for all practitioners, services/agencies who need to make an enquiry about a child or young person. 

As has been discussed under temporary moves, it is the responsibility of the Lead Professional to ensure that any address change for an unborn baby, baby, child or young person whose name is on the Child Protection Register is added to the Children and Families database and notified to Child Protection Administration without delay.  This could be a move to foster or kinship care or a move with their family to a new temporary or permanent address.  When the unborn baby, child or young person is on a holiday with their family or staying with friends and relatives outwith Perth and Kinross, the Lead Professional must notify the Keeper of the Child Protection Register in the relevant local authority area.  Depending on the length of time the family will be away and the nature of the risk, the Lead Professional should discuss with their Team Leader and determine whether an in-person visit should be arranged during their absence and whether this should be undertaken by the Lead Professional or negotiated with social work staff in the local area.

Chairing CPPMs

Who chairs CPPMs?

Within Perth and Kinross, all CPPMs are chaired by a senior officer from Children, Families and Justice.

What does the chair of a CPPM do?

The lists below set out the responsibilities of the Chair prior to, during and following a CPPM.

Before the CPPM

• Reaching an agreement with the Lead Professional regarding how the CPPM should be undertaken. It may require to be conducted in two parts if there has been domestic abuse or, for example, where it concerns children with the same mother and different fathers to protect their privacy. Safety and privacy of information are always the key considerations.
• Preparing for their CPPM by reading all written reports and/or assessments provided.
• Contacting the child or young person (where appropriate) and their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities prior to the CPPM taking place. The Chair will explain to them the purpose of the meeting, who will be attending, how it will be conducted, what the possible outcomes of the meeting will be and to answer any questions about the CPPM beforehand.
• Confirming that the Social Worker/Social Care Officer has prepared the child, young person and their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities, or their representatives in advance of the CPPM taking place.

During the CPPM

At the beginning of the meeting, the Chair will:

• Facilitate introductions, note any apologies and absences for the record.

• Ensure the CPPM is quorate in terms of practitioner, service and agency representation.

• Explain clearly why the CPPM has been arranged and give a brief summary of the presenting concerns.

• Explain the possible outcomes of the meeting in terms of Child Protection Registration.

• Remind participants that the CPPM is a confidential meeting and information must not be shared outwith the meeting without good cause or justification to do so.

• If a confidential section of the CPPM is required to enable information to be shared, such as from Police colleagues, the Chair should facilitate this and explain to the child, young person and their parents or carers why they will be asked to leave the meeting for a short period.

As the meeting continues, the Chair will:

• Ensure that all persons invited to the CPPM have an opportunity to share their views at the meeting in a meaningful and constructive way.

• Pay particular attention to ensuring that the voice of the child, young person and their parents or carers is sought and heard.

• As the meeting progresses, the Chair will summarise the risks, needs and protective factors, highlighting any key issues for clarity and/or further discussion.

• Attempt to resolve disagreements through discussion and seek a shared understanding with a focus on the unborn baby, child or young person.

As the meeting draws to its conclusion, the Chair will: 

• Consider the need for a referral to the Scottish Children's Reporter's Administration (SCRA) if it is considered that statutory legal measures may be required.

• Ask statutory partners to provide their view on Child Protection Registration for the unborn baby, child or young person, stating the importance of giving an evidence-based view.

• Invite voluntary partners to provide their view on Child Protection Registration for the unborn baby, child or young person, should they wish to do so.

• Where consensus is not reached regarding a decision to register or not register the unborn baby, child or young person on the Child Protection Register, the Chair will make the final decision.

• The Chair will advise professionals of the dissent process if they are not in agreement with the decision that the Chair has made.

• Where a child or young person's name is placed (registered) on the CPR, the Chair will confirm the reasons why and identify the risks and vulnerability factors.

• The Chair will confirm who the Lead Professional will be and the membership of the Core Group for the unborn baby, child or young person.

• The Chair will ensure that the participants are clear about the immediate actions that need to be taken to safeguard the child and provide bullet points of tasks that need to be undertaken until the Core Group meets to produce a full plan.

• Where a child or young person's name is not to be placed on the CPR or is to be removed (de-registered) from the CPR, the Chair will clearly confirm the reasons why and any actions that should be taken to ensure the unborn baby, child or young person's needs are met.

• If the child, young person, parent or caregiver is dissatisfied with the process of the CPPM or any other aspect, the Chair will provide guidance on how they may request a review of the decision and/or agency complaint handling procedures.

• The Chair should schedule the review date if necessary. 

• The Chair should ensure that it is clear who will inform the parents, carers, child or young person of the decision of the CPPM if they have not been present, or it has been a meeting in two parts.

Following the CPPM - communicating decisions

At the conclusion of all CPPMs, and within 24 hours of the CPPM, the Chair will communicate the following key points (in writing or by email) to all attendees of the CPPM as well as those invitees who did not attend:

• The decision of the CPPM in relation to CPR registration
• The reasons for that decision (and where registered, a concise summary of the risks).
• A clear list of actions that need to be carried out, by whom and by when, in order to protect the unborn baby, child or young person.

This will ensure that there is a shared understanding and clarity about decisions and what actions should be carried out in advance of the Minutes being published. It will also allow the Core Group members to build these actions into a more comprehensive Child's Plan when they first meet.

Additional Tasks

The Chair will:

• Make a referral to SCRA if this has been an agreed task of the meeting
• Ensure that timescales are adhered to, including those relating to review dates, distribution of minutes and copies of the Child's Plan and changes to the Child's Plan.
• Ensure the minutes are accurate, published timeously and circulated (confidentially) to the CPPM participants as soon as possible and in any case within the agreed timescales.
• Wherever possible, chair the Review CPPM for a consistent experience for the child and young person and their family.

Minutes from CPPMs

What are minutes?

Minutes are a written record of the meeting which are taken by a specially trained minute taker who fully appreciates the sensitivity and need for confidentiality of the information discussed at the CPPM. Minutes are important so that there is a clear record of the meeting for all who attended and those who were unable to attend.

Recording of CPPMs

For the purposes of accuracy, CPPMs which take place on MS Teams or are hybrid meetings are always recorded.  This enables the minute taker to check for accuracy when completing minutes.  The recording is deleted once the minutes are fully completed.  Participants are always made aware that recording has started through a verbal message being given and the recording icon being shown on screen. 

What is recorded in minutes?

All minutes should include:

• time, date and place where the CPPM took place.
• who chaired the CPPM.
• professionals who were invited to attend, those who attended and those who were absent.
• whether the child or young person and their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives were invited to attend, attended and/or were absent (where appropriate).
• reasons why the child or young person and their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives were not invited to attend (where appropriate).
• a note of the written reports and assessments requested and those that were actually received.
• a concise and accurate summary of the information shared, exchanged and discussed at the CPPM.
• the risks, needs, vulnerability and protective factors identified at the CPPM.
• the views of the child or young person and the views of their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives.
• the decisions, reasons for the decisions and a note of any disagreement and/or dissent.
• all recommendations made at the CPPM.
• the decision to place (register), not to place or to remove (de- register) the child or young person on / from the CPR.
• the outline of the immediate actions required to protect the unborn baby, child or young person until a full Child Protection Plan is developed by the Core Group.  
• the details of the Named Person and the Lead Professional  
• initial membership of the Core Group
• the scheduled date for the Review CPPM to take place, if the child or young person was registered.  

The Chair of the CPPM will read and check the draft minute of a CPPM before it is distributed to all participants for them to check for accuracy and record any comments they may have. When participants receive the minute, they should take time to read it for accuracy and to make a note of any key tasks they need to take forward and ensure that the minute is safely and securely stored within the file of the child or young person.

It is good practice for the Lead Professional to ensure that the child or young person (if appropriate) and their parents or carers have read and understood the minute and answered any questions they may have.

Any participant at a CPPM, who believes that there are inaccuracies within the minute of the meeting, or that it is an incomplete record, should send their comments to the Chair of the CPPM as soon as possible, highlighting the issue clearly.  Any agreed changes should be recorded by the Chair of the CPPM as an Addendum to the Minute.

Timescales -Participants should receive the CPPM Minutes within 10 working days of the CPPM meeting. To avoid any unnecessary delay in actions and tasks identified, at the conclusion of all CPPMs, a summary of key decisions and agreed tasks, as approved by the Chair, should be circulated within one day of the CPPM by email.  These will include:

1. The decision of the CPPM in relation to CPR registration.

2. The reasons for that decision (and where registered, a concise summary of the risks); and

3.  A clear list of actions that need to be carried out, by whom and by when, in order to protect the child or young person (this is not a child's plan).  

This will ensure that there is a shared understanding and clarity about decisions and what actions should be carried out at the end of every CPPM in advance of the Minutes being published.  It will also allow the Core Group members to build these actions into a more comprehensive Child's Plan when they first meet.

Attendance at CPPMs (why your presence matters)

CPPMs are only convened to discuss unborn babies, children and young people for whom there are the highest levels of concern. So, it is important that when practitioners, services or agencies are invited to a CPPM that every effort is made to attend. Practitioners involved with unborn babies, children and young people at risk of significant harm need to be at the CPPM both to provide information and to carefully listen to the information shared by others. 

If a practitioner is unable to do so, they should send a deputy or colleague who has been suitably briefed on the situation and authorised to represent them and / or their service or agency. It is not fair to families nor acceptable, in terms of effective multi-agency working, for practitioners to attend with no knowledge of the family if they are asked to deputise for a colleague. 

If practitioners fail to attend themselves and do not send a deputy, the CPPM may have to be cancelled at short notice if it is not quorate (see below).  This can be very distressing for children, young people and families who are likely to have been anxious about the meeting taking place. It is also a significant waste of professionals' time.

Who needs to be at a CPPM for decisions to be made (Quorum)?

You may hear the words 'quorate' or 'quorum' when people are talking about agencies or services at CPPMs. What does being quorate mean?

Being quorate simply means that enough people are present to make a decision. A CPPM is, by design, a multi-agency meeting. Therefore, it is important that there are several agencies in attendance to ensure that the decisions made are truly 'multi-agency'.

How many services need to be present at a CPPM for it to be quorate?

There should never be a single agency CPPM.  A CPPM should never proceed if there are only representatives from one service or agency present. 

To be quorate, three individual services, agencies and/or professional groupings should be present.  Most often, this is covered by the presence of a representative from Police Scotland, Social Work and Health or Education being present depending on the age of the child.

However, occasionally only two services, agencies and/or professional groupings may be present. This may particularly be the case for unborn babies. In these circumstances, the Chair has the discretion to decide whether the CPPM should go ahead.  It should only go ahead if the Chair is satisfied that all the essential information is available from the key practitioners, services and agencies involved.

Information for participants at CPPMs

Please note - this section is aimed at professionals who have been invited to attend a CPPM. Information for children and young people and families can be found elsewhere on our website. 

Who should be invited to CPPMs?

The child or young person and their parents or carers should always be invited to attend CPPMs if safe and appropriate for them to do so.  Each child, young person, parent or carer is entitled to bring an advocate or support person with them.  The social worker arranging the CPPM should explore with the child or young person and their parents and carers whether it is appropriate for the child or young person to attend the meeting and how their views will be sought and shared at the meeting. At all times, the emotional wellbeing and physical safety of the child or young person are paramount. Workers should take care, however, to not assume that a child or young person will be unable or unwilling to take part in a meeting about their own lived and living experiences.

Only professionals who have a direct contribution to make to the CPPM, based on working with the child or young person or their parent or carer, or their professional role - such as a specialist police officer - should be invited to attend the CPPM.  Where a professional is assuming case responsibility from another, such as when the Lead Professional role is moving from one team to another, it will be appropriate for the new worker to attend for the purposes of gaining a full understanding of the family situation.

Professionals who are always invited to a CPPM include:

• A specialist police officer from the Public Protection Unit
• The allocated social worker for the unborn baby, child or young person from Children and Families Social Work. This person will usually be the Lead Professional.
• The Head Teacher, Depute Head Teacher or Guidance Teacher for any school age child - this person will usually be the Named Person.
• The Centre Leader will be invited from any nursery provision that a pre-school child attends, whether private or local authority provision.  
• The relevant NHS representative for the unborn baby, child or young person.  This will be the midwife for an unborn baby, the Health Visitor for a child aged under 5 who will also fulfil the Named Person role for the child and the School Health Nurse for a school age young person.  Where a child or young person has a health condition which requires a specialist nurse provision, such as epilepsy or diabetes, the relevant nurse will be invited.
• The child or young person's GP will be invited as will the child or young person's Paediatrician where applicable.

Other professionals who may be invited to attend CPPMs, if relevant, include:

• Practitioners working with the unborn baby, child or young person's parents and carers such as Justice, Learning Disability and Drug and Alcohol Recovery Workers.
• Practitioners from the third sector who are involved with the family.
• Housing Officers and Tenancy Support Workers
• Educational Psychologists
• Local Authority Solicitor
• Representatives of the Procurator Fiscal
• Representatives of armed services staff, where children of service personnel are involved.

There may be occasions when it is appropriate to invite foster carers, kinship carers, home carers, childminders, volunteers or others working with the child, young person or family to the CPPM. The practitioner most closely involved with the person to be invited should brief him or her carefully beforehand. This should include providing information about the purpose of the CPPM and their contribution, the need to keep information shared confidential and advice about the primacy of the child or young person's interests over that of the parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives where these may conflict.

Timescales - Participants should be given a minimum of 7 calendar days' notice of the decision to convene a Child Protection Planning Meeting.

Bringing students or professionals in training to the CPPM

Sometimes professionals who are supporting students on placement will ask if their student can attend the CPPM with them.  In these situations, the professional should ask the consent of the family and the Chair in advance of the meeting.  Families should not feel under pressure to consent to the presence of a student nurse or social worker in training, for example. The Chair will also have the wider view of attendance and will have regard for keeping the number of people within the meeting to an acceptable level.

Use of interpreters

Where English is not the first language of the child, young person or their carers, the allocated social worker should discuss with the family about their fluency and whether an interpreter would be beneficial. The allocated social worker should discuss this with the Chair at the time of booking the CPPM so that more time can be allowed as using interpreters takes longer than a CPPM conducted fully in English.  It is the responsibility of the social worker to book the interpreter for the CPPM.

Exceptional circumstances - non-invitations and exclusions

In exceptional circumstances, the Chair of a CPPM may determine that a parent, carer or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives should not be invited to attend a CPPM. This will only apply where there are concerns that the person presents a significant risk to others attending, including the child or young person. Consideration should always be given to whether the person of concern can attend virtually but there are situations in which this will not be safe or appropriate - for example, if a parent and children have had to go in to refuge away from a dangerous perpetrator and to allow them access to the meeting would risk revealing the location of the parent and children to him/her. 

As well as violence and intimidation, some reasons for non-invitation include:

• The Police or the Procurator Fiscal (if criminal proceedings have begun) are concerned by an alleged perpetrator's attendance.
• It is not in the child or young person's best interest for another person to attend, i.e. they are the alleged perpetrator.
• There are serious concerns about the wellbeing of the person themselves should they attend - such as a person who is experiencing a mental health crisis.

It would be prudent to seek legal advice prior to deciding to not invite a person with parental rights and responsibilities.

The reasons for a non-invitation need to be clearly documented and shared with the person who has not been invited directly.  The views of the non-invited person should still be obtained where possible and shared at the CPPM. The Chair should identify who will notify the non-invited person of the outcome and the timescale for carrying this out. This should be recorded in the CPPM Minutes. 

Excluding a person from the CPPM

A decision to exclude someone from a CPPM, immediately before or once it has commenced, rests with the Chair. The reasons for deciding to exclude someone from all or part of a CPPM may include the following (this is not considered to be an exhaustive list):

•      The person is engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour and has not responded to requests to desist.

•      The person is clearly under the influence of substances to the extent that they are unable to understand proceedings or contribute to them.

•      The person is deliberately being disruptive during the meeting and has not responded to requests to moderate their behaviour.

In every instance, where someone has had to be excluded, the Chair should record their reasons in the minutes.  Depending on the severity of the circumstances, consideration should be given to requesting police involvement and where threatening, abusive or violent behaviour has been the reason for exclusion, the Violence and Aggression policy should be followed.

The Chair should ensure that arrangements are made so that the excluded person is informed of the decision of the CPPM, having due regard for the safety of practitioners.

Practitioner responsibilities at CPPMs

The lists below set out the responsibilities of participants prior to, during, and following a CPPM. 

Before the CPPM

Prior to the meeting, you are responsible for ensuring that you:

• Understand the purpose and function of all types of CPPMs.
• Make every effort to attend or send a suitably briefed deputy on your behalf, authorised to represent you or your service or agency.
• Confirm your attendance, or that of your deputy, at the CPPM.
• Review all relevant information regarding the child or young person and/or their parents/carers from your own service or agency records.
• Prepare and submit your report or assessment by the date requested in your invitation; using the template provided by your service if you are a statutory worker.  A blank template is attached to your invitation if your third sector organisation does not have its own format.
• Ensure that you have shared your report or assessment with the child or young person and/or their family prior to the CPPM taking place.  It is important to check that the child or young person and/or their family understand what you have shared and why.  
• Consider if any individual should not be invited or be excluded from the CPPM and alert the Chair of the CPPM in advance.
• Identify any information that should be classed as restricted access and alert the Chair of the CPPM in advance.
• Approach your manager if you need further support in preparing for the CPPM.
• Know where to find advice and guidance for families coming to a CPPM. Leaflets for children, young people, parents and carers are available from this website.

During the CPPM

It is important that you:

• Arrive/log in punctually for the CPPM.
• Are prepared to provide a brief overview of your report/assessment to the meeting. It may help you to have brief notes of key points.
• Share your views in the best interests of the child. Please do not be afraid to agree and/or disagree with the discussions and multi-agency decision making at the CPPM. All views are important.
• Contribute to the discussions around identifying risks, needs, vulnerability and protective factors.
• Take part in the multi-agency decision to place, or not to place, or to retain or remove the child or young person's name on/from the CPR.

• When providing your recommendation about whether the unborn baby, child or young person's name should be placed on the CPR, please take care to give clear reasons for this decision.  It is helpful for you to keep in mind that the criteria are 'significant risk of harm'.  If you believe that the risk has decreased, it is just as important to set out why you believe this to be the case as if you were recommending the unborn baby, child or young person's name should be placed on or retained on the CPR.

• Where appropriate, take part in developing the immediate Child Protection Plan.

Following the CPPM

You should:

• Act if you are not satisfied with the multi-agency decision making process at the CPPM. Advise the Chair and in the first instance alert their Supervisor/Line Manage so that escalation (PDF, 801 KB) may be considered.
• Check the accuracy of the CPPM Minute, highlighting any amendments and changes and returning to the Chair.
• Prioritise attending Core Group Meetings.
• Deliver your part in the implementation and monitoring of the Child's Plan - if you are unable to, for any reason, this should be raised at the Core Group Meeting so alternatives may be considered. 

Provision of written reports at CPPMs

Children, young people and families

Children, young people, parents and carers all have the option to provide their views in writing and should be encouraged to do so; if they feel able to contribute in this way. An independent advocate can assist the child, young person, parent or carer to do this.

Practitioners

All practitioners, services and agencies invited to attend a CPPM will be requested to prepare and submit relevant written reports, relating to their service or agency's involvement with the child, young person and family.  Some may also be asked to produce an assessment report and/or to contribute to an assessment report.

Completing a written report is not optional

CPPMs are held only for the unborn babies, children and young people for whom we have the highest levels of concern. It is important that your input to them is evidence-based and supported by a thorough review of your agency's involvement with the family in written form.  Reports must be submitted by the requested date on your invitation.   You must complete a report whether or not you will attend the meeting.

Statutory services

Police, Children and Families Social Work, Education and Health all have their own report templates for CPPMs which set out clearly what information should be provided.  Each practitioner from these services should use the agreed template from their organisation and, should they need assistance in its completion, they should request support from their line manager in the first instance.

Independent and third sector organisations

These organisations may use the template which is appended to the electronic invite if they do not have their own form.  This is a simple form which is designed to provide prompts for a range of services.  When completing the form, it is helpful if you focus on your agency's involvement with the child, young person, parent or carer and the impact of this on the child or young person's safety and care.

Chronologies

All reports benefit from the inclusion of a chronology of the agency involvement with the child, young person, parent or carer. The preparation of a chronology supports effective report-writing as it enables patterns of behaviour to be seen. Tayside Practitioners Guide: Chronologies (PDF, 331 KB) is a helpful document to which to refer.

Practitioners have a responsibility to share the content of their written report and assessments with the child or young person and their family. This may involve the use of communications aides such as an Easy Read version of the report, reading the report to the parent or arranging a session with an interpreter to discuss the content of the report where English is not the first language of the family. This is particularly important prior to the first CPPM taking place.  A useful tip is to schedule time in to see the family in the days prior to the CPPM.  

Restricted access information

Restricted access information is information which, by its nature, cannot be shared freely with the child or young person, their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities, or their representatives.  

Anyone involved in a CPPM can make a request to speak to the Chair of the CPPM, where they have sensitive information which they may wish to share with other practitioners, out with the presence of the child or young person, their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities, or their representatives.  This restriction of information should only be used in exceptional circumstances.

Where possible and appropriate to do so, this information should be shared with relevant parties when received. The information should also be shared with the other participants at the CPPM.  However, such information may not be shared with any other person without the explicit permission of the provider.

Practitioners will be required to justify why information is being classed as Restricted Access Information.  Restricted information can include (this is not considered to be an exhaustive list):

• sub-judice information that forms part of legal proceedings, and which could compromise those proceedings.
• information from a third party that could identify them if shared.
• information about an individual that may not be known to others, even close family members, such as medical history and intelligence reports; and

• information that, if shared, could place any individual (s) at risk, such as a home address or school which is unknown to an ex-partner.

Reaching Decisions at CPPMs

How are decisions reached at CPPMs?

After significant discussion and seeking the views of all present, the Chair will summarise what has been learned through the meeting about the protective factors and risks for the unborn baby, child or young person. The Chair will then:

• Ask statutory partners to provide their view on Child Protection Registration for the unborn baby, child or young person, stating the importance of giving an evidence-based view.
• Invite voluntary partners to provide their view on Child Protection Registration for the unborn baby, child or young person, should they wish to do so.

Where there is no clear consensus in the multi-agency discussion and decision-making process, the Chair of the CPPM will use their professional judgement to make the final decision, based on an analysis of the evidence and the issues raised.

In these circumstances, the decision-making process should be subjected to independent scrutiny from a senior member of staff with no involvement with the child or young person, their family, in the case or the CPPM meeting.  In practice this will be a Service Manager from the Children, Families and Justice Service.

What possible outcomes are there from CPPMs?

At a Pre-Birth CPPM or first CPPM, participants will decide whether to place, or not to place, an unborn baby, child or young person's name on the CPR.  At a Review CPPM, participants will decide whether to retain, or remove a child or young person's name on/from the CPR.  

The decision to do so is based on the level of significant risk of harm or abuse or of the likelihood of future significant harm or abuse to the unborn baby, child or young person. This is always a multi-agency decision.

At each CPPM, other than Pre-Birth CPPMs, the Chair will advise whether a referral to the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) should be made in respect of the child or young person.  This decision is based on whether the Chair assesses that statutory measures of compulsion may be needed to safeguard the child's welfare and development.  An unborn baby cannot yet be referred to SCRA.

Dispute Resolution at CPPMs

How are disputes to be handled from a CPPM?

Due to the sensitive issues being discussed, CPPMs can be difficult meetings at times and there may be disagreements about what is best for the child or young person.  The Chair will always try to ensure that everyone has a chance to speak and share their views.  However, sometimes children, young people, parents or carers, as well as practitioners, may feel that their views have not been adequately considered or that the outcome of the CPPM has not been in the child or young person's best interest and may wish to raise a concern.

On occasion, the Chair may need to make the final decision about whether a child or young person's name is added to, or removed from, the CPR. This is usually because there has not been consensus in the recommendations from the practitioners present.  At these times, the Chair should clearly explain why they have made the decision to register, not register or deregister the unborn baby, child or young person from the CPR to those who are present. It is important that this decision is minuted fully and that there is an opportunity for those who do not agree with the decision to formally record their dissent.  The Chair should also make all present aware at this time, that the child, young person, parent or carer can request a review of the decision of the CPPM and, that if practitioners have registered dissent, they should make their line managers aware and consider whether to follow the Practitioners Guide: Resolution and Escalation Arrangements (PDF, 801 KB) as appropriate.  It is important that the decision-making process in CPPMs is as open and as transparent as possible and that all are aware of their right to raise their concerns. 

Some issues that may arise with respect to CPPMs are:

• Challenges about the multi-agency decision-making and outcomes.

• Challenges by children, young people or their parent, carer or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives about the multi-agency CPPM meeting decisions; and

• Complaints about practitioner behaviour.

Pending the completion of the dispute resolution process, all protective actions should continue.

What if a practitioner wishes to make a complaint about the CPPM process, the multi-agency decision making or the behaviour of another practitioner, service or agency?

Within Perth and Kinross, all services and agencies involved in child protection work have clear complaints procedures, which should be followed where there is a complaint about an individual practitioner.

Where a member of staff wishes to raise an issue about the CPPM process or disagrees with the multi-agency decision making at the CPPM meeting, they should go through their normal service or agency Line Management / Supervision arrangements, making use of the Practitioner's Guide: Resolution and Escalation Arrangements (PDF, 801 KB).

What if a child, young person, parent, carer or any other person with parental responsibility or their representatives wish to make a complaint about the CPPM process, the multi-agency decision making or the behaviour of another practitioner, service or agency?

If the complaint is about a specific practitioner, or their service or agency, then they should follow that service or agency's complaints procedures, details of which will be given to them and explained.

Any child, young person, parent, carer or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives,who are subject of a CPPM, may request that a Children and Families Service Manager review the multi-agency decision making process of the CPPM. 

Any child, young person, parent, carer or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives, wishing such a review should write to the Children and Families Service Manager within 14 days of the CPPM taking place and will be given support in doing so.  In these circumstances it will be the Lead Professional who will direct them to the appropriate support services.

The Children and Families Service Manager will only review the multi-agency decision of a CPPM where one or more of the following criteria apply:

• relevant information was not available to the original CPPM.
• there are reasonable grounds to suggest that inaccurate or insufficient information was presented to the CPPM; and
• there are reasonable grounds to suggest that the multi-agency decision reached by CPPM was unreasonable in light of the evidence provided to the CPPM.

Where the Children and Families Service Manager reviews the decision and determines that one of the factors above is applicable and would have possibly led to a different decision being made at the CPPM, the Children and Families Service Manager will ensure that another CPPM is arranged to consider the information in a multi-agency forum and that this meeting is conducted by another Chairperson to ensure independence. 

Decision by the Children and Families Service Manager

The decision by the Children and Families Service Manager will be considered final and will be reported to the Perth and Kinross Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO). 

Should the child, young person, parent, carer or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives still not accept the outcome of this review process, it will then be open to them to pursue the formal statutory complaints procedure.

Core Group Meetings

The purpose of a Core Group is for a small group of identified individuals, including the Named Person, Lead Professional, the child or young person, their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives, who have a crucial role to play to implement, monitor and review the Child's Plan.

The Core Group is responsible for ensuring that the Child's Plan remains focused on achieving better outcomes for the child or young person by reducing the known risks.

The functions of a Core Group include (this is not considered to be an exhaustive list):

• ensuring the ongoing assessment of the needs of, and risks to an unborn baby, child or young person who has a Child's Plan.
• implementing, monitoring and reviewing the Child's Plan so that the focus remains on improving outcomes for the unborn baby, child or young person.  This will include evaluating the impact of work done and / or changes within the family in order to decide whether the risks have increased or decreased.
• maintaining effective communication between all practitioners, services, agencies involved with the child or young person and their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives.  
• activating contingency plans promptly when progress is not made, or circumstances deteriorate.
• discussing re-registration and / or de-registration prior to a Review CPPM taking place.
• reporting to the Review CPPM on progress; and
• referring any significant changes in the Child's Plan, including non-engagement of the family to the CPPM Chair.

Where appropriate and agreed, the child or young person should be part of the Core Group.  

Consideration of the involvement of the child or young person should take cognisance of their age, capacity and the emotional impact of attending a meeting to discuss the risks they have been placed at.  Children and young people attending must be prepared beforehand to allow them to participate in a meaningful way.  It is crucial that their views are obtained, presented and considered during the meeting.

The Core Group should provide a less formal way for children, young people and their parents, carers or any other person with parental responsibilities or their representatives to interact with practitioners, service and agency providers.  Where they are unable or unwilling to attend the meetings, their views should be sought and represented within the meeting, either in written form or through their views being presented verbally. 

These views should be recorded within the minutes of the Core Group meeting.

Members of the Core Group should be kept to a minimum, without compromising the planning or protective process. Too many practitioners in the Core Group can limit child and family attendance and contribution.  Only relevant people should be invited.

In addition, during the work period of the Core Group, the child or young person will be physically seen by practitioners on a frequent/regular basis and as a minimum at least once per fortnight.  

Timescales - The initial Core Group meeting should be held within 15 days of the initial CPPM; participants should meet in person or on MS Teams thereafter on a regular basis. Where a Core Group identifies a need to make significant changes to the Child's Plan, they should notify the CPPM Chair within 3 calendar days, or as urgently as necessary to safeguard the child.

Legislation and policy context

Practitioners may find the following key electronic links useful:

Key legislative framework

• The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 1937
• The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968
• The Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019
• The Children (Scotland) Act 1995
• The Human Rights Act 1998
• The Data Protection Act 1998
• The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
• The Management of Offenders etc (Scotland) Act 2005
• The Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011
• The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

Key policy framework

• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Care Inspectorate Quality Indicator Framework for Children and Young People in need of care and protection 2022 (PDF, 2 MB)
• Scottish Government National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 - updated 2023 (PDF, 5 MB)
• Getting it Right for Every Child

Key local guidance

• A guide to Perth and Kinross Child Protection Committee
• Child Protection information and advice card (PDF, 178 KB)
• A guide to Child Protection Planning Meetings - information and advice for children and young people (PDF, 688 KB)
• A guide to Child Protection Planning Meetings - information and advice for children and young people (easy read) (PDF, 627 KB)
• A guide to Child Protection Planning Meetings - information and advice for parents and carers (PDF, 726 KB)
• A guide to Child Protection Planning Meetings - information and advice for parents and carers (easy read) (PDF, 652 KB)
• Child Protection Duty Team - information and advice leaflet (PDF, 700 KB)
• Fieldwork Services (Social Work) - information and advice leaflet (PDF, 822 KB)
• Perth and Kinross Code of Practice: information sharing, confidentiality and consent (PDF, 342 KB)
• Perth and Kinross CPC Practitioners' Guide to information sharing, confidentiality and consent to support children and young people's wellbeing - online toolkit
• Perth and Kinross CPC Practitioners' Guide: working with hostile and non-engaging parents and carers (PDF, 99 KB)
• Tayside Practitioners' Guidance: Chronologies (PDF, 349 KB)
• Perth and Kinross CPC Practitioners' Guide: resolution and escalation arrangements (PDF, 801 KB)
• Perth and Kinross CPC Inter-Agency Child Protection Guidelines 2023 (PDF, 1 MB)