Lawrence Hurley investigates the new county child protection procedures launched to prevent family tragedies.

A new era could be dawning for child protection in Gloucestershire.

After the horror of Fred and Rosemary West and the death in 1999 of a four-month-old girl in the county, Gloucestershire Social Services is hoping new procedures will identify problems before disaster strikes.

Parents Andrew Snee and Sharon Brennan were found guilty last month of causing cruelty to four-month-old Chloe and are due to be sentenced later this week.

The guidelines, which stress closer working practices between the various agencies involved, have resulted from a Government document called Working Together to Safeguard Children.

But leading child protection co-ordinator for Gloucestershire social services Duncan Siret is keen to add that lessons learned from recent events have also been incorporated.

"Social services, education, police and other agencies have a good record of working together in Gloucestershire to protect children," he said.

"But we are always learning from new Government guidance and our own experience in the county and hope these procedures will make us even better at safeguarding children in the county."

The ACPC was learning from its own experiences in revising policies, particularly in the case of small babies, he said but denied the changes were in response to the Snee and Brennan case.

Social services procedures were tightened and "important lessons learned" after a review of the case, he said.

But the area's child protection committee concluded that agencies were "working together well" and communications were "running smoothly".

"We didn't know about the child's broken ribs until the child was dead," said Mr Siret. "We did, though, learn the importance of minor injuries which wouldn't normally put the child protection process into action. Young children often suffer cuts and bruises which don't arouse suspicion.

"It's important to say that children who have died in the county in the past were not part of the child protection process. In some cases they may not even have been known to us."

Andy Francis, Gloucestershire County Council communications officer, added: "There will also be a greater emphasis on parents and greater help for children in special circumstances, such as children abused by prostitution, children in prison and vulnerable babies."

The type of support social services can provide includes encouraging parents to visit family centres, providing workers to help struggling parents and giving access to therapy.

Mr Siret went on to explain what needed to be done to make sure the new procedures were worthwhile. "What we are looking to do is to have shared assessments which, in theory, can be used by all the different agencies.

"It would be unfair to say we haven't been working together before but the Government is asking us to concentrate our resources."

He added that this was only the "first stage" of an overhaul of child protection. "We have got through the re-working of the child protection procedures but then we have to do more work with other agencies.

"We need to assess families on a multi-agency basis before they are in a desperate state."

The new approach has been backed by Homestart, a charity which provides support for parents.

Karen Preece, Stroud and Dursley branch team organiser, revealed that the support her volunteers offered was similar.

"A lot of the families we support are not in crisis but if they didn't get that extra help it could develop," she said. "It's a safety net which allows us to get in before problems become too severe."

She added that in no way did this mean that all the parents they helped were incapable of coping by themselves.

Homestart support could just mean helping with the weekly shopping trip - it all helps. Volunteers can also give guidance on health care and can be a shoulder to cry on in times of need.

"I just think it's the most effective way of working," said Mrs Preece. "It's difficult for social services to do it though because they have so many families who are already in crisis, but if you can get in at an early stage it can alleviate the situation."

Mrs Preece added that Chloe was "an extreme case" which was far removed from most of those social services would deal with. She also believed that the multi-agency approach would work better than the old practices.

"It's got to be more effective if everyone is working together," she explained. "Communication is the key to everything."

There is certainly a suggestion that communication could have helped in the case of Anna Climbie, the eight-year-old murdered by her carers in London last year.

Police and social services have been criticised for not stepping in to help despite having had several opportunities to do so.

One mother-of-two from Stroud, who has benefited from Homestart's help after suffering from depression, can certainly see how crisis situations can develop.

The woman, who does not wish to be identified, said: "I was always aware of those stories about child abuse and things which happened to children and you never think you could be that person - but the potential is there.

"If they can help the mums who are going through a hard time before they crack then that can only be a good thing."

She said it was not always easy for those trying to help her: "It was difficult to ask for help or accept it, but my volunteer persevered."

Let's hope our social workers do the same.

Used courtesy of Gloucestershire Newspapers