‘Vital safeguarding recommendations are acted upon,’ says Bradshaw

The Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI) was slammed in a report led by Professor Alexis Jay, who headed an inquiry into large scale child abuse in Rotherham. Among 11 recommendations is all agencies must ensure the board is notified of cases where a child has died or been significantly harmed, while also stating tensions existed among senior board members.

South Belfast MLA Ms Bradshaw said the SBNI needed to listen to the report’s points.

“The report says it is important the board is notified when a child has died or been significantly harmed, which indicates that has not always been the case and suggests important information was not shared in some instances. That practice simply cannot be allowed to continue.

“Although the review was completed in February, the results are only being made public now. Therefore, I hope the appropriate measures have already been put in place by the Health Minister to make sure the SBNI is fit for purpose.

“This catalogue of failures means the board are not protecting the very people they are designed to. We need to ensure all policies and practices around safeguarding our children are adhered to without exception.”