An opportunity has arisen for an Child Protection Chair. This is a statutory role, and you will perform a vital role in ensuring that children’s care plans are robust and delivered effectively. We need ambitious and experienced practitioners who are committed and who are passionate about relationship-based practice with families.
You are going to lead the way with our frontline practitioners who are working with ‘signs of safety’, collaborating and strengthening our families. As a Child Protection Chair, you will be the critical link between your team and senior managers. This role will be focused on influencing, encouraging, leading and promoting good quality care plans for children, and able to ensure family and child participation.
The role of the Child Protection Conference Chair is to chair child protection conferences in line with the requirements described in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) and the London Safeguarding Procedures (2024).
The post-holder will lead complex multi-agency meetings and monitor the quality and effectiveness of social work practice by scrutinising child protection plans and care plans.
Constructively challenge actions and interventions that are not delivering the required outcomes for children and young people
We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached.
Are you either an experienced social worker and or experienced chair looking for their next career move and looking for an opportunity to utilise all your safeguarding experience and signs of safety knowledge helping to bring about change, reducing risk to children, overseeing safety planning, and ensuring good quality practice. We are particularly interested in candidates who are keen to be a part of change and how we can develop the child protection conference service going forward.
An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Professional Standards and Quality Assurance Service in the role of Child Protection Chair. We are inviting applicants who would also be willing to support our existing full time LADO on occasion when needed although this is likely to be the exception rather than the rule during busy periods. Full training, support and development can be provided and is an additional area of career development for the right candidate.
You will receive a good induction and training for your primary role of chair where needed and be supported by the PSQA team, senior managers and experienced peer chairs. We welcome applicants with the relevant experience and or transferable skills who are ready to develop innovative ways to encourage participation of families and young people resulting in co-produced plans, and which impacts positively on children and encourages a collaborative approach to safeguarding.
There are exciting changes on the horizon in how we work with and engage families as part of child protection processes and in how we respond to children at risk of extra familial harm and we welcome applications from those who are interested in supporting participation and keen to be a part of this innovative way of working.
Candidates are expected to have a degree in social work and a minimum of five years of post-qualification experience. LADO experience is an added advantage. They must demonstrate proficiency in chairing complex meetings, particularly child protection conferences, with a focus on ensuring high standards of practice, decision-making, and outcomes for children and families.
The ideal candidate will have substantial experience in chairing child protection conferences, experience of LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) and maintaining effective collaboration with Children’s Social Work Teams and external agencies. They will exhibit a strong commitment to promoting the active participation of children and their families in care planning and service development, ensuring that their voices are central to decision-making processes. Furthermore, they must be adept at implementing and interpreting childcare and safeguarding procedures consistently across diverse cases.
Candidates should be able to provide specialized professional advice and support to departmental staff and partner agencies on safeguarding children, children in need, and Looked After Children. They are expected to act as consultants on policies and procedures while also contributing to the ongoing development and quality assurance of children’s social care services. This includes actively participating in the implementation of new statutory requirements, sharing learnings from evidence-based practices, and reviewing child protection issues to inform and enhance service delivery.
A key aspect of the role involves building effective lines of communication with relevant social work teams and multi-agency stakeholders. The candidate will serve as a critical liaison point, ensuring a multidisciplinary approach to children’s welfare while supporting high standards in childcare planning. They will also take responsibility for convening and chairing conferences under safeguarding procedures, ensuring that best practices are adhered to, and positive outcomes are achieved.
Finally, the candidate must remain informed of the latest research and developments in safeguarding children to provide insights that drive continuous service improvement. This includes identifying trends, contributing to service improvement plans, and ensuring compliance with statutory obligations. Additionally, they must oversee the collation and reporting of data on children subject to Child Protection Plans as required by statutory bodies, reinforcing the organization's commitment to accountability and transparency.
For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description.
Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on recruitment@bexley.gov.uk.
Bexley is well connected, there are good transport links to central London, the Kent countryside and the Coast! It is the best of both worlds. Our residents and workers can benefit from the new high-speed Elizabeth Line which goes from Abbey Wood, here in Bexley and all the way to Reading, Southeast England.
We are a diverse and growing borough. By 2030 our population will be over 260,000 and almost 300,000 by 2050. Almost 25% of our population is Black and Asian Multi-Ethnic. Bexley is one of London’s greenest boroughs and has recently been awarded Public Sector Campaign of the year by Sustainable City’s prestigious annual awards.
We believe that everyone in Bexley Children’s Social Care should have the opportunity to grow and develop, in every role and at every stage of their career and offer a wide variety of social work roles, both for qualified and unqualified practitioners. Bexley Children’s Social Care offers the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in different areas of Children’s Services: we offer a comprehensive range of professional development opportunities and are committed to ensuring that Bexley is a welcoming and enjoyable place to work.
The children and families we work with, are always kept at the centre of our practice. We believe:
children should stay with their families whenever it’s in their best interests and safe to do so
where it’s not, we must act quickly through the courts to help children find a safe space
success depends on positive, respectful relationships with families and with each other
working with families is unpredictable, so we have to create a supportive environment for our teams
the most effective practice is based on ‘showing your working out’ – so that even when things don’t go to plan, the thinking behind decisions is clear and defensible
Working in social care in Bexley is endlessly rewarding. As well as helping some of the most vulnerable people in our borough, we invest in looking after you and your career.
We offer excellent benefits, from competitive salaries and generous leave to flexible working and a wealth of health and wellness programmes.
flexible working - including opportunities for hybrid working, job sharing, compressed hours, and career breaks
a comprehensive range of training and professional development opportunities including access to research, group and e-learning, coaching and group supervision for colleagues in all roles and at every stage of their career
clear career progression pathways, within a nurturing environment, which allows social work to flourish. From opportunities to undertake social work qualification; our dedicated ASYE Academy; to our Leadership Academy offering bespoke development for our aspiring and existing leaders. There are also opportunities for practitioners to be involved in university research & academic delivery with our partner universities and students.
family leave - includes maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave
mental health and physical wellbeing - including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, help to quit smoking, access to private healthcare, free eye tests and discounted leisure offers
financial wellbeing - excellent pension scheme, charitable giving options
generous annual leave - 25 to 33 days, with the option to purchase extra leave plus an extra bank holiday at Christmas
competitive pay - performance assessments with the opportunity for salary increments and transparent salary scales
transport offers - cycle to work scheme, carpooling, subsidised parking and interest-free season ticket loans
recognition - Thank you messaging to celebrate staff success and sharing of compliments received
professional and personal development - training and workshops to help you thrive and a discount on most Learning and Enterprise College Bexley courses
staff support networks - our networks support and encourage networking between staff with various events throughout the year
employee volunteering - get out of the office and help a local project blossom
MyChoice benefit scheme - your pick of perks from vouchers to car leasing
local authority discount scheme - attraction and theme park discounts and local offers in partnership with KAARP .
We work together in a modern, well-equipped, energising environment that supports team working and collaboration across the service and with partners