Using this Manual

1. Using this Manual

The manual is laid out as following:

• Procedures - this contains the procedures that meet the national social work requirements required by the legislation and statutory guidance;
• Local BFfC Practice Guidance - this contains the Brighter Futures for Children local guidance, tools and other information in addition to the main statutory procedures. It is important that you use this area too;
• The Berkshire West Safeguarding Children Partnership has a range of guidance on safeguarding topics. These can be accessed from the button on the top toolbar titled 'SCP Guidance'.

The Pan Berks Child Protection Procedures can also be accessed from the same button and contain the multi-agency procedures for safeguarding. You will need to access these procedures as well.

For further details, please contact: Fiona Tarrant, Head of Corporate Communications & Compliance Fiona.Tarrant@brighterfuturesforchildren.org.

We value the children and young people that we work with. In particular, the children and young people we care for are known as Children Looked After. However in the context of this manual as the legislation refers to Looked After Children this is the terminology that is used within the procedures. We have changed the chapter headings of a number of the procedures to recognise the use of the term Children Looked After

Similarly you will see the use of Local Authority throughout the manual. Brighter Futures for Children has been established to deliver a range of these services in Reading. Local authorities in England deliver a range of statutory and non-statutory services for children. In Reading these statutory children's service care functions and duties are undertaken by Brighter Futures for Children on behalf of Reading Borough Council. The power for Reading Borough Council to discharge care functions is detailed in the Children and Young Persons Act 2008. The Children and Young Persons Act 2008 states that a local authority may enter into arrangements with a body corporate for the discharge by that body of some or all of the relevant care functions of that authority.

This means that: Local authorities in England deliver a range of statutory and non-statutory services for children. In Reading these statutory children's service care functions and duties have been discharged to Brighter Futures for Children.

Within Brighter Futures for Children we use the following titles and those that reflect the current decision makers:

• Managing Director;
• Director of Children, Education and Early Help Services;
• Deputy Director of Children Services;
• Head of Early Help and Prevention;
• Director of Performance, Quality and Improvement;
• Brighter Futures for Children Fostering Service Manager;
• Director of Education;
• Head of Communications;
• Head of Human Resources;
• Head of Commissioning.

2. Amendments

This manual will 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 manual update of the manual will be in January 2025.

3. Local BFfC Practice Guidance

This manual contains a Local BFfC Practice Guidance section which can be also accessed via the navigation bar. This contains local guidance, tools and other information that supports and complements the main procedures. It is important that you use this area as it contains the local practice guidance that supports the main statutory procedures.

This library is populated and maintained locally. If there is a resource that you think should be added talk in the first instance to your manager.

4. 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.

See also: Brighter Futures for Children Policies, Values and Principles.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Copyright

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 Brighter Futures.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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:

• Internet Explorer 11 (Windows 7, 8 and 8.1);
• Microsoft Edge (Windows 10);
• Google Chrome;
• Mozilla Firefox;
• Apple Safari.

11. 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.